Out of Africa: Sometimes a little wanderlust can lead to some major personal growth. And the good news is, your kid doesn’t need a trust fund to traverse the globe. All he needs is a little ingenuity and a willingness to work. </p>
<p>InterExchange is his ticket to Ghana, where he’ll have a chance to work with preschool or primary school children. From distributing and collecting library books, to assisting with after school activities, to teaching kids in the classroom, this is a bird’s eye view into a peaceful and welcoming country. And the entire cost (which includes food, housing, and assistance) is $2,945 for the year. Students just need to get themselves there. </p>
<p>Sounds like a wonderful experience. I do wonder, however, how many rising college freshmen are mature enough and independent enough to spend an entire year in a foreign country thousands of miles from their home. I know I wasn’t that mature/independent. Hats off to those who are!</p>
<p>Also, it is pretty misearable living there and a good chance to contract a disease for the rest of your life. It is not romantic at all as it might sound. If somebody wants to help, there are plenty of opportunities in the United States. And it will give a warm feeling of giving back to your own country that has been taken care of you.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say it’s a “good chance” to contract a disease for the rest of your life. I spent a good part of my childhood in Africa and neither I nor any of my family contracted anything serious. You get your shots, you take your malaria pills, you don’t drink unboiled water and you should be fine.</p>
<p>Personal growth, to help others, to travel and see part of the world that many other people ignore, to learn about another culture… yeah, none of those are serious reasons to do anything! Geez louise!</p>
<p>Travel in itself is good; to live elsewhere even better. And to be useful, too; well, that sounds like a great experience to be had to me.</p>
<p>How about to acquire an in-depth knowledge of a culture that’s vastly different from your own? Or to gain an understanding of your place in the world? Or to help those who are dealing with almost insurmountable problems such as AIDS, abject poverty, and xenophobia?</p>
<p>My daughter participated in a similar program in Africa as a rising college sophomore. She says it changed her life. She did not contract any life-threatening illnesses.</p>
<p>(My daughter’s trip was 100% tax-deductible.)</p>
<p>All of the above experiences and in particular helping people could happen on American soil. But if somebody wants to spend $3000 and a year of their life, thanks goodness we are in free country that let us do whatever we want with our money and time.</p>
<p>Thank goodness that we ARE in a free country that allows us to do whatever we want with our money and time. So you don’t feel the need to help those who aren’t quite as privileged as we are? I see where you see the issue with helping people with our resources and our knowledge and our vaccines. I can see how that’s a waste of time and money educating people who don’t have everything we have.</p>
<p>…MiamiDAP… It’s people like you that make me wish I wasn’t American. And as someone who seems to be “all about America,” you do realize that as an American you “should” feel the need to push your beliefs and help others in less fortunate areas, regardless of whether they want it or not. Oy vey… American ideals…</p>
<p>I can’t tell which parts of this are serious and which parts are satirical.</p>
<p>Are you saying that everyone should be interventionist in the US because that’s apparently what “American Ideals” are, yet you seem to loathe those ideas and are ridiculing someone that also doesn’t believe in them?</p>
<p>No, I’m not saying everyone should be interventionist. I’m satirizing American Ideals and MiamiDAP American superiority and isolationist complex, however, I’m nothing if not an avid believer in helping people, regardless of Americanism.</p>
<p>Many (if not most) of the participants in these overseas programs are also avid volunteers in the United States. Volunteering in under-developed and developing nations, however, imparts a level of knowledge and experience that just isn’t possible with domestic volunteer work.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with you that international volunteer work isn’t for everyone. The conditions are often harsh, and volunteers may experience things that require a certain level of maturity to handle appropriately.</p>
<p>You also said:</p>
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<p>What you’re failing to see is that you ARE giving something important back to the US by volunteering overseas. These placements foster understanding and tolerance between different cultures, which, in turn, advances peace and cooperation between nations in the future.</p>
<p>Dude. That is a DEAL to spend $3,000 a year to volunteer and live in Ghana. Your basic needs are covered- meals, housing, airport pick-up, orientation.. and of course, travel insurance. Obviously, $3,000 isn’t enough to live on in the US but Ghana has much lower standard of living so in comparison, you can’t be the cost of living. I lived in Israel for 7 months. I was able to stay on longer because its cost of living allowed me to stretch my dollar and I don’t regret it at all. Had I gone to Europe, I would be waving London good-bye within 3 months.</p>
<p>But yes, it does take a certain amount of maturity and ability to forego luxury. By being able to do this, you’ll certainly see how rich life can be without tv and a Porsche just by appreciating what you have to survive on and the company of others.</p>
<p>So, MiamiDAP, would you consider study abroad not worthwhile as well? I personally think more kids (and adults) need to get out to areas where the USA isn’t the first country to pop up on the daily news. Travel only lets one experience it so much. Spending a longer time in one place and feeling like part of a foreign community can be very rewarding.</p>
<p>My daughter loves Ghana.
The people are friendly and good spirited, they are fond of Americans ( although they differentiate between " americans" and their govt).</p>
<p>That isn’t a bad fee. D already has a job and place to stay, but I would like to have some additional contacts in case of glitches, especially if the larger group isn’t able to go with her.</p>
<p>I liked the article’s focus on different options for many different areas of interest. I’ll add one more: [International</a> Workcamps, Voluntary Service Projects, Volunteers for Peace](<a href=“http://www.vfp.org/]International”>http://www.vfp.org/)</p>
<p>The organization is based in Vermont and places volunteers all over the world, in developed as well as developing countries. I learned of it through my daughter, who is on a short-term volunteer assignment in Lithuania, and someone from her floor at school is working this summer in Germany with VFP. VFP coordinates with local agencies, and there is a $300 fee per project, with terms as short as one week as well as longer term projects. The $300 seems to be basically administrative costs; volunteers pay their own transportation and in some cases also a small additional fee (in some of the poorer countries or where the co-sponsoring agency needs some additional money to cover volunteers’ boarding costs). I do not believe it includes insurance. </p>
<p>The website’s list of open projects is easy to search by country and desired term of service. I’ve had a few text messages from my daughter, and she’s having a great time. She’s in a camp teaching English and computer skills, working with two partners from Finland and France. We live in Germany, so it was a cheap RyanAir flight away, and a good way to fill two weeks before her regular job starts.</p>
<p>When D was first considering VFP, I put out a query on CC looking for someone with some experience with the program and had a reply from someone who recommended contacting the cooperating agency in question, since VFP is really just the go-between. I think that is good advice–I don’t intend this to be a blanket endorsement, but the particular program my daughter is experiencing is very satisfying to her.</p>
<p>csleslie51,
My D. decided that she cannot afford to study abroad for time/classes scheduling considerations even though it is free for her in a summer as part of Honors program deal. I do not see much benefits but I never expressed any opinions to her, I let her to decide. Her position might change and she might want to go in a future and I will object to it at all. It is her life. She has plenty of experinces of different cultures here in US and she has 4 languages (her major IS NOT related to foreign languages). She has gone abroad also. Nothing special for her. She is spending her summer now volunteering here in her hometown and very happy to have this opportunity and very much appreciates living at home after staying in dorm at college.</p>