Gap Year Volunteer Projects with Camps International

Gap Year Volunteering

Its nearly A’level results time in the UK, lots of students are wondering what comes next in their lives. You might be considering a few different paths from here on in. University now carries with it a huge financial burden but opens so many door to job prospects. Going straight from school to work doesn’t leave much room for traveling the world and taking part in the olympics might just be too late! So why not consider becoming a gap year volunteer.

The big question about gap year volunteering is. Do you want to see a bit of the world, open your mind and have something exciting to talk about in uni and work interviews? If the answer is yes then why not consider some volunteering on your travels. You don’t have to do it for a whole year, you can volunteer from 2 weeks to several months. There’s nothing wrong with kicking back and having fun after 11/12 years of study, but why not mix it up and do something amazing that will not only improve you as a person but give something back to those less fortunate.

Who Benefits?

Its very important to see what you can get out of it and how much of an impact you can make. The option to gain extra UCAS points for your university might be worth considering. If you complete the Cope Level 3 ASDAN award whilst on your trip you can reap the benefits applying for your university place. Are you going to fundraise for your trip? If you do like so many of our volunteers you will undertake a journey of challenge but with so much satisfaction at the end result. Any employer will look kindly on you if you have raised 1-2or 3 thousands pounds from your own innitiative. You will have sweated blood and tears to get there but the rewards will be incredible on your trip and in future life.

What about the work undertaken?

You only have to look around our project blog to see the huge variety of projects we undertake each year. Some of them last only a week (like mama house building in Tanzania and Kenya) whilst others can take years to complete. If you want to get involved in something bigger and multi dimensional than you are used to have a read through our pages and see for yourself. We have been working with some of our communities for 10 years and continue to grow the relationship because they want us to. We have helped build over 30 schools and planted nearly 700,000 trees. Camps International has never left a project unfinished even if we have no volunteers our foundation continues to pay local workmen to finish the job. Our gap year volunteers have recently returned to work in Mwalagangie Elephant sanctuary in Kenya and here’s how it went.

If you want to really understand read these blogs involving local  communities to see what they think about Camps and our amazing volunteers.

http://www.campsinternational.com/projectblog/2012/07/bridging-the-youth-gap/

 http://www.campsinternational.com/projectblog/2012/07/of-trees-demons-and-barbecued-goat/

This entry was written by James. Add to your Google+ circles.

Posted on Saturday, August 4th, 2012. Remember to leave a comment!