﻿ International Voluntary Service
International Voluntary Service
Working for Peace and Justice

Welcome to International Voluntary Service

Volunteer abroad: to see the world and save.

Trip abroad as a volunteer - not your turputevku marked "all inclusive". We have to make room and work: volunteers, for example, painting the walls of schools in Thailand, take part in archaeological excavations in France, taught to children in Indonesia. But they travel around the world, meet lots of people and great save.

Voluntary for all ages

The word "volunteer" is translated from French as "volunteers." The main idea of the movement - communication between people of different nationalities in the simple work "in good faith". This is the main feature of such travel - in addition to rest a few hours a day to give work. Salary as such volunteer does not receive, but can rely on a small premium and pocket money of $ 100 to $ 300 a week.

To go abroad as a volunteer is easy. Just contact one of the hundreds of volunteer organizations in Russia. In any Internet search engine query "volunteer program" will find a lot of contacts and travel offers.

Volunteer can be any person under the age of 18. The programs can be divided into youth (18-30), which promises a cheerful campus with representatives from all countries and continents, and specialized, where there are older volunteers.

Most often travel abroad last 2-3 weeks, but there are long-term travel. The camps are open to all willing volunteers from May to September. The selection of countries is large - programs operate on all continents. Documents for the trip takes a little: completed online application form and photos for visa and passport. Host response is almost always positive - worldwide volunteer work is appreciated. You only have to pay for travel and visa. Sometimes a small amount may be applied in place - most often it is 5.1 dollars per day. In some organizations, the required payment of membership dues in the amount of 1,000 to 4,000 rubles. In short, two-week trip can cost you only 200-350 dollars, not including shipping costs. This price will include accommodation and food, language training, health insurance and social program.


Do not expect a volunteer organization providing suites - volunteers arrive in a foreign country is not for comfort. Most travelers are distributed in hostels, guest houses and small hotels. The rooms normally live on two. The shower and toilet, as a rule, are in the room. Another option - moving in large tents. Convenience, as they say, in the courtyard. Condition, of course, are modest, but the most important thing in this camp - communication.

Side by side with you will live 15-20 people from different corners of the earth. This international group you will work about 4 hours a day. The rest time is free. Workcamps hosts often arrange trips and parties. On popular in Europe will be treated to a picnic dishes of national cuisine, Asia and the Americas will offer to take part in competitions and traditional celebrations. But you can travel and themselves: no one will interfere with you, on the contrary, will prompt the most comfortable hiking trails.


Planters OR restorer?

Volunteer work offers the most diverse. You can become a volunteer archeologist. And then you will be offered help to restore the monuments such as Chateau de Montgilbert in Burgundy. Responsible or not instruct the hard work is likely to be appointed assistant restorer. If you're lucky, your group will entrust restore masonry walls of the ancient chateau.

The environmental camp will plant the trees small park, vine creepers entwine benches or water the rare ferns. Environmental volunteering also provides work in national parks. Travellers take care of sick animals, feed rare, are biological journals. Typically, volunteers live right on the reserve in specially designated ekodomikah.

The next version of volunteering - Agricultural camp. Most of these international camps in the south of France or Italy. Work is also simple and even enjoyable - you will be asked to collect the ripe fruits and berries, stomp grapes for wine. It is worth noting that this type of volunteer work is very popular: Volunteers after work can be treated with plenty of fresh fruit.

Travel Experiences: One of the most amazing things of being volunteer in a new country is that it given you the opportunity to discover new places, new civilaizations, meet new people and enjoy the nature of non urban enviroments. Some tips about organising you trip could be: 1) find a cheap flight to your destination in advance, this way you will be able to save some money on the airline ticket which usually cost more when you buy near your departure date, you can search for flights through Tripair.com. 2) After arriving to your destination and settled down try to organise trips around the country with your friends you will meet there, so you can for example rent a minivan for 7-8 people and travel all around the country, in that way you will not need even to spend money in hotels as you can use your van as accommodation, there are many companies who rent online vans and minivans so you dont need to worry about it. Another possibility could be to rent a motorbike or scooter and travel alone and make new friends on your way.  3) Many volunteers choose places by the sea, this is a perfect reason to make a trip by ferry or a boat. There are still million people in the world who on their travel they admit that first time the see sea, if you are one of them open your sails and make your trip even more excited by travelling through islands with a ferry. Recently Anastasia from Russia wrote me a long letter about her travel experience to Greek Islands and as she mentioned, the best of her trip was the ferry trip from Piraeus to Santorini Island.

