Frequently Asked Questions

We Are Here To Answer
Your Questions

Thank you for your interest in our services. You are about to join a worldwide family of volunteers that have found great satisfaction in the service of others.

As you can imagine, there are many types of work available because projects arise from the grassroots local community needs. Most projects are 2-3 weeks long, which have been known historically as International Workcamps.

Accommodations vary widely, but usually volunteers share the same living space, doing all their own cleaning and food preparation on a rotating basis.

You should find most of the answers to your questions on this page. However, if you still need assistance, please feel free to contact us during business hours.

Where

The numbers in parentheses following the countries indicate the usual number of projects that are offered every year.

Western & Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and North, Central & South America-over 3000 projects in over 100 countries:

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Cost

The VFP registration fee is US $300 per project plus the mandatory VFP annual membership of US $30. The registration fee covers all your expenses including meals and accommodation for one project. You will automatically have your VFP Membership renewed in 2009 for any report that we receive about your project experience/s by October 1, 2008 or within 30 days after your project ends.

In developing countries, there are additional fees (also known as the Partner Organization Fee) payable upon arrival that vary depending on the hosting organization. These extra fees are typical in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the developing world in general. These fees tend to vary from $100 - $500 USD. Please note that this extra fee may vary by up to $25 higher or lower, depending on the value of the US Dollar versus the currency of the country you are going to, so please be prepared to make up the difference. At present, the value of the US dollar is decreasing in the world market. For the most recent conversions please visit (www.xe.com).

The extra fee is used in support of the partner organization’s work, including administration of programs as well as organizing workcamps. In many cases, this extra fee is the ONLY form of financial support for the organization, since they have limited access to government or private funds, or members who can pay a fee to participate.

VFP offers a refund of $50 in most situations where volunteers have to pay an extra fee.

All transportation is arranged and paid for by the volunteer.

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For Who / Ages

VFP projects are open to anyone age 18 and up in most countries. Volunteers under age 18 have about 200 opportunities to serve in about six countries. Although our volunteer's average ages are 21-25, we welcome volunteers of all ages. 

Projects for volunteers UNDER age 18 are all listed at the Teen Camps page. The ages required are all listed in the project headers (fees range from $500 to as much as $700).

Some Family camps accepting parents with children are offered this year. 

Any camp listed as a Mixed-Age camp type in our searchable Directory gives preference to older volunteers.

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When

85% of projects occur June through September. There are about 800 projects between October and May.

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Insurance

Coverage is provided for accidents only at most, but not all, projects abroad.

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Duration

2-3 weeks per project. 25% of VFP volunteers register for multiple projects in the same or different countries. We offer also about 150 Medium to Long term projects ( MTV/LTV) for 1-12 months duration.

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When To Arrive / Depart Camps

Volunteers should plan to arrive on the first day of the camp before supper time and depart on the last day of the camp anytime after breakfast. Early arrivals and/or late departures have to be approved by the local project hosts, IN ADVANCE!

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Language Requirement

No foreign language proficiency required. English is generally the language of most projects.

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Types of Work

Construction & restoration of low income housing or community buildings; environmental projects such as trail building, park maintenance, organic farming; social services working with children, the elderly, physically or mentally handicapped, refugees, relief work, minority groups, drug/alcohol recovery, AIDS education and arts projects; historic preservation and archaeology. Work projects can be of ANY type because they arise from the needs of the local host community. This is a very grass-roots project.

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What to Bring

Back-pack, sleeping bag, towel, work clothes, clothing suitable for climate, toiletries, medicines, phrase book, recipes from home, musical instruments and a cooperative spirit. VFP provides you with a check list you can modify depending on your destination, and we'll let you know if you need to bring any special gear.

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Accommodations

Your registration fee covers room & board. projects vary greatly in living conditions. Generally, 10-20 people from four or more countries arrive on a given day in a host community. You may be housed in a school, church, private home or community center. Living arrangements are generally cooperative, like a family, with volunteers coordinating and sharing the day-to-day activities such as food preparation, work projects and recreation.

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How do Volunteer Exchanges Work

VFP places volunteers abroad in exchange for receiving foreign volunteers into our domestic projects. Incoming foreign volunteers pay no fee to VFP. All foreign projects are managed by our partner organizations abroad.

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Placement Procedure

How to Register:

Volunteers simply register for the projects of their choice from 2008 International Voluntary Service Directory in order of their preference, by copying the registration form from our website, completing it ( enter the Project code/s on your form and provide a short statement of motivation for each project selected ), paying online and emailing the form to us as an attached file ( Microsoft WORD is the preferred file format ) . Optionally, you can print and complete the form manually (instead of typing it) and then fax it to us (much quicker) or send it by surface mail with your payment by check or credit card. We prefer that you pay by credit card online for security and practical reasons. If you do not pay online, we must have your signature on file, so emailed registrations that are not paid online are only accepted if they are scanned images of your completed registration form including your signature and authorization for payment. Volunteers who do not pay online and who want to pay by credit card must have the cardholder sign the form where indicated, and include the full credit card information including expiration date. If you send along your form by surface mail, we accept payment also by personal check, bank check, money order or traveler's checks in US dollars only. Placements are made on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Registration Form:

You can print or copy the registration form from our website. The form can be copied and pasted into any word processor program. We prefer to receive the form as a WORD file.

