How Do You Volunteer Professional Services? 366
keefus_a writes "My wife and I usually take a week long vacation in the Spring and I tossed out the idea of volunteering abroad. Neither of us has a problem with doing manual labor, or whatever task is needed. However, I thought it might be of some value, and substantially more rewarding than our daily grind, if we could volunteer our professional services (I'm a network guy and my wife has a master's degree in counseling). The problem is that I haven't found any resources for doing so on a short-term basis. So I ask Slashdot. Has anyone ever done short-term volunteer work in your professional field? What organization did you contact? Or are we better off donating money to a particular cause and just working on a tan?"
Google is your friend! (Score:4, Informative)
Short-term volunteering (Score:2, Informative)
There are companies that do this (Score:3, Informative)
The French have a word for this: it's called a 'congé solidaire' (holiday in solidarity?) which makes it easy to google. I believe the French government actually grants citizens the right to take time off to donate time to support economic development in select countries, so there's an entire mini-industry supporting this in France. If by some chance you speak French, you might try googling congé solidaire and see what comes up. I see Routard has a site [routard.com] about this kind of vacation. I know there are also Swedish companies that specialize in volunteer holidays abroad.
English-language companies also exist that do this kind of thing. VSO [vso.org.uk] in England is a large organization that arranges volunteer work abroad for non-experts (I mean people who don't have local knowledge or an expertise in charitable work). Instead of looking for someone who specializes in working holidays, which may in some cases be more good intention than good works, try talking to a volunteer abroad organization. You will be far from the only ones asking about short stints. Maybe you can negotiate something with them. You might be able to use your skills or you might not, only someone who has more specific knowledge about volunteer abroad programs will be able to tell you. Keep in mind that there's often a sunk cost for sending out volunteers, which is why there's more demand for people willing to make longer-term commitments.
I haven't heard of any companies that specifically cater to the technically inclined.
Doing service brings joy in life! (Score:4, Informative)
The International Association for Human Values is a large organization actively doing phenomenal work around the globe with very little overhead, but they are little-known in the US. Disaster relief, youth empowerment, forums for peace dialogs, community developemnt, environmental action, and rural education are some of the focuses of the organization.
I've volunteered for a few organizations, and I've found that IAHV volunteers are consistently not only driven and hard-working, but also peaceful and wonderful to work with during the day.
http://iahv.org/get_involved.asp [iahv.org]
http://iahv.org/show_address.asp?country=United%20States [iahv.org]
(flash warning... some pages work fine with gnash)
What do you get more of, the more you give away? Love.
Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have a wonderful time.
Re:Easy... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Church (Score:4, Informative)
The truth is, God loves homosexuals as much as he loves anyone. None of us are perfect, and all are forgiven.
All are forgiven? I don't recall reading that all people (I assume that's what you meant) are forgiven in the Bible.
Since this will inevitably lead to a fire storm of misinformation about Christianity please first read the following basic and universal Christian doctrines (or axioms if you will) before commenting. Note that I use the word 'axiom' deliberately here (ie: they are given w/o proof):
1. God loves everyone (no ifs ands or buts)
2. God wants His children to become like Him
3. God is perfect
4. None of us are perfect (this is the dilemma)
5. Christ takes upon Him the consequences of mankind's sins
6. Christ is now qualified to redefine terms to return to God
7. Christ teaches that all who repent are forgiven
8. Christ teaches that He is the one who determines whether or not someone is forgiven
Misinformation about Christianity can almost always be tied back to a misunderstanding (or ignoring) of one of these core and universal axioms. Different Christian sects branch off of these as primarily as they strive to understand and come to different conclusions about points 5-8.
Before reading someone's rantings about Christianity (for or against) and making a hasty generalisation about all Christians, first check what they are saying against these core axioms (whether or not you agree with the axioms themselves). I've been surprised doing this how much misinformation is out there.
Re:Easy... (Score:1, Informative)
+1 :(