Vso And Similar Organizations

[loz_the_guru]

Well, im thinking about doing a gap year and have been looking into volunteering in Africa/South America/Asia. VSO only seem to want people with several years experience in specific proffesions, and as a school leaver I cant really offer that. Basically Im just wondering if anyone here has done something similar or knows someone who has, and if so could they give advice and help me get my feet of the ground?

EDIT: I also looked into VSO's Youth Volunteer scheme, but didnt really understand it 100%.

 

[mattmagoo]

i WAS gonna do a GAP year in japan to be a teaching aide, but it fell through when i didnt have the money

the Company was called GAP http://www.gap.org.uk/ and the prices are very good

 

[lizard808uk]

yeh, I'm doing a gap year thing come July time. (I've been out of Uni for some time, but I'm really fed up with corporate life)

Volunteer Abroad is one of the best sites I've seen around recently.

Depending on your money situation, teaching English is a good option, especially in places like Hong Kong - I heard they can pay upwards of £20 per hour! You can then use this to further your travelling or do community projects in Vietnam etc..

 

[loz_the_guru]

Im taking english Lite A Level and expect to get A/maybe B,m so that sounds good. Thanks to Mattmagoo, that site looks really good. Brazil for 5 months sounds great! I havent checked yours out yet lizard808uk, but Ill do so in the morning. The GF will be pleased to as 12 months would be a long time.

 

[Axeman]

I remember doing research into this for my Gap year. Apparently, VSO get so many applications that they have to be quite picky. Basically, they;re trying to weed out people who are doing it just for the travel, and try and get more people that have something really valuable they can offer...