Wondering what to do after leaving school ? You could join The Chinese Friendship Soc and involve yourself in some of the aide projects listed on our National Web site.
But obviously there are more choices than this and the Internet has a wealth of information. Many people want to do more than just travel, they want to make a positive contribution to the communities they visit. Often known as voluntourism.
A good summary of overseas volunteering is covered in the Lonely Planet book; Volunteer a Tourist Guide available at your local book store.
My interest in overseas volunteering was prompted by someone who did a gap year in Cambodia teaching English, she paid a small amount of money to register with the organisation https://www.gooverseas.com/ the organisation refers you to volunteer groups all over the world. You build up a resume in New Zealand and from there you apply for volunteer projects overseas. The idea is that by paying a small registration fee you get referred to Professional aide organisations so wouldn’t be faced with the shortfalls of amateur organisations.
Another recommended site requiring a registration fee was https://www.workaway.info/signup-en.html (warning slow to load).
A final suggestion is to go to https://nz.pinterest.com/ and search for “ Voluntourism” it displays popular volunteer organisations with stories and attractive photos. Pinterest doesn’t require registration and gives a more interesting interface than Google.
I hope this has helped your planning for your gap year !.
