The New York Times Magazine featured a really interesting article this past weekend about careers and 20-somethings. The gist is this: The decade of your 20s was once seen as the beginning of adulthood — job, marriage and all the things that came with being a grown up. However, today’s 20-somethings, according to the article, [...]
Volunteering Abroad
Amigos de las Americas is an international volunteer organization for high school students that really speaks to me, not only because they work in Latin America, but because they have a truly awesome website. But is that reason enough to spotlight Amigos as a great organization with which to volunteer abroad? Probably not, but they have many other great things to offer.
WHO are they?
Amigos de las Americas (Amigos) is an international non-profit organization based in Houston, Texas whose mission is to “build partnerships to empower young leaders, advance community development and strengthen multicultural understanding in the Americas”. To date, more than 200,000 teenage volunteers have performed community service activities in locations throughout North and South America, primarily (but not exclusively) related to healthcare.
Before we round out the Visa Series, I wanted to share with you an article that I came across in Saturday’s New York Times. We have focused on things like types of volunteer jobs, logistics of volunteer jobs and great places to volunteer abroad, and while we have touched upon the benefits a bit, we haven’t gone into detail about how to leverage a volunteer experience for things like getting a job or getting into college.
On Friday we became a little more familiar with tourist visas – the basic visas that most travelers can either get at the border or apply for in advance if they don’t plan on earning any income. But since this is called the JobMonkey Blog, many of us need to know about the other kind of visa – the work visa.
Earlier this summer, we talked a bit about the logistics of working abroad – essentially the nuts and bolts of finding (and keeping) a job abroad. This stuff (like airline tickets and insurance) isn’t exactly riveting, it is essential. The last thing that you want in a foreign country is to have to spend your time filling out paperwork and visiting the embassy for things that you could have dealt with before you left.
When natural disasters strike, like the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, tsunamis in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand and hurricanes in Louisiana and other gulf states, people are often spurred into action. Some open their wallets, and others seek more hands-on ways to help through volunteering and service.
With all of this soccer fever (who isn’t constantly checking World Cup results and standings?) the world’s eyes appear to be on South Africa. And the country on Africa’s cape has plenty to be proud of! In addition to hosting the world’s most popular sports championship, South Africa is growing in popularity for those who want to travel abroad, for work, volunteering, study or leisure. Have you thought about working or volunteering abroad in South Africa? If so, read on!
