Volunteered abroad?
 

Hi all,

I'm hoping that some of you have volunteered abroad! I'm on a mission to promote volunteering and ethical travel at the moment and I'm hoping some of you on Fodors could give me your experiences of volunteering in Asia.

I volunteered in southern Thailand as a volunteer teacher and loved it! It's good for both the kids I was teaching and good for me too. Although I'm sure those of you that have been volunteering will know that.

So could you tell me where you've been and what you did?

Thanks,

Marc

You might be interested in an organization founded by a Fodors member: www.theplf.org Many people here have volunteered through this wonderful organization, and many more here give money to the cause.

I admire your enthusiasm but do wonder how many here on a travel forum for those who like to globe hop would have volunteered somewhere abroad.

Does the Peace Core have a website you can post on?

You're on a mission to promote volunteering, but you're asking for our experiences? What do you propose to do with the information (if any)? Teaching is always good, but I have seen a number of reports suggesting that other forms of volunteering are much less valuable to the recipients than cold hard cash.

I think the original post by the OP was deleted. It had a link to his "project" where he was soliciting money for donation. An unknown organisation trying to raise money to do what exactly and not clear on how the money will be spent. It also had pictures of the OP at a school in Southern Thailand apparently all taken in one day as there wasn't a change of clothes.

Might be well intended or might be someone trying to setup a scam?

Jacketwatch, you might be surprised how many Fodorites have done international volunteer work!

How many do you know of?

Lots, jacketwatch - see my post above. I can think of at least two dozen who have volunteered for the PLF, and I don't know the half of it, I'm sure.

Also, The Peace Corps is not volunteer. One is paid, though very little, but it is a minimum two year commitment, very different from volunteering for a week or two or just a few days on vacation.

Hanuman, thanks for the info on OP's "volunteer" experience being limited to a day. His solicitation for money is no doubt what got his post deleted!

Thanks Kathie. That does surprise a bit but hey nice to be surprised sometimes. :-)

Wow. First of all I wasn't soliciting for money I was merely directing people to a page to explain why it is I am doing what I am doing. The aim is to help schools in SE Asia. I've noticed a certain negativity when I ask people questions about this as if it is somehow the worst thing you can do when travelling. It didn't feel like that for me while I was doing it.

The reason for gathering people's experiences is so that other people can see how worthwhile it is. Those experiences will then form another one of my blog entries. Obviously I would have asked if they would allow me to do that.

I sense a certain skepticism amongst you that people can actually be doing something good in the world! I understand there must be scams all the time but to jump to conclusions straight away is quite disappointing.

Also, yes the pictures were taken on the same day. I didn't make a habit of taking pictures of children for marketing reasons while I was meant to be teaching them English.

Yes, your initial post - the deleted one - did inspire skepticism. Your webpage appeared to be soliciting donations. As I noted above, there are plenty of people here who have volunteered in foreign countries. This is a pretty savvy group of travelers.

You may not be aware of it, but there are plenty of volunteering scams out there. Many for-profit organizations charge people big bucks to set up a volunteering stint - which often turns out to be of no benefit to the locals, just to those collection the money.

Given that you had just joined Fodors and your first post appeared to be a solicitation for money, many here were/are skeptical.

You would be surprised how many posts here are guises for self ads, especially from brand new posters., Given your reply just now I think you did not mean that however this sort of thing happens a ton here.

YOu might mean well but apart from asking for money you also failed to mentioned that to volunteer in Thailand you will need a work permit visa, even if you're not paid. Perhaps you did not know this and you had broken the law in the past but you should make people aware on your blog so that they don't break any laws while they are trying to do good and give you money.

I strongly suggest that you take your blog down or revise it urgently. Here's cut and paste from one of the local law firm that do immigration works:

<i>Foreign volunteer workers need to have valid Visas and Work Permits even if they are not paid for the work they are doing in Thailand.
Foreigners are legally required to have a work permit for any work they do in Thailand, not having a legal Work Permit can result in fines, jail, deportation and blacklisting. Work Permits for volunteer organizations are not difficult to get; the non-profit organization must apply with a document stating that you have joined them as an unpaid volunteer. Sunbelt Legal Advisors have helped hundreds of Thai volunteer organizations set procedures in place to get the correct Visas and Work permits for their foreign volunteers.
Foreign volunteers should have the proper Thai Visas and Work Permits because they may become involved with Thai Government officials or even the Thai Police during their stay.

For example, if you need to report to the police that your wallet was stolen while you were doing volunteer work, the officers may ask what you were doing when the theft took place. They may then ask to see your work permit.

Be very wary of any organization in Thailand that tells you that you can work for them as a volunteer without offering to assist you in getting your Work permit and the proper Visa. Have Sunbelt’s top notch lawyers and legal assistants discuss with any organization you are considering working with in Thailand how they can get the correct Visas and Work Permits for their foreign volunteers.

Also, if you are soliciting money from a UK base, are you not supposed to be a registered charity? You don't appear to be registered.

The thing is though this isn't a big bucks social enterprise. I'm not even sure how you could ever see it as a scam to be honest. It collects money people don't have any use for any more ie money people bring home from holiday and never use again.

As for your last point thursdayd, you need £5000 to be registered as a UK charity. We are allowed to fund raise unregistered below that as long as it is for a particular set of causes. Which this is.

As for the legal implications of volunteering, of course I would advise them to seek work permits. This would be under the charities that would be accommodating them and goes for not just Thailand, but other countries in the region.

I don't really mind these fairly negative lines of questioning but you haven't explained to me what it is your money would be better spent on.

At the end of the day this is still quite useful for me as I'm unaware of some of the issues involved with volunteering. That is the good thing about forums I guess that many people with different experiences can advise.

Are there two people posting under your username? One said that he/she is aware of the visa rules, UK charity regulations etc. The other is thanking other users at Fodors for making him/her aware of things.

Who applied for your visa when you volunteered in Thailand? Can you give me the name and telephone number of the school you're helping out and I will call them to verify.

It is not at all unknown for a so-called charity to spend much of its income on "administration" (i.e. perks for the administrators). I give money to charities I can vet. And you are not just soliciting unused foreign currency (IF I have any, I save it for future trips, or donate it to UNICEF on the flight home), you are soliciting "ordinary" cash. You wouldn't get much if all you got was unused currency!

Showing up on a travel forum with a disingenuous survey question (when surveys are not allowed) is no way to inspire confidence. If you were really interested in helping, rather than self-aggrandisement, you could join an existing charity.