If you’re someone who has everything they could ever want, one of the best gifts to receive is the satisfaction of doing something great for a worthy cause. Numerous organizations offer opportunities to use your talents to experience a new culture and give back this holiday season and throughout the year. Fly in a private jet to one of these destinations, and give back this year.
Empower Women in Ghana
Global Vision International, or GVI, offers women’s empowerment programs that support local organizations in promoting gender equality. The programs increase access to education, improve employment opportunities, and enhance quality of life to help participants support themselves and their families. In this program, you may help women with professional-skill development, health improvements, education, or career development.
Help Children in Costa Rica
While Costa Rica is on the cutting edge in regard to sustainability, technology, medical care, and education, it is still a third-world country. When you lend your time and talents through International Volunteer HQ, you’ll support efforts related to improving outcomes for young people of diverse backgrounds in San José or Manuel Antonio. You’ll help children get a jump-start on their education in a fun, supportive environment. You might work one-on-one with kids, help with homework, and organize activities. You may also work with children from immigrant communities facing poverty and homelessness. If you’re interested in education, opportunities to help students learn English are also available during the school year (February to December).
Work with Elephants
If you have a big heart for animals, One World 365 links you to a variety of opportunities to work with fauna around the world. The award-winning Namibian Desert Elephant Project through The Great Projects, for example, gets you up close with desert elephant populations that are part of conservation projects. You’ll help in-country teams with activities such as constructing walls to protect water sources, tracking and monitoring elephants and educating others about the value of elephant conservation.
Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary in northern Thailand offers a change of scenery while helping wild elephant populations grow. As an Elephant Research Intern, you’ll work Monday through Friday collecting and entering data, assisting visitors, and giving presentations.
Teach Sports in Kerala, India
Promote sportsmanship, self-confidence teamwork, physical fitness, and education by working with children and their teachers in Kerala, another opportunity by GVI. The program teaches kids a range of sports, including cricket, tens, netball, soccer, and football. At the same time, you’ll help them develop their English-speaking skills. You may also work on physical activities for kids with disabilities.
Care for Sled Dogs in Canada
Frontier gives you the opportunity of a lifetime if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about dog sledding. The unique experience places you anywhere between Canada’s Rocky Mountains and the northern Arctic for two weeks to three months. During the project, you’ll help a small family-run husky ranch that needs volunteer year-round. This opportunity involves feeding, grooming and walking dogs; maintaining the ranch; gardening; preparing dogsled tracks; dog sledding and snowmobiling during the winter; hiking during the summer; and exploring one of the last wildernesses in the world.