Volunteer Travel Opportunities
Going on an international volunteer holiday is something that many of us may think of doing, but an experience that only a minority actually undertake. If you have ever spoken to someone who has done it – combine travelling and volunteering – they will probably tell you how life-changing and incredible the experience is.
Holiday Tours and Travel, a company with 48 years of well-renowned expertise in the travel and tourism industry is an organisation that can help put together inspiring volunteer travel opportunities under the helm of May Wong, Chief Operating Officer of the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) team.
May says, “In this day and age, many people are opting for travel experiences that are more meaningful and sustainable. Here at HTT, we work to connect travellers to causes. We champion collaborative partnerships that will increase our opportunity to create more impact. The groups we strive to help are the B40 community, refugees, people with disabilities (PWD), single parents and their children.”
Note: B40 represents the bottom 40% of Malaysian household income, whilst M40 represents the middle 40% and T20 represents the top 20%.
Here are 5 Great Reasons why you should Consider a Volunteer holiday
1. You Will Be Making A Real Difference
In this modern-day hamster wheel of life, it can be hard to feel like we are making any real impact.
Good deeds like helping an elderly person up a flight of stairs, buying someone in need food and drink, and giving someone a listening ear and shoulder to cry on – these are all selfless acts that we should do and they do help.
But what if your impact was not just temporary – what if it not only changed someone’s day but changed their life?
Volunteer travel opportunities can change lives for the better.
Through education, medical care, or community improvement, your volunteer work has the potential to become the most significant and impactful deed you have ever undertaken, surpassing any other achievement you have or will accomplish.
2. You Get To Experience A True Sense Of Community
A huge part of volunteer travel is getting involved with the people you are there to help.
Depending on how long you decide to volunteer and travel, whether it is weeks or months, you will get to know and become part of a community.
The most vulnerable and struggling communities are often the smallest, and after a short period, you will know who everybody is and everybody will know who you are. These relationships become very close-knit and can feel like being part of an extended family.
3. Go Abroad, Gain A Whole New Perspective
Volunteer travel opportunities can give you a whole new perspective on life.
Life – well, it can be just too much at times. Your work, family, relationships, physical and mental health – these are all daily stressors that can leave you feeling overwhelmed with no breathing space.
After your volunteer holiday, you will probably return home with a new understanding and appreciation for what you have.
The distance itself not only helps you to see things clearly but to witness the plight of those in some of the poorest nations on Earth face – struggles that we in the developed world, have always taken for granted.
Bring home a newfound love for the life we sometimes take for granted.
4. Find a cause that calls out to your passion
Engaging in volunteer work during your holiday can bring immense fulfilment, regardless of the project you choose. The experience becomes even more enriching when the project resonates with you on a personal and emotional level.
Perhaps you had a challenging childhood, and finding fulfilment in bringing joy to children who have already experienced significant hardships resonates deeply with you. Alternatively, if you have personally endured the suffering of a medical condition, you may be driven to ensure that others receive the same level of care and support that you were fortunate enough to receive.
If that is the case and it already means something to you before you even start, then your volunteer travel experience can not only be memorable and life-affirming, it can be a process of self-healing as well.
5. See the World
Your volunteer travel will be an experience that will be greatly beneficial to you and the people you help.
And after your time spent volunteering is over, why not discover new and incredible parts of the world that are off the beaten path? If you choose your volunteer travel in this part of the world, there are countless undiscovered places full of amazing culture, nature, sights and wonderful adventure. HTT is ready to help you begin!
5 INSPIRING VOLUNTEER TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES TO CONSIDER
1. Working with children
If you intend to volunteer in these types of projects, you absolutely must have the heart and the energy ( lots! ) for children.
These projects often involve daycare and youth development, as you will be working closely with kids who come from disadvantaged backgrounds like the B40 community or whose parents are disabled, who may not have parents or who don’t have anyone else to look after them.
Be prepared to care for children physically and emotionally, and tasks may include everything from changing diapers, teaching basic life skills, education and organising special activities.
Childcare volunteering can be highly stressful, as the kids you handle may have had poor parenting, are behind in physical and/or mental development, or have emotional issues because of their life experiences – so you will need a good amount of patience to pull the job off successfully.
Volunteering with children is a good project for you if you have experience in social work, education, family and child development, psychology, or community development.
If you lack formal training in childcare, it may not be advisable to undertake a project involving children, particularly if you are planning on volunteering abroad for a short period (less than a few months). This is because children are vulnerable, and forming attachments with them can occur easily.
It’s important to prioritize their well-being and ensure that they receive consistent care and support from trained professionals. Instead, you may consider exploring other volunteer opportunities where your skills and experience can make a positive impact without potentially compromising the welfare of vulnerable children.
Click here to know what to ask before volunteering with children abroad.
Examples of HTT’s volunteer travel opportunities with children:-
- Science and English Fun Day camp
HTT has effectively organised a Science and English fun day camp via Zoom, where the emphasis was on education engagingly and entertainingly. After doing simple and fun science experiments that can be done at home, children learnt about poetry by watching videos and then created their very own poetry.
- Enriching Cultural Activities
HTT collaborated with Taylor’s University Korean Student Society and Taylor’s Bollywood Dance Club where children had the chance to explore both cultures by learning Traditional Korean Games and Bollywood dance. These projects also helped to inspire our youth, who ran the programs, to become leaders and change-makers in the future.
