In rural areas of Ghana, the Student and Youth Travel Organization (SYTO) works to arrange volunteering trips, internships, homestays and cultural exchanges for foreign visitors. To reach and get around the most remote and underserved villages of rural Ghana, these visitors need transportation on which they can rely; however, they often find that there is nothing suitable in their village destinations.

By Leanne Haigh, Project Development Manager at Acacia Africa

Voluntourism has generated a new wave in travel, the growing feel good factor creating opportunities for the everyday traveller and not just the career minded charity worker. But the question remains, can you make a difference when you’re a short-term tourist?

Fundacion Chacras de Buenos Aires works with local community members who are vulnerable to various social circumstances and are in need of support in areas such as social reintegration, psychiatric assistance, protection against rural isolation and gender discrimination. Working with volunteers, Chacras de Buenos Aires runs a program called “Sembrando Vida,” (“Planting Life”) to support Psicoasistencial Hospital Josá Tiburcio BORDA in Buenos Aires.

By Lisa Andersen and Robert Wake-Walker

Voluntario Global is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development of local grassroots community projects in Latin America. It has 17 projects currently running in Buenos Aires as well as Jujuy, Bariloche, Misiones and Villagrande in Bolivia. This article covers ideas, challenges and opportunities related to Voluntario Global’s work, based on conversations with three partners and supporters of this important cause.

By Teresa Berninger

Projects like the Al Auja Environmental Center give hope, by increasing people’s independence and resilience by promoting water management strategies and water saving techniques. One such example is our grey water recycling systems. Waste water is collected, treated, and reused. Since this type of waste water system was installed at the local mosque and people realized how beneficial it is, many private households have started using the system.

By Kim Houghton, Marketing Manager, African Impact

Volunteering offers an opportunity to see and experience a culture in a way that’s not possible through conventional travel. By visiting parts of the world not available as a normal holiday destination, you become immersed into a local community. No longer bystanders on the side of the road, volunteers, with dirty hands and broad smiles, are integrated into the local community in a way they would not have been before.

By Aaron Smith, Founder, GoVoluntouring

Thinking about Volunteering on your trip? Sure you’ve given it enough thought? Some of us look for opportunities that balance more contemporary comforts within their experiences, while others look for more ‘iconically’ representative options, which can be hosted in more challenging and/or intimate environments. Either way, there are only two pillars of decision making, and they are based on how an organization’s philosophical and operational standards match with your personal needs and interests.

Projects in Kenya, Peru, Sri Lanka and Brazil have been announced as the winners of the first Travel2change idea challenge. Since its launch late April 2011, over 500 members joined the travel2change online community, and submitted around 60 innovative project proposals. The submitted ideas were evaluated based on creativity, effectiveness, impact, feasibility and sustainability. The four winning projects were awarded on July 17, 2011 by a jury of experts and will be realized in the coming months, thanks to the support of the travel partner Kuoni.

Volunteer Tourism: Seeking Experiences that Make a Difference by Dr. Wearing, Senior Lecturer, University of Technology, and Dr Lyons, University of Newcastle, will be published by CABI in 2012. Concentrating on the experience of the volunteer tourist and the host community, this new edition builds on the view of volunteer tourism as a positive and sustainable form of tourism to examine a broader spectrum of behaviors and experiences and consider critically where the volunteer tourist experience both compliments and collides with host communities.

By Kelly Austria

Inspired by our treks and visits to mountain communities, in 2007 we formed a group based on a shared common love for nature and compassion for the kids living in these mountains. We decided to hike on a new trail, and called our group TREK, or Trails to Empower Kids. Our first outreach program was held in the mountainous province of Benguet, in the municipality of Itogon, Philippines.