Finding a Project:

You can search our 2008 International Voluntary Service Directory to find the programs of your choice within the time frame of your availability. The Directory lets you select specific fields such as country, date range, camp type, keyword and term of service to assist your searching. You have the option of searching optional countries or project types at the same time. When the output appears from your selected parameters, you can further sort the output columns that are presented by starting and ending date, country, ages, camp type and open spaces for female and male volunteers ....just click the underlined heading of that column. On all searches, ONLY OPEN PROJECTS WILL APPEAR.

Medium to Longer Term Volunteering (MTV/LTV):

To extend your volunteering term of service, an option is to sign up for what we call medium or long term volunteer opportunities (MTV/LTV). As an internship via VFP, you can register for multiple programs in the same or different countries and extend your stay to 3-6 months or more....or enroll in an MTV (medium-term volunteer-3-6 months) or LTV (long-term volunteer-6 months to a year). These MTV and LTV programs are listed in our searchable Directory online by selecting MTV or LTV as a program "type". MTV and LTV positions usually have no fixed dates so we always list them as a start date beginning the first day of the next month and an ending date.usually set as the end of the year. In reality, the dates of those programs are almost always variable as described in the program description. Alternatively, to find ALL these longer term projects, you can set the search parameters to ANY country, ANY project type and then select "Medium/Long Term Only" from the drop down menu entitled "Volunteer Term of Service". The output page can be further sorted for any column that has an underline ( such as country) simply by clicking that column's header. I hope this helps you locate the loinger term projects online.

How the placement process works:

• When we receive your registration form in our office we forward it overseas to the receiving host organization. We must then wait for them to respond. We hope to receive their response within 3-5 business days but there are occasional delays in some cases such as the longer term MTV/LTV placements. There are a few of our partner organizations that will not reply to registrations requests until as late as April 18th. We will always send you our acceptance letter and information sheet by email unless otherwise requested by you. Projects are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

• If we cannot place you in any of the projects that you have selected, we will contact you for more selections. If we cannot place you in a project of your choice we will promptly send you a full refund of your registration fee. If you paid online, your refund is issued by check since we don't have access to your credit card data. The VFP membership fee is not refundable.

• Placement is not guaranteed since the vacancy status in specific projects changes by the hour. Some projects, especially in Europe, will not accept more than two North American volunteers, reserving the remaining spaces for other nationalities in an effort to maintain intercultural diversity, which is a key feature of the projects. We prefer that you give us several additional choices of projects that you are willing to accept. We will always try to place you in your first choice, but if that is not possible, we will try your second or third options if provided on your form. For this reason, you should never buy a plane ticket before being officially accepted to a project. We will try to place you in any project which you have selected, in order of your preference, so please don't list a project unless you are willing to accept that placement!

• Placements are usually made within five business days after receipt of your registration form and fee/s

• Once you have been notified of acceptance into a project/s you may go ahead and make your travel arrangements.

• An "Information Sheet" about your project, including detailed directions to the project site, will be forwarded to you before your departure if you leave the USA after June 15th.

• If you depart prior to June 15th we will provide you with an address and telephone number where you can obtain the necessary information abroad as well as email all the information to you when it becomes available.

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Projects for Teenagers

Most of our partner organizations request only volunteers age 18 and over. Sorry, no exceptions can be made. We do offer projects for 15-17 year olds in France and 16 & 17 year olds in Germany. Also, our partners in Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia & Turkey accept teen volunteers in some or all of their projects for a total of about 200 projects. Note that the teen projects are organized by our partners overseas with local leadership. There are no VFP representatives present at these projects. In most cases, teen volunteers have to get to the project location on their own, although some partners will meet volunteers at the airport for an additional fee. Detailed arrival instructions are always provided. Parents/Guardians must be aware of social/cultural differences regarding issues such as drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes in the hosting countries.

You can use the searchable Directory to find a list of "Teen" camp types or view all the camps here. This is a 400 Kb file, so it may take some time to open. There are generally no teen projects offered in the winter.

Or, check out other organizations that offer teen programs here.

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The Economics of International Voluntary Service Projects

It may seem incredible that, through VFP, you can live in a foreign country for 2-3 weeks for as little as $300.  The registration fee, which you pay to VFP, is used in part to help cover the costs of hosting and insuring foreign volunteers in the US. Likewise, foreign volunteers pay a registration fee to their local organizations. VFP then networks with its partner organizations and exchanges volunteers like you. Camp costs in all countries are low because housing is simple and often donated and the volunteers prepare their own meals. VFP also strives to keep administrative costs low.

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Getting College Credit

If you are already a student, the simplest way is to arrange an "independent study" through a willing professor/sponsor at your own school. Otherwise, feel free to contact:

Professor Steve Tash can provide inexpensive college credit for your voluntary service. The credits cost $300.00 for five quarter credits (=3 semester); or $550 for 10 quarter credits (=6 semester). You should check with your home school/university and get transfer permission to take "off campus credits" IN ADVANCE.

Contact Professor Tash at:
23786 Villena
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
Tel. 949-916-1096 9am-9pm PST Fax. 949- 916-1499
Web: http://westudyabroad.com Email: travelstudy@yahoo.com

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Affiliations

VFP is an Executive Committee member of the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS) at UNESCO in Paris. We are a partner organization to several large IVS networks including the ALLIANCE (The Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organizations), SCI (Service Civil International) and YAP (Youth Action for Peace).

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Click here for Registration Form.