ing soil, planting and even building fences. It’s a way to
integrate into a community, says Lucas Weiss of Brooklyn, who has taken week- end trips to the Meadowstone Farm of Tim Wennrich, in Bethlehem, New Hamp- shire. 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 [agri- cultural] community.”
No gardening experience is re- quired, 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 see- ing 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 everyone 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 com- munity, even if they’re halfway around the world, they’re still humanity.” Find intriguing opportunities at
CharityGuide.org, CrossCulturalSolutions. org,
Earthwatch.org, GlobalVolunteers. org,
TransitionsAbroad.com, Travelocity. com/TravelForGood, VolunteerAdven
tures.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 a talk about a girls’ school in Afghani- stan. 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
poverty, to help organize talks and fundraisers 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 Christian groups to United Way, which has an Alternative Spring Break service program for teens (LiveUnit-
ed.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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