AidCamps International

Short Term Volunteer Work Overseas on Third World Development Aid Projects

Group AidCamps

What's Involved

Group AidCamps are projects that enable you to unite with other volunteers to fund and help implement a larger community development aid project than you could by yourself.  These AidCamps usually provide a community building for local children, typically a village primary school, an orphanage, a resource centre, etc.

A Group AidCamp typically consists of 15-20 volunteers and lasts for three weeks.  You can join individually, or come with your partner or some friends.  While our group AidCamps attract a wide range of people and ages, you'll find that everyone has a certain commonality.

There's no "hard hat" work and you don't have to have any skills, experience, or muscles like a bricklayer.  The serious construction work is done before you arrive by local workers, funded by the AidCamp.  You'll be helping with the finishing work, usually plastering, painting, decorating, and other bits and pieces to get it from being four-walls-and-a-roof to a finished building.

As well as the voluntary work itself, all of our group AidCamps have an itinerary organised around them designed to familiarise you with the "real" country (as opposed to what the average tourist sees) and, appreciating that having gone so far you'd like to see at least a little of "the sights", we also take you to some of the more traditional natural and cultural heritage sites of the region.

Group AidCamps are offered as a package, with most in-country costs (accommodation, most food, ground transportation, excursions) included in the registration fee.  They are guided projects, led and coordinated by one of us from the UK who will be with you the whole time, from picking you up at the airport to taking you back there.

Itineraries

While the specifics vary according to the project and country, all of our group AidCamps follow the same general outline.

Arrival Weekend: we'll pick you up from the nearest international airport on the Saturday, and we'll be spending the first weekend somewhere not too far from there.  The main purpose of this weekend is jet-lag recovery to get you bright and sparky again for the next three weeks, but we will take the opportunity to take you on some local sightseeing as an introduction to the country.  On the Monday we will transfer to the AidCamp base, where the next three weeks follow a pattern.

Mornings: We know that most of you won't have specific skills nor be used to working in tropical climates, so we do the project work in the mornings, before it gets too hot, and we work side-by-side with skilled locals hired by the AidCamp, who both direct us and do anything we can't manage.  You'll work hands-on on the development aid project, but we don't intend to break anyone's back!

Afternoons: some afternoons we'll take you to visit other development aid projects run by our local partner organisations, so that you can get an appreciation of other difficulties of people in the area, and what's being done to help them.

Some afternoons we'll do some local familiarisation for you to get to know a little of the district of the people you are helping.  We may visit local scenic spots, nearby big towns, local markets, or just take a ride through the countryside.  It may be on foot or by vehicle.  We've even done it on bicycles and in ox-carts before!

Evenings: some evenings will be devoted to cultural matters so that you can walk away with a much more in-depth understanding of the country, its people, and their culture, than you would as an average visitor.  These will consist variously of talks by our local partner organisation on development aid issues in the region and on items of social culture that might be unfamiliar to you (e.g. arranged marriages, status of women, effects of the local religions), and occasionally we will have a cultural presentation, typically local songs and/or dances, so that you can experience some of the aesthetic side of the culture.

Free Time: some afternoons are free, to give you the opportunity to catch up with your laundry, play with the local kids, or just relax.  Similarly some evenings are free so you'll have the chance to enjoy the company of the group in a purely social setting.  In general, if there's an afternoon activity then the evening will be free and vice-versa, so there's some "chill out" time every day.

Weekends:  at weekends we take you a little further away to visit some of the more traditional cultural and natural heritage sites in the region, e.g. national parks, temples, palaces, cultural centres, monu­ment, etc.  We may also take the opportunity to visit some other development aid projects not accessible within an afternoon.

There are two weekend trips: a short weekend (2 days, 1 night) and a long weekend (3 days, 2 nights).  On these trips we stay in hotels and eat out.

Departure Weekend: we leave the AidCamp base on the last Friday and return to somewhere not too far from the airport (not always the same place as where we started), to give you what typically works out to be a day and a half to relax, buy souvenirs, do some casual sightseeing, or whatever you like, before we take you back to the airport for your flight home.

What's Included

To participate in a group AidCamp we ask you for a registration fee and a donation.  You can fundraise these or dig into your own bank account, we don't mind!

Most of the donation is used to buy the materials and hire the local workers needed to implement the development aid project, and is what makes it possible.  The AidCamp will therefore also provide employment opportunities for local craftsmen.  A small part goes towards keeping the charity going.

