Advice on volunteer projects in South East Asia

I'm from the UK and am going to be travelling around South East Asis from
October - December this year (2004)

I would like to do some volunteer work in either Thailand, Cambodia, Laos or
Vietnam but have heard a lot of negative stories about people being ripped
off with this sort of thing.

I am a musician and would ideally like to do something related to music but
I am also skilled with computers and would be very happy to teach English.
I would like to go somewhere rural if possible and somewhere that's quite
pretty and which would provide opportunities for cooking, sports etc.

Can anyone recommend projects which they've done before?

Thanks,

Antonio

"Antonio" wrote in message
. ..
I'm from the UK and am going to be travelling around South East Asis from
October - December this year (2004)


You are only going to be there for 2 months. How much time can you devote
to volunteering? The organizations I know that need volunteers want
commitments. They don't want someone who just want to do something for a
couple of days, or even a couple of weeks.


I would like to do some volunteer work in either Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
or
Vietnam but have heard a lot of negative stories about people being ripped
off with this sort of thing.

I am a musician and would ideally like to do something related to music
but
I am also skilled with computers and would be very happy to teach English.
I would like to go somewhere rural if possible and somewhere that's quite
pretty and which would provide opportunities for cooking, sports etc.

Can anyone recommend projects which they've done before?

Thanks,

Antonio

"Antonio" wrote in message
. ..
I'm from the UK and am going to be travelling around South East Asis from
October - December this year (2004)


You are only going to be there for 2 months. How much time can you devote
to volunteering? The organizations I know that need volunteers want
commitments. They don't want someone who just want to do something for a
couple of days, or even a couple of weeks.


I would like to do some volunteer work in either Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
or
Vietnam but have heard a lot of negative stories about people being ripped
off with this sort of thing.

I am a musician and would ideally like to do something related to music
but
I am also skilled with computers and would be very happy to teach English.
I would like to go somewhere rural if possible and somewhere that's quite
pretty and which would provide opportunities for cooking, sports etc.

Can anyone recommend projects which they've done before?

Thanks,

Antonio

Antonio wrote:
I'm from the UK and am going to be travelling around South East Asis from
October - December this year (2004)

I would like to do some volunteer work in either Thailand, Cambodia, Laos or
Vietnam but have heard a lot of negative stories about people being ripped
off with this sort of thing.

I am a musician and would ideally like to do something related to music but
I am also skilled with computers and would be very happy to teach English.
I would like to go somewhere rural if possible and somewhere that's quite
pretty and which would provide opportunities for cooking, sports etc.

Can anyone recommend projects which they've done before?

I think the reason many others have had lukewarm experiences is because such
short-term volunteering isn't very useful to organizations; in fact it's
usually a net cost. That's why those "volunteer vacation" places have to
charge money.

Overworked staff have to take time out of their pressing schedules to train
you and oversee you and deal with your personal adjustments to the
environment, and by the time you are ready to stand on your own two feet
(probably well before), you're off to go lie on a beach in Thailand.

miguel

kirjoitti viestissä
...
(probably well before), you're off to go lie on a beach in Thailand.

Funny habits some people have.

Thanks for the responses,

I was originally thinking of working for a month - if this isn't enough then
I'm happy do longer than this.

If a month isn't long enough what kind of period is sufficient? I have
found a number of projects which seem happy to take people for a month
(http://www.openmindprojects.org is one) and I am happy to pay for it if
necessary.

One of the reasons I'm doing this is that I'm interested in getting into
doing this sort of stuff on a longer term basis (through vso, ngo's etc) and
want to get a bit of a taste while I'm travelling. I am a skilled person
and feel that I have a lot to offer these sorts of projects.

Thanks for your time
Antonio

"PeterL" wrote in message
...

"Antonio" wrote in message
. ..
I'm from the UK and am going to be travelling around South East Asis
from
October - December this year (2004)


You are only going to be there for 2 months. How much time can you devote
to volunteering? The organizations I know that need volunteers want
commitments. They don't want someone who just want to do something for a
couple of days, or even a couple of weeks.


I would like to do some volunteer work in either Thailand, Cambodia,
Laos
or
Vietnam but have heard a lot of negative stories about people being
ripped
off with this sort of thing.

I am a musician and would ideally like to do something related to music
but
I am also skilled with computers and would be very happy to teach
English.
I would like to go somewhere rural if possible and somewhere that's
quite
pretty and which would provide opportunities for cooking, sports etc.

Can anyone recommend projects which they've done before?

Thanks,

Antonio

Hi Antonio,

If you're fixed on going to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos etc. for only a few
months & hoping to find volunteer work, i would look towards or ask around
the various Buddhists temples/schools or any associations of theirs. I
believe what has been said by a few here rings true. VSO/NGOs do not benefit
from such a short spell of volunteering work. Perhaps the local Buddhist
Wat/temples or any of it's charitable associations might have something to
offer for the short term but it might mean joining them for one of their
'courses' under their rules etc. for the duration. If this is your first
time in Thailand, try this first http://www.khaosanroad.com/index.html to
get an idea of the place.

DC.



"Antonio" wrote in message
. ..
I'm from the UK and am going to be travelling around South East Asis from
October - December this year (2004)

I would like to do some volunteer work in either Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
or
Vietnam but have heard a lot of negative stories about people being ripped
off with this sort of thing.

I am a musician and would ideally like to do something related to music
but
I am also skilled with computers and would be very happy to teach English.
I would like to go somewhere rural if possible and somewhere that's quite
pretty and which would provide opportunities for cooking, sports etc.

Can anyone recommend projects which they've done before?

Thanks,

Antonio

"Antonio" wrote in message ...
I'm from the UK and am going to be travelling around South East Asis from
October - December this year (2004)

I would like to do some volunteer work in either Thailand, Cambodia, Laos or
Vietnam but have heard a lot of negative stories about people being ripped
off with this sort of thing.

Er... How could you be ripped off from doing volunteer work?

I am a musician and would ideally like to do something related to music but
I am also skilled with computers and would be very happy to teach English.

If that's your prefered choices, then your visit to these countries
should be to meet the people in the project in person face to face.

The rest of the work and its result can be easily sent back and forth
either through parcel or online. And minor discussion can be done
through e-mail and online chatting.

I would like to go somewhere rural if possible and somewhere that's quite
pretty and which would provide opportunities for cooking, sports etc.

Can anyone recommend projects which they've done before?

Thanks,

Antonio