ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Use Your Gap Year Adventure To Do Voluntary Work Abroad

Updated on July 22, 2009

A gap year adventure can encompass many things. You could decide to take a year out before going on to continue your studies or you could choose to take a sabbatical from work to provide your services to people in a foreign country that are less fortunate than you. Doing voluntary work abroad is a great option if you want to see different parts of the world and if you want to give something back to society.

There are lots of different ways in which you can work overseas. You can choose to go with an established volunteer abroad service or you can create your own itinerary. If you are not sure what type of volunteer work you would like to do, here are a few options to consider.

A gap year adventure could broaden your horizons
A gap year adventure could broaden your horizons

Volunteer To Build A School In Africa

There are specific charity groups that you can apply to where you can help build a school in areas desperate for teaching accommodation.  Building a school in socially deprived areas will enable children and young people to get the education that we in the developed world take for granted.  You could join a community based programme and share your building experience to enhance the lives and futures of a whole generation.

Meet new people during your gap year adventure
Meet new people during your gap year adventure

Do Volunteer Work In A Medical Centre

If you are a member of the medical profession, you could put your skills and experience to use by volunteering at a medical facility abroad.  You will have the opportunity to support the local workers in the hospital or medical centres.  There are many medical clinics that need the help of properly trained staff to administer drug treatment and care to patients. 

Choose Voluntary Projects Working With Endangered Animals

If you want to work with wild animals you will find countless organisations that you can volunteer with.  Whether you prefer working with larger animals such as elephants and lions, or would prefer to work with smaller animals like birds of prey, there is a wealth of choice to make any animal lover happy.

Look After Marine Life

If you desire volunteer work that involves being near the ocean, why not take a look at the different type of marine conservation work that you could do.  You could choose to work with turtles, assisting in the search and rescue of their eggs or you could help in the research of marine life which could involve going scuba diving.  You may even have the opportunity to see sharks and dolphins in their natural habitat.

Voluntary Work With Street Children

Street children are unfortunately a reality in countries all around the world.  Several organisations have been created in order to seek out these forgotten members of society and to help them to get the assistance they sorely need, especially protection from street gangs and prostitution rings.  Volunteering with one of these types of groups will certainly fill you with a real sense of achievement knowing that you have made a significant difference in the life of an otherwise forgotten child.

Work At A Ski Resort

Taking a gap year abroad does not necessarily mean that you have to do volunteer work. If you would prefer to combine work with pleasure, there are plenty of holiday resorts that you can work at. Ski resorts are always demanding staff during their busy seasons. You could get work which will include not only food and board but also the opportunity to get a free ski pass to go skiing and snowboarding to your hearts content.

If you use your gap year adventure to do voluntary work abroad, you will definitely have a fantastic opportunity to see a different part of the world and maybe even make a difference in the lives of other people.

Read About Another Way To Give To Charity

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)