Although scores of home-swapping websites offer to help streamline and vet potential swaps, she chose to post her ad on Craigslist. A 20-something Frenchman responded; he wanted to visit his girlfriend who was staying in San Francis- co. Jones notes that it’s important to both trust the person with whom you’re swapping and to set ground rules.
WWOOFing The World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (wwoof.
org) movement matches eco-conscious urbanites with organic farms around the world. You stay for free and receive some meals from the farmer host, repaying him by weeding, prepar- ing soil, planting and even building fences. It’s a way to inte-
grate into a commu- nity, says Lucas Weiss of Brooklyn, who has taken weekend trips to the Meadowstone Farm of Tim Wennrich, in
Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Staying in a farmer’s house and eating with the family gave him a taste of life he wouldn’t have experienced if he had stayed in a motel or bed and breakfast. “We got to see first-hand how much work can get done when you have four extra hands,” says Weiss. “You really get to see the inner workings of the [agricultural] community.” No gardening experience is required, but come prepared
to work up to six hours a day, for several days. You may need to bring your own tent or sleeping bag.
Voluntourism Brooke Bailey was
new to both yoga and volunteer work in 2006, but after seeing the devastation Hurricane Katrina wrought in New
Orleans in 2005, she decided to do something. Bailey sched- uled her yoga training sessions around days spent participating in the demolition, cleaning, painting and renewal work the city so desperately needed. It was her first volunteer sojourn, but it hasn’t been her last.
Bailey reports that the effort was life-changing for every-
one involved: “I really learned about giving just to give and not expecting anything in return. I realized that even if they aren’t literally my community, even if they’re halfway around the world, they’re still humanity.” Find intriguing opportunities at
CharityGuide.org, Cross-
CulturalSolutions.org,
Earthwatch.org,
GlobalVolunteers.org,
TransitionsAbroad.com,
Travelocity.com/TravelForGood, Volun-
teerAdventures.com and
Voluntourism.org.
Philanthrotourism Jill Gordon had been volunteering in inner-city Chicago
schools teaching literacy for years when a friend invited her to July 2010 27
a talk about a girls’ school in Afghanistan. That’s when she knew she wanted to take her volunteer work global. First, Gordon joined the Chicago
Women’s Initiative of CARE (
care.org), a nonprofit organization fighting global pov- erty, to help organize talks and fund raisers for education programs; she saw some of that money at work later, when she visited remote areas of Peru. A few years ago, she visited rural India, where CARE funds schools and nutrition programs, and she was allowed to feed infants their first bites of solid food in a Hindu Annaprashan (first rice-eating) ceremony. “I don’t know if I would have gone to India, otherwise,” remarks Gordon. “I just loved meeting the real people in India, the kids and the mothers groups. We got to see what India’s really like.” Many nonprofits offer these kinds of travel, from Chris- tian groups to United Way, which has an Alternative Spring Break service program for teens (
LiveUnited.org/asb). To find a program that suits your interests, ask groups that you support if they offer such trips and how they’re funded, so more of your time, treasure and talent goes to the people who need it.
Heather Boerner, a freelancer based in San Francisco, CA, is a contributing writer for
Gaiam.com. Contact her at Heather-
Boerner.com.
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