So, at the end of the day, as well as having helped hands-on to implement the project, you and the other volunteers will have the satisfaction of knowing that you've provided it, and without your participation and contribution it just wouldn't have happened, it's as simple as that.  That's what we mean by making your donation happen.

The registration fee includes all accommodation during the AidCamp, food while you are at the project base, all ground transportation from the collection point and back and everything in-between, and entrance and guides' fees for organised excursions.

Accommodation:  During the week, when we are working on the project, we stay in or near the community of the project, most typically in local houses that we take over and have to ourselves.  Sometimes we use local institutional buildings, hostels, or the facilities of our partner organisations.  You'll be sharing a room with up to several other volunteers of the same sex.

We're not into survival challenges; while conditions will be simple, and sometimes basic, we try and make you as comfortable as we can given the local environment.

We always provide beds and pillows, but you'll need to bring your own bedding; usually a sheet and a pillowcase is enough, sometimes a lightweight sleeping bag, and sometimes a mosquito net are needed.

Bathing facilities will often be a bucket of water and toilet facilities will usually be "eastern" style, although full privacy is always available for both.

You should check the description of each AidCamp for details of living conditions and what you'll need to bring.

At the weekends we put you up in local class hotels (not the Hilton!) and that's usually on a twin share basis with private shower and toilet, where available.

Food:  Food, and a local cook to prepare it, is provided when we're at the project base.  Breakfasts are of a western style, while most other meals are of a local nature.  We also provide clean drinking water and tea and/or coffee.

When we're off staying in hotels at weekends we leave you to do your own thing for food, basically so that we don't have to impose menus on you, and to give you the chance to make your own choices, rather than just having it put in front of you.  Eating out is really cheap in all of our project countries, so it's not much of an added expense for your culinary freedom at weekends!

The purchase of bottled drinks is up to you at all times.  If you have any special dietary requirements it's best that you talk to us before you sign up.  This doesn't apply to vegetarians, who we can always cater for.

Ground Transportation:  All ground transportation is included; from picking you up at the airport to taking you back there (assuming you arrive and leave on the relevant dates), and for all scheduled activities in-between.

Entrance and Guides' Fees:  These are also included in the registration fee for anywhere that we take you.  In some places parks, museums, temples, monuments, etc, charge a fee to let you take your camera in, and that's up to you.

Domestic Flights: Getting to some projects may require domestic flights which are not included and will be at your cost; check the description of each AidCamp to see if domestic flights are involved.

Other Practicalities

General Environment:  While we try and make you as comfortable as possible, given the local situation, you will be in a developing country, usually well off the regular "tourist trail", and conditions will often be basic.  An AidCamp is not a "Thomas Cook" style tour!

Available food is likely to be lacking in variety and transport is usually a long, slow, uncomfortable, and dusty experience in most developing countries.

As for emotional and psychological conditions, while you will find most of the people you will work with to be very friendly, you should be aware that you will be constantly surrounded by extreme poverty everywhere, and considerable squalor in the cities.

Housekeeping: We hire local domestic staff to take care of the day-to-day living tasks.  In order to lighten their load we organise a rota for volunteers to help them out with the housekeeping and in the kitchen.  You'll be "on duty" for typically one day each week, and it's mostly around meal times, so you won't miss out on any of the activities.

Laundry:  Where possible we try and provide some local help for doing laundry for a small charge.  However expect that you will do at least some, if not all, of your own washing of clothes. 

Spending Money:  You should bring a sum of at least £50 per week with you, which should be sufficient to cover your additional costs (unless you intend to go mad buying souvenirs!)

Flights:  While organising flights is your responsibility, we do a lot of research and will recommend to you the best flight we've found (from western Europe only) and, if you're UK based, the British travel agent where we found it the cheapest.

Whether you take that recommendation or not is up to you; the majority of our volunteers do, and fly out together.

Insurance: Travel health insurance is mandatory to attend any AidCamp.  The insurance should cover emergency repatriation costs and include an international emergency help line.

Visas: If you're a UK resident we'll send you the necessary visa forms.  If you're not then you should enquire with your local embassy.

Health: You'll be sent information on staying healthy, as well as a letter to your doctor listing the recommended vaccinations and prophylaxes for the region.  Your AidCamp coordinator is well experienced in the sort of ailments that affect short term tropical travellers, and carries a sizable medical kit.  We're never more than a few hours from a hospital, and usually much closer.

Kit List: You'll be sent a full kit list for your chosen project well before departure.  For the most part you'll only need to bring the things you'd normally take on any tropical "backpackers" journey, along with some protective items, such as gloves and dust masks, for the work.