Going far to serve others
When one thinks of service, one might see it as reading numbers at bingo night at a rest home or reading to children at a school.
In Cache Valley there are many opportunities for students to serve in the local community, but what opportunities are there for students to serve at the global level?
USU has many different clubs and organizations that extend from different colleges, such as the College of Business to Engineers Without Borders, to the many different clubs and organizations that seek to help others in need worldwide.
“There are numerous opportunities for volunteering on campus,” said Kay Forsyth, study abroad director.
Despite the many different volunteer opportunities that USU students can participate in, there are hundreds of organizations that seek to better the world through volunteering abroad.
Students are the prime candidates for volunteering abroad because they can count some of their work for academic credit, perfect their resumes for grad school and later careers, and help students to get a wider view of the world and its conditions, according to Howard Berry, author of “The Global Voices.”
“Students go beyond simplistic notions of culture to encounter multidimensional levels of society and the human condition… They are forced to examine the complexities of social, economic, political, and moral issues and their causes,” Berry said when speaking about volunteering with the International Program Volunteer Association.
For students looking to be immersed in a cultural experience and wanting to help others on a global level, the following organizations seek to do just that.
Cross-Cultural Solutions
“Our vision is of a world where people value cultures different from their own, are aware of global issues, and are empowered to affect positive change,” the CCS mission statement declares on their main Web page.
CCS offers 20 volunteer opportunities in 12 countries. Volunteers can offer their time from two to 12 weeks. The price of volunteering ranges from $2664-$6414. This fee covers transportation, orientation, meals, bottled water, security, housing and a largely covers the cost of supporting the different facilities that CCS works through.
This organization gives people the opportunity to work with AIDS, children in orphanages, teaching, teaching English and with women empowerment, to name a few. This organization has been in existence since 1994.
To learn more about volunteering with CCS visit crossculturalsolutions.org.
United Planet
United Planet offers “short-term quests” spanning from one to 12 weeks working with education, social issues, orphanages, etc.
According to their Web site, www.unitedplanet.org, their program fee starts at $1295 covering orientation and training, meals, housing, insurance and more.
This organization declares on its Web site, “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” This motto proclaims the more people that there are involved in a cause, the greater difference they can make.
International Language Program
If a volunteer is seeking to get compensated by obtaining internship or academic credit for the work that they participate in and enjoy teaching, ILP might meet the volunteer’s needs.
The program fee is $2,320. Included in this price is airfare, visa, housing, meals, training and supervision. Volunteers can volunteer in Ukraine, Russia and China. Visit ILP.org
Global Crossroad
Global Crossroad focuses on Asian, African and Latin American countries. It offers two week mini-ventures. These include working on a volunteer project and classes help to educate an orient a person about the country that he or she is visiting as well as a 3 – 4 day tour of the tourist areas of the country.
This program fee starts at $555 and spans to 24 countries. This organization also offers paid volunteer opportunities.
To learn more go to www.globalcrossroad.com
International Volunteer HQ
This organization that has been around since 2007 is aimed at making volunteering generally affordable to those who care enough to participate as well as provide safe, high-quality programs and heighten awareness of international issues.
International Volunteer HQ offers programs that start at a rate of $470 for one week of service to $2440 for six months of service. IVHQ’s programs are stationed in eight countries and focus on AIDS/HIV, orphanage, medical and educational work.
International Volunteer Program Association
IVPA asks volunteers to ask themselves what their motivations are for volunteering abroad.
This organization was formed to help volunteers find other organizations that suit the volunteer.
Once they have found an organization through which they want to volunteer, IVPA helps them prepare for their trip by helping the volunteer know what to expect from the country and what needs to be done before departing.
For further information on volunteering internationally, visit volunteerinternational.org.
–beck.turner@aggiemail.usu.edu