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Volunteer for a holiday

If the thought of a fortnight spent acquiring a tan on a beach somewhere doesn't appeal anymore, why not try volunteering on a holiday where you'll be helping the community you visit?

i-to-i is a not-for-profit organisation which helps set up volunteer schemes across the globe. You can teach in English in Costa Rica, do media work in Korea, build homes in Sri Lanka or apply your medical training in Mongolia.

Whatever you choose to do, you're guaranteed an eye-opening time. A change is as good as a rest, as they say. So, a fortnight spent building a house instead of destroying your liver might be just what the doctor ordered.

Teaching English abroad

"After only a week in the class I knew it would be heart-breaking to leave. It is strange to think how nervous I was of teaching such a short time ago."

Kirsty, Sri Lanka, 2001

There`s no better way to experience the culture of a country than by spending time with its people and passing on what you know. Your native English speaking skills are in high demand. Teaching English placements include thorough TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) training and organised reliable teaching projects to give you a travel experience unlike any other.

Regardless of your age or academic background, our well-respected and intensive 40-hour TEFL course and TEFL workshop gives you the confidence and know-how to stand up in front of your first English class. For those unable to attend a live course, we now offer a 40-hour online TEFL course.

We'll also help you get started with a book of tried and trusted English teaching activities. And with trained TEFL tutors at our headquarters in Leeds on hand to answer any questions, we'll make sure you are prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

Teaching English placements range from orphanages, kindergartens, primary schools, special needs schools, secondary schools, business and technology schools, universities and community co-operatives in 14 countries year-round.

Community Development

Work in the community where it is really needed; in orphanages, schools, residential homes and with street kids. Care work or community development involves formative activities from afternoon sports to teaching arts and crafts to deaf children.

"When they see you coming, the kids hang off you like Christmas tree ornaments."

Our i-Venturers (volunteers) are committed and enthusiastic; able to make a difference, no matter how small, to a young person's life.

All volunteers on care work and community development projects overseas will benefit from i-to-i TEFL training to assist them in their care work activities. Some community development projects abroad may involve teaching English informally.

Conservation

A conservation i-Venture abroad is more than simply spending time in an exotic location. You could be involved in wildlife conservation, envioronmental conservation or heritage conservation.

Whether our volunteers bring specific skills to tailor-made conservation projects or good old-fashioned elbow grease and enthusiasm, i-to-i volunteers perform grass-roots work in essential conservation projects on five continents.

Volunteers with practical experience in related disciplines are especially welcome, although conservation experience is not essential. Many of the techniques can be learned on the job, from counting fledgling sea turtles before their release into the Caribbean Sea, or preparing saplings to preserve the rapidly diminishing cloud forests in Ecuador.

The projects offer you the chance to make the most of your existing skills and develop new ones. With this in mind, and the nature of the work and location, conservation i-Venturers may have to cope in remote and challenging environments. Applicants should have a high degree of self-reliance and a real interest in the project.

We are developing new conservation projects all the time with our partners in the developing world to offer our volunteers an unparalleled range of conservation places.

Building

See the physical fruits of your labours by building schools and homes where none existed before.

Working alongside the local people, you assist in every process, from the layout of designs of basic buildings to constructing ovens and putting the finishing touches to roofs. Experts with different building techniques are on-hand, using the materials and resources they have available.

i-to-i volunteer building projects overseas real hands on placements, so if you are not fit already, you soon will be.

Media

La Paz, Bolivia
Journalism: Write features for one of the most respected English-language newspapers in Latin America. Excellent media experience.

Bangalore and Calcutta, India
Journalism and Media: Volunteers contribute to journals/periodicals and work in a wide variety of media (theatre, TV, photography and community net) with a dynamic, young NGO whose focus is raising awareness of how IT can help improve the lives of the disadvantaged.

Colombo, Sri Lanka
Journalism: Write articles as a freelance journalist at one of two leading English-language newspapers. Applicants must show journalistic or related media experience.

Accra, Ghana
Radio: Help in production, copy writing and broadcasting at a young, lively Accra based radio station. One of our most exciting media projects.

Journalism: Working in a staff of 30, you will be involved in the research and writing of articles, covering environment issues, economics, politics, or sport.

Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
Journalism: Keep busy with the crucial editing and proofreading of stories that cover the economy, politics, culture and sports. There also may be opportunities for feature-writing or photojournalism.

Television: Volunteers at the studio take on a very hands-on role assisting the Director with film production, taking part in editing work.

Honduras
Journalism: Work with an independent English-language newspaper based in Tegucigalpa. The only paper of its kind in Honduras, it has a readership that extends widely throughout Latin America. This is the perfect volunteer media project for the aspiring journalist.

Television: Gain hands-on experience in all aspects of broadcasting at the largest Honduras television station with studios in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.

Health

Are you hoping to get experience in health and medicine? Are you a medical student? Are you a practising doctor? We have volunteer health and medicine placements to satisfy your needs and specialisations.

As an i-Venturer, you will be providing hands-on volunteer assistance where it is needed the most. Your help and enthusiasm will be welcomed enormously at a rural paediatric clinic in Honduras, poly-clinics and hospitals in Ghana and a small Indian clinic with a mobile facility. You`ll face tough cases and need to be extremely conscientious when working in this field, but the effort you put in will pale in comparison to the positive effects of your contribution.

Whatever your experience in health and medicine, you could be making a world of difference to someone's life.

Remember, i-to-i health and medicine overseas volunteer projects are in need of experienced and non-experienced volunteers.

Skills development

Skills Development volunteer projects abroad develop your skills in the areas of Media, Health and Tourism.

They also allow people who already have experience to pass on their skills in professional environments, and often without the necessity of knowing a foreign language.

Experience of development projects look great on a CV, and may be your introduction to a new career in advertising, marketing, eco-tourism or even heritage management.

Some skills development projects will require previous skills and experience, but others will require our volunteers to show the willingness and capacity to develop new skills.

For more details on future volunteer schemes, visit www.i-to-i.com.

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