Tired of group tours and the usual sun, sea and surf chill-outs? Nithia Devan reveals how to banish holiday boredom and enjoy a life-enriching experience, by sampling eco-tourism and volunteering your skills to those in need. It's the end-of-year festive season, when many of us look forward to some well-deserved rest and start planning our vacations for the coming year. If competing for pool or beach space with families and screaming kids at crowded resorts is far from your idea of heaven, consider becoming a "voluntourist". Volunteer travel is a relatively new concept, but it's becoming increasingly popular - especially among those who traverse the globe on a regular basis. Who benefits Firstly - and most importantly - the needy get the support and assistance they need to change their lives and revitalise their community. Regardless of whether volunteers help build houses or teach skills such as English and computer literacy, or help the disabled, they touch and help uplift a community. Secondly, the charities or NGOs have access to skilled resources and get much-needed help - which may otherwise be outside of their means. This enables them to serve their communities more efficiently. And lastly, the volunteers are given an opportunity to do something worthwhile and meaningful. Leaving a positive mark on a community is something that many leisure travel options don't offer. The following programmes offer choices for individual travellers, families, school groups and corporations. All promise a holiday out of the ordinary and the opportunity for you to really make a difference. HUMANITARIAN Share a skill with an underprivileged community. Teach English, computer skills, handicrafts, song and dance, or even sporting activities such as football. Siem Reap, Cambodia TakeMeToVolunteerTravel is operated by TakeMeToAsia Pte Ltd - an Asian-based travel company with headquarters in Singapore. Managed by a team that believes travel is more than leisure, fun and pleasure, the company offers volunteer travel opportunities in China, Cambodia and Thailand. Enjoy a life-changing experience assisting in an orphanage in Siem Reap - which houses 80 children from the age of two weeks to 18 years. Volunteers can teach English, computer skills, arts and crafts, dance and music, as well as give a general helping hand around the orphanage. Learning English is a priority in developing Cambodia, as a reasonable command of the language is sure to open doors of opportunity. Many of these children know very little English and have few opportunities to practise their language skills. The minimum stay is for three nights and programmes start from US$450. Siem Reap is also home to the Angkor temples, the most famous being Angkor Wat. The Angkor area was the capital city of the Khmer Kings, until Thai invaders forced the capital to shift southwards to Phnom Penh. These outstanding examples of Khmer architecture were built from the ninth to 15th century and were acknowledged as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. CONTACT www.takemetovolunteertravel.com Chiang Rai, Thailand Baan Kru Mookda or "Teacher Mookda's House" is the residence for 29 children aged eight to 17 years. Located in the Kod Kham Tai district of Phayao province in northern Thailand, it can be found 45 kilometres outside of the town of Phayao - two hours south of Chiang Rai and three hours east of Chiang Mai This project was established in 1989 by Mrs Mookda, to provide accommodation, education and a better quality of life for local children and those from nearby mountain tribes. Children attend the school and then return to Baan Kru Mookda to finish their homework and take part in activities such as soccer, games or fishing. Volunteers teach conversational English to students at the school, as well as at Baan Kru Mookda. You're entrusted to look after the children, while acting as a suitable role model, counsellor and cultural ambassador. Volunteers also help arrange camp and related recreational activities. Aside from the personal rewards of teaching English to underprivileged Thai children, you'll also experience a different culture up close and personal and will be able to observe and learn about life in a rural Northern Thai community. The programme costs US$1,230 for four weeks and volunteers can opt to stay for five to eight weeks, or nine to 12 weeks. Local attractions include the beach at Koh Samet, mountain hiking or rafting in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, or visiting Bangkok for shopping and nightlife. CONTACT www.volunteerabroad.com More opportunities www.habitat.org Help build simple, decent and affordable housing in partnership with people in need. www.transitionsabroad.com Live with a Thai family while volunteering on service and development projects www.geckotrails.co.nz Volunteer opportunities and travels in small groups. WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT Help conserve nature with these eco-tourism options. Elephant Conservation Sri Lanka Global Vision International offers the chance to be involved in hands-on conservation work while experiencing life on the beautiful island of Sri Lanka. Volunteers work alongside field scientists to conduct surveys of the endangered Sri Lankan elephants in the forests, grass plains and waterholes. The project is located in the Central Province of Matale and Mahaweli districts and is not for the faint-hearted or those who love creature comforts. The locations are extremely