2. Working with refugees
Refugees are considered illegal immigrants and thus are subject to arrest, detention and deportation.
They do not have access to legal employment and their children are not provided access to education.
Some employers exploit their dire situation by paying extremely low or no wages at all and they end up accepting jobs that the locals do not wish to take – the 3D jobs i.e. dirty, dangerous and difficult ones.
Many of these refugee children are forced to live with whatever is given to them and more often than not, they are on the receiving end of suffering. This is because they lack basic healthcare, education and the assurance of safety. Most of them will grow up not knowing what life will be like for them.
With low standards of education, hardly any savings and the inability to make any concrete plans, it takes a lot of courage to live. They can only depend on good hearts to extend their hands to them to make their lives worth living – in hopes that one day; they may resettle to a better country or finally return to their home country when it is safe for them to.
Examples of HTT’s volunteer travel opportunities with refugees and their children:-
- Public Speaking Bootcamp
For travellers with the skills to volunteer, there are organised public speaking boot camps where refugees are taught the basics of public speaking, to help them with confidence and not fear speaking out loud. The travellers can also pay a visit to a refugee school and spend some time with the children.
- Supercraft
Supercraft was a program in which HTT collaborated with Taylor’s University Nature Club students where the key takeaways by the participants were the importance of preserving nature and protecting Mother Nature. Attended by 3 beneficiary refugee schools, the participants, aged between 13 and 16 years old, applied their learning by upcycling recycled items, and turning common trash such as metal cans into unique pots for plants.
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Programs
Working with a passionate trainer in STEM, Mr Kenneth Chai from The Learning Centre, refugee children from 4 beneficiary schools were taught how to build and then launch their own rockets. This program was an exciting eye-opener for the refugee children, and all of them gave feedback that they were motivated to learn more STEM programs.
3. Working with people with disabilities (pwd)
Societal stigmas often cause significant distress to people with disabilities. As a volunteer, you’ll reduce the social stigma and allow people with disabilities to feel more comfortable in society. You are also advocating for a more diverse and inclusive society. Regular social interactions with this population help to decrease their anxieties and build up practical life skills.
Examples of HTT’s volunteer travel opportunities with people with disabilities (PWD):-
- Beautiful Gate Foundation
HTT worked with the Beautiful Gate Foundation to support the PWD community via entrepreneurship education as well as mental health awareness. They were taught how to boost their business from a practical aspect, whilst equipping them with the mindset that their disabilities are not a point of weakness but rather, a symbol of their strength to push ahead regardless of the challenges they face.
A successful and uplifting project for all involved, the PWD participants from the multiple branches of the Beautiful Gate Foundation came together and pitched ideas for upscaling their coffee production business to boost sales and increase income for their organisation.
4. WOMEN’S empowerment
Women who come from the B40 community or who have been abused should be empowered through upskilling programs and income generation opportunities through entrepreneurship programs and emotional well-being programs. This way, they can sustain themselves and also their families.
“Heavy or light work should be done with full interest and diligence along with knowledge and skills. Gender is never a restriction – women can do anything.” – Rohanita binti Wahab, participant.
Examples of HTT’s volunteer travel opportunities and women empowerment:-
- Woodworking Workshops
“Women can do it too” was the intention of this woodworking workshop, to combat the stereotype that still exists in our society. 15 women from the B40 community participated in this workshop – generally seen as more masculine and “only for men”.
- Art Therapy
HTT hosts an International Women’s Day program every year, and the most recent one had 15 homemakers participating in a guided Art Therapy workshop. Here, they explored their emotions and roles as women through a creative process and shared their stories at the end of the session along with the art they created.
A similar art therapy program was carried out, this one for the Girls from the B40 community, aged 10 to 17 years old, where their feedback was that the workshop helped them to better understand their feelings and emotions.
- Waste to Wealth Program
In this program, participants had the opportunity to make soap from used oils and learnt about basic social entrepreneurship.
This is so they can change their mindset by not just running a traditional business, but also learning how they can provide opportunities to help their community.
5. Working With The B40 Community
Households that earn less than RM 2,500 in the B40 group are considered in poverty and need additional financial support from the government to survive in this economy. Malaysia’s absolute poverty rate in 2019 stands at 5.6%, which means that almost 6 out of 100 households in Malaysia cannot afford to meet basic needs like food, shelter and clothing. More facts:-
- 70% of 13 million Malaysians are considered urban poor
- 98% of Malaysians have internet access while the balance 2% have none due to their location or age
- Only 9% of Malaysians have personal laptops or computers at home
Examples of HTT’s volunteer travel opportunities with the B40 community:-
- Rider Delivery Job Program
This program is aimed at uplifting the B40 communities by helping them to gain employability skills and work opportunities with Foodpanda to generate income for future development towards entrepreneurship.
- MicroBiz Ready Program
HTT has partnered with CIMB over the past three years to provide the MicroBiz Ready program to assist and empower small entrepreneurs from the B40 community, people with disabilities and women in need. The aim is to help them digitize their business – for example, teaching them to utilize Whatsapp Business effectively and exposing them to financing opportunities that are made available to support them.
The notion of giving some of your holiday and travel time “back” by doing good in the world is indeed a noble venture. Here at HTT, we are here to help you to find the right kind of placement, so you will be able to enjoy your volunteering stint to the fullest.
are you Ready for a transformative experience?
let us help you plan your volunteer travel holiday!
REACH OUT TO US AT +603 2303 9100 OR
[email protected]
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