Volunteer Organizations
Volunteer organizations in Africa don't make it easy to get there and actually help, which is something that I figured out during the process of getting ready to go to Africa. Choosing an organization to go with was actually a long and arduous process. To begin with, there are very few organizations that are willing to take volunteers in Africa without charging an arm and a leg. There are lots and lots of organizations out there that take volunteers to Africa, don't get me wrong. Most of these organizations actually revolve around volunteers, and as such, it is a business proposition to them. My goal was to find an organization that at least would let me work without charging me a ton of money. After all, a ticket to Africa is $1500, and six weeks of represented $4500 that I was giving up. To have to pay $1000-2000 to an organization for whatever "services" they provide me was too much. I had a very hard time finding organizations that charged even less than $1000. Most organizations seemed to be really tourist companies in disguise. You paid a ton of money, some even $3000-4000, and the itinerary often included a day perhaps in a clinic, where you likely just observed some things. There usually was a village day, where you went to some village and they sang and danced for you. You might help build a latrine or something. The rest of the time was spent on safaris and such. I came to call these adventures "working holidays," because there was more vacationing than working, and it was designed to allow you the feeling of having accomplished something on your trip.
I am not saying these types of trips are bad, they just weren't what I was looking for. I wanted something where I made a tangible difference, where I was in the thick of it, where people came to see me at a clinic and I helped them. I wanted to work, not to take a holiday, and to really accomplish something, not just have that perception. I did find a few organizations, very few, that allowed this type of trip as well as charged less than $1000. A list that I put together is found here. Still, I couldn't find an organization that I felt was truly professional, and that I felt would really allow me to work in the type of clinic I was looking for. I felt the worst thing that could happen to me is that I would get to Africa, and spend six weeks sitting around, not accomplishing anything. I was truly frightened of this prospect, that it would be a big waste of my time.
To compound my fears, a few friends of mine took a trip to Ghana, and as it turned out, the organization that they went with was disorganized. They spent their trip facing the situation that I wanted to avoid: spending a lot of money and sacrificing their time only to get to Africa and not be allowed to function as health care workers. At best, they were observers. In reality, they were on vacation. In the end, I found a different type of contact: a real person, offering a real opportunity to work in a real clinic. And it took off from there.
