According to an article in Newsweek, orgainzations like the Global Volunteer Network are creating a new and burgeoning market called "Volunteer Tourism." To read this article, click on the Newsweek cover above.
I've always wanted to go Africa after watching an Oprah special on her visit to South Africa in 2003. A friend of my roommate in AmeriCorps found the Global Volunteer Network online, and we decided we wanted to volunteer in Tanzania for a month. We were place in a small town called Bagamoyo, about an hour north of the largest city in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam.
My friends and I were placed with the Zukri Foundation in Bagamoyo. The Zukri Foundation was established in March 2006 by the engaged couple Douglas Kabada and Kristin Hake. They set up Zukri to assist and support small organisations and groups working with artists, youth, women and children in Bagamoyo. The Foundation connects these groups with international volunteers who are able to offer training, advice, and a financial contribution. My site was at the African Child Care School, a free pre-school for the kids in Bagamoyo. My entire African experience was challenging, humbling, and absolutely fantastic. To view some of my pictures, click on the "Africa" link below.
(Information from this page was taken from http://www.volunteer.org.nz/ and http://www.zukri.org/index.html)
