Best Volunteer Abroad Programs

Volunteer Organization in Costa Rica, Ghana, China, India, Kenya, Bolivia, Kenya and More

Volunteer is a Volunteer Service Organization that operates at a local level in the countries where we place volunteers. Our small organization was founded in 2006 by Nathaniel Manu after he volunteered in Thailand. While researching his volunteer abroad program, Nathaniel was shocked by the high prices that companies and non-profit organizations (NGOs) were charging to people who wanted to volunteer abroad.

During his placement and subsequent employment in the volunteer abroad industry, he envisaged the idea of affordable, yet great value volunteer working holidays abroad. The basic concept was that if you have to pay to volunteer abroad then it should not cost a fortune; and it was from this basic idea that Volunteer was born.

Great Value Volunteer Abroad Programs

We offer comprehensive volunteer abroad projects that do not compromise on the quality of service, whilst offering unparalleled and affordable prices! We can do this because we are specifically set-up to offer great value. We achieve this by operating exclusively online and running a nearly paperless and environmentally friendly office. This means you will not see our booths at graduate, student, or travel fairs, nor on TV. Plus we will not post you shinny colorful printed brochures as we do not believe in spending your hard earned money on this type of administrative cost. All of our documentation and administrative duties are produced in electronic format.

Contribute to International Development and Cross Culture Exchange

In addition to our great prices we also understand that a 4 week volunteer vacation will not change the world. Even a one year volunteer placement if not implemented correctly can do little to change and influence the lives of communities worldwide. But we also understand that every little bit helps towards the larger picture of development and cultural exchange.

We know that our programs are part volunteer service and part holiday. So our programs are evenly balanced with time set aside for work and to play. Most of our projects are based on a four day working week to allow time for work yet to also allow sufficient time for true cultural exploration and adventure.

Thus our motto: You volunteer, You play your part!

The work that you do as a volunteer, however small it may seem, is part of a large effort of travelling and whilst giving something back to the counties that we visit. This type of responsible travelling also has the additional advantage of bringing you closer to the people of the country, and as a result enabling better cultural understanding and exchange.

Program Destinations

COSTA RICA - GHANA - THAILAND We run our flagship programs in these three countries. Our offices are also located in these countries and are always within walking distances of our volunteer dorms. These local offices act as our regional operational centres for our other programs based in these continents.

We can also place volunteers programs in any of the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Thailand

Projects range from: teaching English, teaching sports, construction, animal and wildlife conservation, environmental conservation, media and journalism, work in orphanages and childcare, special needs education and teaching computing and IT.

Program Accomodations

The majority of our volunteers are accommodated in our volunteer dorms. We do this so that you have plenty of opportunity to meet other volunteers. Many of our volunteers make friends for life! We can also offer host family accommodation that sleeps 3 to 4 volunteers at a time.

Our dorms are always full of volunteers and create an atmosphere to meet other travellers to explore in your host-country. Our dorms usually accommodate between 8 - 16 volunteers, sleeping in bunks, hostel styled. We have local members of staff who cook food right in the comfort of your home. Our local dorm and team members act as your family away from home. They will socialise with you and also manage your stay whilst in the project country.

Our Low Cost Volunteer Abroad Program Fees

Our program fees can be as low as $765 for a 2-week placement and up to $2000 for 12 weeks. The average cost of our 12-week program is comparable to what some organisations charge for just 4 weeks. And in many cases you will end up in the same project as other organisations who charge much more will send you.

But this does not mean we compromise on quality of our service to you.

All Our Programs Include:

• Airport pick-up service
• 24H Host country coordination
• Dormitory or Home Stay Accomodation
• 2-3 meals a day
• In country staff
• Host country orientation:
• 24/7 Emergency International Hotline
• Certification of Participation
• Volunteer Donations For Selected Project
• Travel Insurance Coverage: Read Full Policy Details

What is not included in our program fees:

• Flights
• Visa costs
• in-country transportation

We are often asked how we can offer so much and yet keep our prices so low? We can do so because, we are Committed to being a low cost volunteer abroad program. We employ several cost reducing methods such as situating our offices and administrative duties in the regions where we place our volunteers. This gives us the benefit of being able to closely monitor our volunteers and projects, whilst providing employment for the local community and savings on western office overheads.

We employing our staff locally and also from our great pool of alumni volunteers, this gives us the additional advantage of having team that is very knowledgeable at the local level yet internationally trained.

See: How your Program Fees are Spent

Social Media

Become a part of our Volunteer family and join our social life! Meet future and former volunteers, on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter and other online networks.

Volunteer Group

Volunteer is a social enterprise registered in Costa Rica with our main offices in sunny San Ramon, Costa Rica. Our organization shares its different administrative duties with our network of local teams. So our marketing is done in the USA, with design commissioned in England and accountancy in Thailand.

Volunteer LLC (USA), uVolunteer Service Agency SA (Costa Rica) are all members of the Volunteer group and are all registered in their respectively countries.

uVolunteer is a Volunteer Programs company. Our main offerings include: Volunteer in Argentina, Volunteer in Ghana, Volunteer in Thailand, Volunteer in Malawi and in other countries throughout the world.