Volunteer Project & Cultural Exploration
DWC welcomes applications from volunteers of all ages, vocations, and abilities. Special work and language skills are not necessary; only a desire to help, and a willingness to learn. Whether you are a professional who needs a meaningful change of perspective, a student searching for an opportunity to expand your horizons and resume or simply a traveller who desires a vacation with a purpose, DWC offers the resources and flexibility to match you with a rewarding volunteer project.
Most projects take place in rural areas where participants have the opportunity to work alongside, and build relationships with the recipients and other participants engaged in our volunteer efforts. Mutual respect and trusting relationships, between Developing World Connections and the host communities have resulted in our volunteers being privileged to witness weaning ceremonies, Buddhist home blessings and even weddings.
All of our volunteer teams are totally self-financed and inject thousands of dollars into the local economy unobstructed by high administrative costs and bureaucracy. As an on-the-ground volunteer you see where a substantial portion of your fees are directed.
During your stay, comfortable, but basic accommodations will be provided along with authentic local cuisine. Whenever possible we involve volunteers in the daily lives and culture of our guests with short trips to visit homes, view schools and hospitals, experience the natural environment and witness the effects of poverty. You will experience their joy, their struggle and their determination. At times the work can be tiring and emotional, but the experience will be life-changing; forever impacting your perception of your own place in the global community.
Visit
each country link for a detailed description of the volunteer project and
cultural tour.
Cultural Tours
DWC embraces the needs of our average participant to have the most fulfilling travel experience, to be exposed to cultural differences, and to understand more fully the diversity and the similarities of people of all nations.
The in-country travel component will serve as a meaningful extension of the participant's volunteer efforts by providing current and historical understanding of the development of the host society. Depending on the country, the guided tours will include visits to historical sites, river cruises, camel trips, island hopping, comfortable accommodations, great food and great camaraderie, with safety and security always a foremost consideration.
Participants will travel by air or in safe, comfortable coaches to what are generally considered some of the country's greatest tourist sites. These are tourist areas with a difference, as most are undeveloped compared to more traditional luxury vacation spots, however opportunities abound to browse local markets for that special item that most reminds participants of their volunteer vacation.
Sri Lanka
If you choose to volunteer your time at our project site in Sri Lanka you will have the opportunity to assist with the construction of homes in the Tangalle region. Experience the incredible satisfaction of helping rebuild the lives of those who are still attempting to recover from the December 26, 2004 tsunami. The only special skills that you require are enthusiasm and the determination to make a difference.
When you arrive in Sri Lanka’s capital city, Colombo, you will be met and transported to Tangalle, which is situated at the southern tip of the island. Your flights, meals, accommodations and transportation during your two weeks of in-country service work are pre-arranged. The costs are tax-deductible.
During the third week, you will have the option of engaging in an authentic cultural tour and embracing the unique and stimulating diversity of the country. Sri Lanka’s architecture, landscape and traditions have been influenced by the great religions of the world—Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam—and the current population, which include Sinhalese, Tamils, Malays, and Portugese and Dutch descendants.
Volunteers can travel inland to the lush, historical and cultural Sinhalese capital of Kandy to visit the Temple of the Tooth, the National Museum, and the Kandyan “Devil Dancers.” Tour the tea fields and factories at Nuwara Eliya, stand at the river’s edge while the Mohouts scrub their elephants, and visit the 1,500-year-old Sigiri murals and rock architecture at the fortress of Sigiriya rising 600 feet above the jungle floor.
It is not our purpose to change the culture of our host country, but to better understand the differences that give value to each society. The footprint we leave behind should be gentle, the memories we take home meaningful, and the global fellowship we help create—a reminder that we leave this world a better place.
Kamloops City Adopts Tangalle, Sri LankaA few miles west of the new town site of Ruvingama, lies Tangalle. Remaining along its coastline, are the facades of homes and businesses, interiors and backs gutted by the force of the tsunami. Seven months after the tsunami many still wait for loans to rebuild businesses and infrastructure, and to finance the equipment necessary to get the job done. While at the project site at Ruvingama, DWC president, Wayne McRann, toured Tangalle, and upon his return to Canada, approached the City of Kamloops and its business community with an innovative idea. Could we adopt and support the town of Tangalle.
With the support of the City, our business, service, and spiritual community has come together to help finance this initiative. Local hairstylists soon raised enough funds to replace a hairstyling salon, a local law firm offered to pay for 2 new homes, and a Rotary club offered to finance the equipment needs of a DWC project—a new woodworking training and employment facility.
This long-term service initiative is much more than just tsunami relief. It is designed to set a new standard for the way communities in the western world respond to community needs in developing countries. This October a delegation of City officials and business leaders will travel to Tangalle to officially extend a helping hand and lay the foundation of our relationship. Developing World Connections would be happy to assist other communities wishing to establish service initiatives in the developing world.
Thailand
DWC’s volunteer work and cultural immersion in Thailand begins at our project—Children of the Golden Triangle —south of Chiang Rai in Northwest Thailand. For eleven years, Children of the Golden Triangle has been offering refuge to the Akha tribe children who would otherwise be living in extreme poverty and vulnerable to a life of sexual exploitation, HIV/AIDS and early death.
Participants have a wide range of opportunities for service including water and building projects, basic education, skills training, and medical assistance to almost 400 Akha children who are being given this tremendous opportunity to lead a safe productive life.
After 2 weeks of service work, volunteers travel to southern Thailand and Koh Phi Phi (Pee Pee Island) for a week of kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, shopping, and visiting ancient temples.
DWC president Wayne McRann & executive assistant Diane Parker had the opportunity to chat with the Directors of Children of the Golden Triangle, David and Asa Stevenson, during the last leg of their North American fundraising tour. “No one is the same after they’ve met the children”, says David. “Volunteers have been sitting in the dining room surrounded by the children who will just break into song. It effects your soul, and you can’t hold back the tears.”
