Taking a volunteer vacation

why we travel — By Bob Riel on August 23, 2006 at 12:32 pm

There’s been an upswing in recent years in people using some of their vacation time to do international volunteer work. It seems to be especially popular among families who want to expose their children to the world. Claire Spiegel just wrote an article for the NY Times travel section on a one-week trip her family took to Niger to work with desert nomads. The inspiration for the journey, she says…

…grew out of a question our 16-year-old daughter, Leslie Brian, posed after hearing yet another news account of suffering in Africa. “So, is there anything we can do about it?” she had asked.

The family went to Niger with the Nomad Foundation. The goal was to bring supplies in and to bring handicrafts out, which would then be sold in the U.S. to raise money for schools and wells in the Niger desert. In the article, Spiegel recounts the beginning of their journey in Niger:

As our S.U.V. navigated a narrow road studded with potholes the size of mattresses, the landscape grew starker, and tiny villages of mud-brick huts with conical thatched roofs disappeared altogether. We passed only two gas stations, but scores of shacks that fix flat tires, including several of our own.

It was pitch dark when we finally came to a stop, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. As we sat in silence, concluding we were – at best – lost, it seemed maybe this adventure was a mistake. Then a boy clad in a turquoise tunic bounded out of the darkness, hugging our guide and leading us the last few miles to his home - an encampment of stick huts covered with fabric.

There, in an remote area of the Sahara known as the Azouag, about 50 families of Wodaabe nomads are trying to survive, scrounging for vegetation for their herds and looking for water from wells dug 100 feet deep by hand. The five wives of the tribal leader, Peroji Danieri, welcomed us; as the night wore on, children drew closer, examining our folding chairs, testing our flashlights and playing with our daughter’s long blond ponytail. As we mingled, we stretched our minds to fathom a new world where a family can own only what can be carried on a few donkeys, where a two-wheeled cart is a rare luxury and where starvation and privation are reality.

According to the article, other resources for similar volunteer journeys include the book Volunteer Vacations, and the organizations Ambassadors for Children or Volunteer International.