remote and the living conditions very basic. The closest internet café is two hours away, there's little to no electricity and mobile/telephone signals are patchy at best. Each project involves a group of six volunteers plus staff and the duration is two to 12 weeks. CONTACT www.gviaustralia.com Orang-utan Conservation Sumatra, Indonesia Primate lovers can join a unique and fascinating project which investigates the way orang-utans in the Sumatran jungle self-medicate in order to treat illness and combat parasites. Volunteers will enter data, weigh samples, press plant specimens and perform other varied research tasks. You'll also go on a jungle trek to observe and record the behaviour of wild orang-utans. Be prepared for basic living conditions and long days. But this is also a unique opportunity to experience camping in a tropical rainforest. You'll be situated on the Indonesian island of Sumatra - a fascinating mix of rainforest, mangroves, Amazon-like rivers and flamboyant flora and fauna. The project itself is based near the Gunung Leuser National Park - one of Indonesia's largest national parks. Be enthralled by the wide range of ecosystems, ranging from vast mountains to lowland rainforest, home to species such as giant flying squirrel, the Sumatran elephant and dancing lemur, as well as the orang-utan. This is an ideal experience for groups of two to six people, over 14 days. CONTACT www.gviaustralia.com More opportunities www.gviusa.com Thai Gibbon Project in Northern Thailand and conservation project in Borneo. www.asia-rafting.com Rafting, trekking and ecotourism. www.wcs.org/international/Asia Cambodian eco-tourism. www.friendsofworldheritage.org Responsible travel. www.thaiwildorchids.com Rock climbing, mountain biking, canoeing and trekking in Thailand. www.atriumecotravel.com Eco-friendly travel agents and tour operators. www.adventures.com.sg Travel agency offering eco-educational tours and itineraries. www.gordonsguide.com Eco-tourism options beyond Asia. http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com Eco-travel information exchange. www.adventuresolutions.co.nz Pacific-rim options for voluntourists and eco-tourists. HISTORICAL ADVENTURES Learn more about Asia's rich history and cultural heritage and visit former battle sites. Veterans Tour Vietnam There are many historical sites related to the Vietnam War, predominately popular with war veterans and their families, or anyone interested in this chapter of history. The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City has a wealth of images - the most moving being a gallery entitled Requiem, dedicated to the Vietnamese and foreign journalists and photographers who perished during the French and American conflicts. Also, in Ho Chi Minh City, Reunification Palace was the former residence of the President of South Vietnam, until April 30, 1975 when North Vietnamese tanks came crashing through the front gates, bringing the "American War" to a dramatic end. Close to the Palace, some of the best examples of French colonial architecture are represented in the forms of Notre Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office and the Opera House - as seen in the film The Quiet American, starring Michael Caine. The infamous Cu Chi tunnels stretching over 200 kilometres are a must-see. This network of underground boroughs played a vital part in the war in that they allowed the Viet Cong to control a large rural area, just 30 to 40 kilometres from Saigon - now known as Ho Chi Minh City. At its height, the tunnel system stretched from Saigon to the Cambodian border. And the network - parts of which were several levels deep - included innumerable trap doors, specially constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centres and kitchens. Today, the remaining tunnels have become a major tourist attraction and give a unique feel for what underground life must have been like. The tunnels have been widened for visitors' benefit - otherwise no-one would be able to enter them! For those interested, there's an opportunity to fire off a few rounds using an AK47 or MK16 at the nearby rifle range. And you can also travel to Khe Sanh and Hue, visiting the Hien Luong Bridge - which demarcated North and South Vietnam - the Doc Mieu Base in the DMZ and the Vinh Moc Tunnels. CONTACT www.greentrail-indochina.com More opportunities. www.kokodatrail.com.au Linking the southern and northern coast of Papua New Guinea, this extremely challenging 96 kilometre trek trails through the rugged mountains guarded fiercely by Australians and Papua New Guineans fighting against the Japanese, during World War II. www.hellfirepass.com Educational tours through Hellfire Pass. This railway cutting through solid rock was made by Australian, British, Dutch, Asian and other allied Prisoners of War during World War II, as part of the "Death Railway" linking Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Myanmar. www.singaporehistoryconsultants.com You don't have to travel far from the Lion City, there's a lot of information in Singapore on heritage sites from World War II. Apart from Changi Prison and its chapel, other sites include Fort Canning Hill and Kranji. www.worldviews2000.com Join Roger Harmon, Ph.D for private tours of South East and Central Asia. Roger uses his experience of 20 years in Asia as an anthropologist, refugee advocate, Peace Corps Director for Thailand and photographer, to design and lead tours with Worldviews Asian Adventures.
Posted Dec 07
