Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Current trends
The most popular voluntary work activity is working as a teacher or teaching assistant.
Teaching placements may include sports coaching, teaching assistants, pastoral care outside
the classroom or taking a class.
Voluntary work on community and conservation projects also remain popular. Community
projects, such as building a school room or a dam, vary in type and length and tend to be
done in teams and be of shorter duration than teaching or caring placements.
Conservation projects usually last a few weeks and should provide an excellent insight into
aspects of conservation that only hands-on experience can provide.
The most popular destinations include South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Cambodia, Canada
and New Zealand. You will have read a little more about these locations - and the Year Out
Group's explanation of their popularity - in Chapter 1.
South Africa consistently proves popular, with wildlife volunteering a particular draw.
“Within that, the more hands-on the involvement for the volunteers, the more popular the
project,” say African Conservation Experience. “Volunteers do not want to observe, they
want to be involved.”
Here are Kaya Responsible Travel's thoughts on some current trends: “Thailand and South
Africa have been the long-standing favourites at Kaya for Europeans, but the political unrest
in Thailand last year saw numbers drop here and start rising in Nepal and also in the Philip-
pines following their devastating typhoon in November.
“Kaya also receives a large number of participants from North America and so we are seeing
numbers rise in our Latin American destinations as a result of that. This in turn starts making
those Latin American countries - Ecuador, Peru, Belize, Bolivia,
etc
a growing interest for
our British and European volunteers.
“In terms of the type of project, we also see a lot of movement. We have some very niche
projects - for example in music or business areas that have small numbers but are a great hit
for those who fit the needs. Wildlife and health projects are consistently the most popular,
with community and child care projects not far behind. Marine conservation is probably our
most popular niche area, with placements that allow participants to learn scuba diving as
part of the project.”
Oyster Worldwide told us: “South Africa has been our most popular destination over the past
12 months. The animal welfare and short-term programmes have been the most popular as
they give people the chance to do something amazing and really help a project even if they
can only commit to a two-week trip.”
