Updated 15-MAR-08
VIA is the Dutch branch of the international peace movement Service Civil International (SCI).

VIA organises working holidays for volunteers, in the Netherlands and abroad. Most of these workcamps are two or three weeks, with a group of 10 to 20 volunteers from all over the world.

In these workcamps you are expected to work 6 hours per day, and the rest of the time is filled with group activities.. We will supply Food and a sleeping place in the camp, and normally some sort of organised activities and cultural events, though this also depends a lot on the group. There is no maximum age, for volunteers below 18 years old youth camps are organised that may be best suited for them. We also provide extra insurance for work related accidents; however this extra insurance does not cover damage during travel, to your belongings or illness that was already present before the workcamp, so you have to take care of your own travel insurance.

VIA organises around 10 workcamps each year in the Netherlands, which is done completely by our volunteers as we have no paid staff.

General information on this country can be accessed via any of the following websites:

Library of Congress country studies … http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/

US Dept of State country background pages … http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/

CIA Factbooks … http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

National newspapers online via Internet Public Library … http://www.ipl.org/reading/news/