Help Wanted: 'Voluntour' Guide to Crisis Hotspots

[Dover]

What with global warming and poor oversight of dirty industries, there ought to be a LOT of volunteer vacation opportunities ahead!




WSJ - Money: JUNE 27, 2010.

When Shannon Mancuso decided to take a trip to Peru this past spring, she wanted to find a way to immerse herself in the country's culture while tapping into her skills as a social worker.

Two years out of graduate school and living in New York, Ms. Mancuso was short on time and money so she chose to go on a trip that could combine volunteerism and travel in the same week. "You get the best of both worlds," she says.

Known as "voluntourism" or service travel, a growing number of people are combining volunteering with a vacation. Organizations that run these trips report an uptick in the number of new volunteers and inquiries, particularly after a round of natural disasters and global events that have inspired travelers to want to help out during their vacations.

With hundreds of programs to choose from, it's crucial for travelers to do their homework before they take off, says Genevieve Brown, executive director of the International Volunteer Programs Association, an association of nongovernmental organizations involved in international volunteer work and internship exchanges.


cont'd

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB127758287077410981.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF4




I think BP executives know where to go for THEIR 'Voluntour' vacation.

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How To Vet A Charity:

Before signing up, do some homework on the nonprofit you'll be "working" for on your vacation.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB127760261191211007.html?KEYWORDS=how+to+vet+a+charity

[KamaAina]

1. Hell, NOLA could put together a disaster package!

"Katrina tourism" popped up shortly after people got back into the city in '05. It continues to this day.

http://www.graylineneworleans.com/katrina.shtml

An eyewitness account of the events surrounding the most devastating natural - and man-made - disaster on American soil!...

We'll drive past an actual levee that "breached" and see the resulting devastation that displaced hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents....

Souvenir Hurricane Katrina book available for purchase at departure point!

:puke:

And now they get to combine it with a leisurely country drive past the rotting carcasses of all those seabirds, dolphins, etc. :cry:

edit: A sad postscript from the Katrina tour: Did you know that 30% of the seafood (fish, crabs, shrimp, oysters, and crawfish) harvested in the lower 48 states comes from the coastal wetlands in South Louisiana?