Common among voluntary organizations and social work. This can be a help in the organization of the harvest festival in Greece or a school party at a Japanese school. Note, however, that such activities need to speak English properly. If the English you have everything in order, then you can go to Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam to help kids from poor families to learn the basics of a foreign language. Guitar teacher or art teacher always received a warm welcome in a primary school in Jamaica. Never-ending need for free childcare, pensioners, and to assist in the rehabilitation of patients. This is not so much important language skills, but also the desire to help.

According to the "World News" Lydia Krinov, coordinator volunteer center "chipmunk" in many countries for the volunteers created favorable conditions.

- This means that the cases of visa denial are rare and our volunteers are waiting in various parts of the world where always provide cheap housing and feed - said Lydia. - A man goes to a foreign country is not "a blast," but to help and culturally rich. That is why the ratio of the volunteers very special - they are loved and greeted like old friends. So do not panic if you are thinking in a foreign country - you will always find support. A huge plus of such programs - a comprehensive international communication. You do not know who will be in the group - with the Italians, French, English or Japanese. Therefore, camp volunteers allows good English speaking and pull even learn a new language. To become better acquainted with the movement of volunteers, you can go to one of the free trainings and listen already experienced volunteers. Monitor the activities of these centers can be in many social networks. By the way, there can be "caught" and "hot deals" that are due to unexpected failures.

Experienced STORIES

Xenia, 25 years old: "I worked for seven hours a day and have no regrets."

- Our camp is located in the south of Thailand in a small Muslim village. We lived in a house with a kitchen and bathroom. Our task was to paint the school and talk with students. We worked a lot - for seven hours a day. But do not regret it. Despite the rather hot weather, to help local was fun - young Thais, we also all helped. Even the hard work was a joy. I, like all the participants of the camp, I think it was lucky we saw the real Thai life. They ate the same as local. Thai food was incredibly sharp. Such amount of spices I had not eaten. But this kitchen can quickly get used to, especially if you are treated as a close friend. We were even invited to the wedding. Locals always brought us fruit and sweets. For two weeks in this village, the camp became a big international family.

Natalia, 28 years old: "The French have taught me to use the shower gel."

- I was on a volunteer job in France twice. During the first visit we lived in a private house which was purchased by the former Mayor of the owner. Lived for 2-3 people in a room with its own toilet and shower. The second time was in a large tent for 15 people, which in heavy rain began to leak. Still, it was great. We restored trails in a local park. Free time was enough, we went to music festivals in Markolese were on excursions, floated down the rivers, and even took part in a national French game of petanque. Most impressed responsiveness French and how they react to the card in the hands of a tourist - immediately jump to the offer of assistance. A trifle, but nice! Every day our volunteer groups assigned to more people - on duty from different countries, who were preparing dinner. Just imagine how difficult it was to agree what dish we prepare, and to explain in different languages, as it is necessary to cut the carrots, onions and potatoes! It was a very jolly pantomime theater, followed by laughter and the words "no, no, no". An interesting incident occurred when my French friend Fred went to the mall. The guy picking up a shower gel, I began to carefully explain what it is, how and why it is necessary to use this substance. No matter how I tried to convince him that such blessings of civilization to Russia for a long time came, he went on to explain, and even wanted to buy it for me for free!

Volunteering in Greece

Volunteering is perhaps the most eloquent manner of expressing our solidarity, since in this way we get to prove that we care about others so much that we make the most out of acting to their best benefit without thinking of ourselves at all. In other words, through volunteering projects we can act for the wider picture instead of focusing simply on our own interest and main concern. So, if you are interested in engaging in one of the several volunteering schemes in Greece you can go ahead with learning all the useful information that can come in handy to you from day one.

Why choose Greece?

Greece includes a great many different volunteering projects and therefore you can have your pick depending on your personal taste and preferences. For instance, wildlife and endangered species can be your main target while volunteering. There are organizations in Greece trying to make a difference and providing all the help that such helpless animals are in need of. Apart from that, you can choose to go for other projects mainly targeting the preserving of antiquities or the cleaning of the surroundings in places that captivate the attention of all travellers worldwide. As you can see, there is much more than what meets the eye when you get to select a volunteering program within Greece and so you are strongly suggested to gather all the details leading to the best choice for you to indulge in without any further delay!