volunteer abroad

I’ve checked out several sites now which organise “voluntourism” trips. They all want money. The most I’ve seen is £1700 for a paltry TWO WEEKS in Romania (followed by an obligatory 2 week “adventure tour”, and far more smallprint than I would ever commit myself to). I found a more reasonable Moldova one for about £800 for a month, and was on the verge of putting a deposit down when I met a new friend at a university function. She has friends in Kiev. They own a small children’s home, and appreciate any time and effort from volunteers.
Progress is being made, emails are being sent, and I am getting very, very optimistic about this.

I will be homeless. My address at university is now my only residential address, and when the 2nd semester ends I must move out. Everything will go into storage (see: dad’s basement) for the summer, and I will be on my travels.
I went to an information session when International Student Volunteering came to my uni, and I am going to try and get on one of their programmes. A lot of their stuff seems to be animal conservation, which is good in a way, but I do think that HUMAN conservation should take priority. I’m waiting for them to update their Eastern Europe page with information about working with disabled children there.