Add extra meaning to your holiday by helping the communities you visit. There are plenty of volunteer travel outfits out there that can set it up. It'll be an experience you'll never forget.
Volunteering one of '6 Ways to Have Authentic Local Experiences When Traveling'
FrontierEnviro If you find it challenging to meet locals out and about, check out some volunteering programs at your destination. Volunteering is one of the best ways to come in contact with people from all sorts of different backgrounds and lifestyles, as well as get familiar with current events and society in the country you’ve traveled to. Plus you’ll get to spend your time doing something positive for the local people and share your blessings. Before you sign up for volunteering, though,…
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Here's another one, David:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-sullivan-volunteering-...
There’s a growing body of scholarship demonstrating that the potential inadvertent harms of short-term international volunteering often outweigh the positives. Voluntourism can reinforce paternalism, expecting hosting communities to be passive and grateful “recipients.” Volunteers’ efforts often shirk pressing issues like infrastructure and resource shortages, or unknowingly duplicate existing resources. Sociologist Judith Lasker finds most global health volunteering benefits the sending organizations and the volunteers more than the host communities. Anthropologist Nicole Berry’s work reveals that volunteer medical missioners often prioritize their own interests rather than local needs.
Here's an essay which makes good points about both problems with voluntourism and the backlash against it - worth a read!!
https://quartzy.qz.com/1144159/voluntourism-is-problematic-but-so-i...
our travel agent in Cusco Peru
If you are looking for an unforgettable vacation, and would like to see Machu Picchu, Cuzco, or another part of Peru, we offer a wide variety of tours and packages all over the country! Peru has a diversity of destinations with different things to see and do. Peru is and has long been very culturally diverse, resulting in a rich history and an exquisite cuisine. The country also has many different geographical regions and diverse climates. Go ahead and look through our tours and packages to see what there is for you! Remember that you can personalize any of our best tours of Machu Picchu or travel packages, just contact us and our travel experts will help you plan the trip of a lifetime!.
We specialize in tours to the city of Cusco, Machu Picchu Tours and Inca Trail
Hi All;
Volunteer Voyages LLC is designed to welcome "first-time" volunteers to our wonderful world. We design worthwhile projects after discussions with the recipients of our proposed efforts, and then we recruit volunteers. Our volunteers usually are wondering if this volunteer stuff is right for them, and we enjoy helping them learn just how rewarding participation can be. We usually don't rough it - we travel in good vehicles with safe drivers, we stay in hotels, we are very careful what we eat and drink, etc., etc. Most of the time we stay very comfortable.
Our first week (of two) in the country is spent working on the project. The second week is spent touring the fabulous sights of the country and spending some quality "tourist time".
Our next project will be in Thailand in December - building water filters for needy families. That one will be followed in January by a trip to India to teach school children about the risks of tobacco use. February will find us in Peru and then Guatemala at the end of that month, etc. We have a very exciting and interesting schedule coming up.
Please think about joining us - or at least sharing this with others who might be interested. Thanks!
Hello all, I hope to meet some like-minded people in this forum who want to do good as we travel! I'd like to take this chance to introduce ourselves briefly. We came into existence when our founders failed to find volunteer opportunities along their travel itineraries that wouldn't cost them extra for admin fees etc. So they decided to create network of volunteers (voluntourists) who want to do good as they're traveling, train and equip them, at no costs to them. So if you ever want to do some good in your next trip, send us an email!
Hope there will be more discussions to come!
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The Muskoka Foundation
www.themuskokafoundation.org
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