Know you want to take some time out between school, college, university or your first job?
Want to see an amazing new country, but make your trip really worthwhile, both for you and the local community?
A volunteer placement can offer you all of this, plus the opportunity to boost up your CV, have unbeatable experiences, and make great new friends.
Recently returned from volunteering expeditions with the youth education charity Raleigh, Alan, Hannah and Nitin share their experiences with us…
Raleigh’s Graduate Bursary Award and joined the charity’s 10-week expedition in India, working on sustainable community and environmental projects. He says:
In August last year I watched a BBC news feature about volunteering overseas. This is the first time I had considered such a thing and I decided to apply for Raleigh’s Graduate Bursary Award. I wanted to learn about – and meet people from – different cultures. I especially liked the idea of travel while also helping others, plus the opportunity to experience the Indian culture firsthand. I liked the idea of working for a charity and working on sustainable projects. I didn’t want to pay to be a tourist and I really wanted to feel like I had made a change to somebody’s life.
One of the ways in which I raised the funds to go on the expedition was a sponsored climb of Mount Snowdon. This was great as it gave me a sense of the outdoors and started my eager anticipation of what the Raleigh expedition would be like.
On the community phase of the India expedition I worked with 15 other volunteers and project managers in a remote village called Ealamanna. The aim of the project was to build a bio-gas unit and cow shed for a local family. The project was the first of its kind and it was a very interesting expedition phase. One of the key experiences for me was the teamwork and bonding between the team members, which led us to working very well together. Learning and interacting with the community was also a great experience and we could learn a lot about each other.
One of the best moments on the expedition for me has to be the community bio-gas phase, as we saw the project through from the beginning right until the end. We were all staying together in the project partner headquarters, working together during the day and sharing meals together. The locals showed us how to cook authentic Indian dishes, and we in turn showed them many of our treasured items from our rucksacks.
We created the ‘Ealamanna Cup’ which was a football game with a fake ball. We pretended that we were playing for real with someone commentating. This led to a whole football league and created so much fun. We also did a traditional Indian-style dance which I really enjoyed. The girls all had saris made and it was a very vibrant and colourful production.
One of my most challenging moments has to be when I took the role of team leader for a 24km trek during the expedition adventure phase. This was because it was several days of intense trekking when the team’s morale was low and we were finding it hard-going. As team leader, I had to ensure that we kept at a good pace despite there being people of all capabilities. This meant I had to continually check that everyone was ok and happy with the pace due to the wide variation of abilities and personalities.
The expedition was a huge personal learning experience for me. Due to the variation of ages, backgrounds and personalities of the volunteers, I learnt a lot about myself. It allowed me to learn about how I interact with different people in such an intense environment and reflect upon the areas that I need to improve upon.
I have made so many great friends and learnt a lot about the local Indian culture, making this 10 weeks very enjoyable and beneficial.
Borneo. She says:
I finished school in summer 2009 and I didn’t get the grades I wanted, so I had an unplanned gap year. I wanted to do something that would give me a sense of self-worth and achievement. I knew I wanted to do something that involved charity volunteering; I also wanted to gain skills that would be attractive to future employers.
I looked at a range of volunteering options with organisations. I wanted to work on projects that are well-planned and are designed for the long term. I went for the Imbak Canyon expedition in Borneo, where I was involved in infrastructure development. I really enjoyed working as a part of a team, seeing how people developed and the group really bonded. Each day people improved how they collected materials and worked together to make tasks as efficient as possible. Imbak was magical, I loved the rangers and I loved how peaceful it was.
My best and most challenging moments both happened on the same day. Halfway through an eight-hour trek, my leg was bleeding from leeches, I was covered in sweat and I sobbed my way to the top of a hill. We still hadn’t reached our campsite and we had to trek without fresh water. I was feeling awful, so the whole team gave me a hug. Going through such a tough time makes you really bond and I’ve never felt so part of a team. The day was really hard but the feeling afterwards was amazing. It was one of the proudest moments of my life – better than my exam results and better than getting into sixth form or university.
I have learnt that if I can do something that I’d never thought I’d be able to do, like that trek, what else could I do that I currently don’t believe I can? For instance, get a job that I don’t think I have the right skills for. The world is your oyster, there’s nothing you can’t do. I’ve learned how to be a more relaxed, confident person. It’s nice to know you can be put in a group of 15 random people and get on with them.
My plans now are to go to university to study economics with French. I grew up so much in those seven weeks and now feel totally ready for the next stage of my life.
Costa Rica and Nicaragua. He says:
I decided to be a volunteer because I wanted to learn more about developmental work, do some travelling and gain a true insight into the ways different people live their lives. I liked how Raleigh was a diverse organisation in the sense that there would be people on expedition from all over the world and I was especially attracted to the projects in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, which looked worthwhile and very interesting.
My first project was the expedition environmental phase in Camaronal Wildlife Refuge.
The aim of the project was to clear a 3km path from the ranger’s station, through grasslands to end at the beach. Along this path, a bridge and a set of stairs also had to be constructed. Additionally, at night there would be turtle patrols, whereby smaller groups of us would scour the beach looking out for turtles laying their eggs, turtle nests, and poachers. If we found eggs we would be re-bury them in order to protect them from the poachers.
My group for this project was one of the highlights for me, because it was a project highly focused on teamwork and group activities, which made the project really enjoyable. The turtle patrols were amazing and we were fortunate enough to see a leatherback as well as numerous other species. The building of the bridge was a rewarding experience and provided a change to the path clearing, as we were able to create and design the structure. The project was incredible and I really enjoyed that phase. It’s not every day that the opportunity arises whereby a group of strangers come to live on a deserted, beautiful beach, and leave as the closest frie.
My second expedition phase was the Corcovado trek. This was a really special experience, learning about other people and the way they react to certain things, and of course, learning about myself. I learnt how to deal with certain situations and to have the best time without anything!
The third and final expedition phase was the community project in El Tererro, Nicaragua. The project involved building a community centre and museum, which was incredible. What was so important was how our presence impacted the lives of the local people living in this community. The fact that we arrived into such an unfamiliar environment is strange, but before long we became a big part of the community’s lives, and they became a big part of ours. It’s quite a special experience.
Raleigh, the youth and education charity, runs volunteer overseas expeditions in Borneo, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and India. The expeditions involve sustainable community, environmental and adventure projects.
