Job Discussion Forums

[ripple]

For those of you who live in Peru and know the prices and cost of living and such, do you think that one of the many volunteer programs in the country does little more than cover necessary expenses or cover unnessary expenses plus a huge margin of profit? Take for instance Global Crossroad which claims to cost 50-70% less than its competitors. It covers food (three meals per day) and lodging, health insurance, airport reception, emergency assistance, and "pre-departure information". The first few sound important, but the others, big deal. It does not cover laundry, immunization, and phone. Does three grand for three months sound like a good deal? Paying to volunteer sounds idiotic to me, but if it does cover these expenses then maybe its worth it. Think it is?

[keepwalking]

Paying to volunteer is pretty standard here. The best organisations are those that plow any 'profit' into the work of the organisation itself. For example I worked with a group supporting a school near Cusco that paid for a social worker to work with the mothers of the kids. It was worth paying a little extra, knowing that this supported a much-needed service that wouldn't have been there otherwise. The worst organisations are those which are basically companies and the guy running them lives in the nicest part of town, in a fenced in community far from the people the organisation is supposedly helping.

Is that 3 grand in dollars? That does sound pretty typical but is way over what it would cost you to support yourself. As a guideline, you can get a basic room and pension (breakfast and evening meal) for about 200 soles ($65) where I live (Trujillo). Rent on an apartment (2 bedrooms) is about $200 a month.

What you have to find out is what this organisation does with the excess money - if they use it to support their work then you may think it is worth while. Remember they will have operating costs, recruitment costs etc that all need to be paid for and so you shouldn't expect to pay exactly what you would pay if you were independently living.

Is there anyone you can talk to who has volunteered with them previously? They might be able to give you a more specific answer.

Good luck

[naturegirl321]

Ayni in Piura doesn't charge to volunteer

[dribom]

Regarding �paying� to volunteer: if you volunteer at home then you should know that volunteering always costs you. It costs time, transportation, the training you hopefully got before taking up your work� and if you work every evening at your local shelter or school are they paying for your residence and food? Of course not� So why do you think that an impoverished South American community has those resources?

Now, having said that, reputable volunteer NGOs and GOs will help you fund-raise, pay your living stipend, and at least make your fee worthwhile (by using it to train you) if you have skills to offer. Ie. If you already have teaching experience in the US, have medical training, legal training, or know a technical trade. Many area Universities will even offer grants to cover program fees if the Program is run out of such a University.

Now, if you want to go to Peru or that area specifically, you really need to consider what kind of cultural and professional training you are going to be given by this program. I�ve studied and volunteered in both Chile and the Northern Andes, and while all �latin� countries have some cultural commonalities Peru, Bolivia, and so on are dramatically different culturally from the Southern Cone and Central American-Mexico. For that reason, even if you are absolutely fluent in Spanish, coming here to live without intensive orientation should be extremely disorienting and you will not connect with locals or make a real difference without it!

For that reason good Volunteer programs should mandate at least a month�s orientation. And that should include intensive language courses (for those not fluent), instruction regarding the host country�s educational system/history of education in the country, and lots of cultural training (regarding sex, race, class� all of that). And that�s just a start. The qualifications of your in-country trainers should be high, and the program should help you set up in country contacts (religious, familial, governmental�) In Latin America, without those contacts you are nobody.

A good program is well worth the cost because you will be getting training education that should help you in the states with grad-school and a future career! But you need to investigate all of the above�

Also� a good indicator (though not perfect) of the programs quality is qualification for admission� they should be asking for proffesional and academic recs, as well as resume, interview, medical screening� all the usual things. If it�s easy to get into it�s probably a scam.

[Guy Courchesne]

[naturegirl321]

Anyone have info about Global Crossroads as a TEFL training institute?

[Justin Trullinger]

As I understand it, Global Crossroads doesn't actually offer teacher training courses, but simply recruits, through their website, for existing courses.

I don't know anyone who works with them directly, but our center was approached by them, and I understood this to be the case.

It didn't work out for us to work together, so I don't know much more than this.


Best,
Justin

[Sallyn]

Look at www.volunteersouthamerica.net for free and v low cost volunteer placements, saw an article on it in The Times and had a look, seems to have some good placements all accross south and Central America.

[misterbrownpants]

actually ayni does charge.. you have to pay $250 canadian (the last i heard) as a kind of guarantee that you will stay for the time that you say you will and they encourage you to fundraise
other than that they don't cover any other costs.. they are up to you..
room board transportation etc..
BUT i do think that out of all the volunteer places in peru (that i have done research on) AYNI is by far the best most reliable and positive one... perhaps i am wrong but it seems so anyway
plus they are canadian so it makes them better!!

[naturegirl321]

[misterbrownpants]

actually i think it has always been like that.. after they had (deserters)
i applied to do it 2 years ago.. and was going to do it.. but then changed course at the last minute..

what i do know is that its a grassroots organization.. there is no profit..
its a good cause

there is another one down here called adalente (it goes to other countries too) but from what i hear and see about it its looks pretty lame-o and a waste of money 5G's for 6 months!!! and that DOES NOT INCULDE your food or housing!!! but spanish lessons.. and placements in different places to work.... eg: teaching english

its WAY too much! in 1 year maybe i make that or a bit more! and can live happlily !!!!

just be careful