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11 Best Volunteer Travel Destinations

Best Volunteer Travel Destinations
Photo by Simon English on Unsplash

11 Best Volunteer Travel Destinations That Will Make You a Better Person

During this pandemic, it has become apparent that we change how we treat our planet and each other. A great way to accomplish that while still getting to travel is by volunteering. Especially after this scary time, there will be more of a need for healthcare professional volunteers, medical volunteers, or any other type of opportunity there is.  Volunteering abroad is a life-changing experience for everyone who tries it. Here are the 11 Best Volunteer Travel Destinations That Will Make You a Better Person tries it.

Best Volunteer Travel Destinations
Photo by Simon English on Unsplash

Best Volunteer Travel Destinations from around the World

Assist with Wildlife Researching in South Africa 

In this a fantastic program, you will get to help out their local research team to study the behavior of animals, track them, and they will teach you about their wildlife. Your trip will start with a quick training session where you will get to know about the project and all the animals that you are going to encounter. After your into your will get to work on tracking wildlife, assisting with data entry, doing research, and if you prove yourself worthy, you can participate in educating the community about conservation. These types of programs are about two weeks long and cost around $2,390.

Rehabilitate Elephants in Thailand
Photo by Pexel from pexels/a>by

Help Rehabilitate Elephants in Thailand

If you want to go to Asia, a great way to go and still be doing something that will make you a better person is to sign up to volunteer with elephants that people have saved from working in the tourism industry. During your stay, you will get to rehabilitate elephants and take care of them with the help of the trainers. Just like with most of the programs, if you work hard enough, you will get the opportunity to help them out with educating in the community. These kinds of programs usually last a week and cost about $1,840.

Teach English to Buddhist Novice Monks in Laos

Many volunteer organizations focus on teaching English to monks. If you’ve always wanted to visit the Mekong River and experience the breathtaking areas, volunteering is the best way to do it. Not only will you get to work with monks in the temple school, you will get to learn about their history, culture, religion, and so much more interesting and life-changing things. These kinds of teaching programs usually last for two weeks and cost about $1,890.

Buddhist Novice Monks in Laos
Photo by Prem Kurumpanai on Unsplash

Go On a Marine Preservation Expedition in Fiji

If you choose this kind of program, you will get to experience Fiji in a whole different way. You will be able to work with local experts, and help them collect data on all the different fish species, help them with developing the educational and awareness-raising program for their local schools and mapping coral reefs. These kinds of programs will require you to go through a training phase where you will get to learn how to identify all the different fish and coral species. Because of that, these programs usually last up to 24 weeks. The program costs start from $4,000, all depending on how long you stay.

Gain Volunteer Experience in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a really popular place to volunteer overseas. The reason it is so popular is that they offer many different volunteer experiences like child care, medical care, English teacher, or turtle conservation. There are so many opportunities for exploring, going on adventures while still working on yourself, and helping others. As there are not many programs you can choose, they can be two weeks long or over six months with a starting price of only $400. 

Gain Volunteer Experience in Sri Lanka
Photo by Artem Beliaikin from Pexels

Take a Gap Year in Bali

If you are interested in taking a gap year before going into college, Bali has some of the best youth volunteering programs. There are so many options from taking care of children in need of teaching English in schools. Bali is appealing to young people because they offer traveling to different locations while you are doing your work. Programs can be over 36 weeks long and starting from only $330 for two weeks. 

Help People to Build Homes in a Rio de Janeiro    

If you are interested in doing some volunteer work where you will be helping out families in need, then building homes is perfect for you. There are so many unfortunate families that live in homes that are unsafe with ten plus members and without any running water. You will get to walk alongside a professional builder and help build new homes. And as a plus, while you are helping others and working on yourself, you will get to learn some Portuguese.

Preserve the Amazon Rainforest in Peru

In these programs, you will get to be in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest and work with experienced environmentalists to process the endangered plants and wildlife. While you are there, you will get to rehabilitate spider monkeys and release them into the wilderness when they are ready or collect scientific data on animals. If you are interested in something more adventuristic, you can help monitor and research bush dogs, set camera traps, perform research, and collect data. You will also have free time to explore Peru and even check Machu Picchu off your travel bucket list. Most of these programs are one week long, but you can stay up to 6 weeks, and programs start from $695.

Work With Children in Nepal

If you have a soft spot for children, Nepal offers many teaching programs that focus on working with children in centers. During your time in the program, you will get to work with children and teach them things like the alphabet and numbers, read them stories, or help them develop hand-eye coordination by playing with a ball. Even though you are working with children, there is no need for any prior experience because you will be working with the local staff. 

Work With Children in Nepal
Photo by Rohan Reddy on Unsplash

Saving Coral Reefs in Seychelles 

Seychelles is known for its amazing golden sanded beaches, gigantic tortoise, and the magical coco de Mer plans that can be found only in one other place. Most people aren’t aware, but the Marine National Park is severely affected by climate change. Because of that, they are always looking for people who are willing to help. They need volunteers to test the health of the water surrounding the coral as well as to measure the growth of corals and photographing and videoing biodiversity hotspots. These kinds of programs will offer you a lot of free time so you will be able to relax on the beach, snorkel on even work while you are traveling. This make the Seychelles one of the best volunteer travel destinations.  Not all people can apply for this program because you will need to have a scuba diving certificate with at least 30 logged dives. The programs last about 12 days, and most of them take place in April and cost about $3075.

Help in A Healthcare Centre in Uganda

If you are interested in using your knowledge for a good cause, programs in Uganda are perfect for you. There are many things you can do while volunteering there, like helping out treating malaria, infant care, HIV/AIDS testing, or even counseling. You can also assist with educating and helping teen mothers in the community. Programs usually last two weeks and cost about $995.

Whichever location you choose, you will find a volunteering organization that needs your help. It is vital that during this time, we realize how many places need our help even without the global pandemic going around.