Volunteer Job Opportunities in Belize - Part 2

By Lan Sluder Belize First Magazine.

Belize Faith Missions, c/o Conner's Bookkeeping, 5790 Riverside Ave., Riverside, CA 92506; e-mail support@bzfaith.org A variety of volunteer and religious mission opportunities are available, ranging from one- and two-week programs to longer-term pastoring positions. Accommodations and food may be provided volunteers.

Earthwatch International, 3 Clock Tower Place, Suite 100, Box 75, Maynard, MA 01754; tel. 800-776-0188; e-mail info@earthatch.org Founded in 1971, the not-for-profit Earthwatch specializes in scientific research expeditions. Paying volunteers (expeditions range in cost from US$700 to $4,000, depending on length, plus transportation) are paired with professional scientists in the field. So far, about 4,000 volunteers have participated in Earthwatch programs. Most projects are 10 to 14 days, but some are longer. In Belize, Earthwatch has a continuing program studying manatees, with about 10 or 12 expeditions a year, and in the past has had archeological programs. The cost for 2003 is US$1,695 plus air fare and incidental expenses.

Explorations in Travel, Inc., 2458 River Rd., Guilford, VT 05301; tel. 802-257-0152; e-mail explore@volunteertravel.com Places volunteers and interns at several sites in Belize, including Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Commitment is usually for two to three weeks. Volunteers typically pay US$15 to $20 per day for meals and lodging, and there is a placement fee of US$975.

EcoLogic Development Fund, P.O. Box 383405, Cambridge, MA 02238; tel. 617-441-6300; e-mail info@ecologic.org EcoLogic works with local Maya organizations in protect their homelands from a government-sanctioned logging concession. EcoLogic is also working to create Mayan alternatives to managing Sarstoon-Temash National Park that respect traditional land rights and safeguard areas of biodiversity. In 2002, EcoLogic was seeking an intern for a minimum three-month commitment to work as an organizational assistant with the Ketchi Council of Belize in Punta Gorda. The position is unpaid but EcoLogic says it will assist the volunteer to find funding for room, board and transportation.

International Service Community in Belize, ISC, P.O. Box 380, Swarthmore, PA 19081-0380; isc.swarthmore.edu. ISC's goal is "to permit volunteers to use a lifetime of experience to provide service areas of need in the world for a few months each year while also enjoying the experience to travel and of community living." Volunteers, mostly retired persons, stay at Crytal Paradise Lodge near San Ignacio. In 2003, the ISC program in Belize will operate during the month of January and for the first two weeks of March. Recent projects by volunteers include researching and writing a booklet on lodges in Belize that offer good birding and helping develop nutritionally sound meal programs for elderly Belizeans. The cost is about US$30 to $40 a day for lodging and two meals, close to the same as the regular resort rate at Crystal Paradise, plus transportation to Belize. Begun in 1995, ISC also has a pilot program in Sri Lanka.

Kimochi Work Camps, P.O. Box 316, Boulder, CO 80306, tel. 303-494-9542; e-mail ccambrid@carbon.cudenver.edu This group mainly has work camps (mainly construction work on buildings for an organization called Indigenous Institute of Relevant Technology) near a Navaho Indian reservation in New Mexico, but from June 16-28, 2002, it held one in Belize, at the Center for Mayan Learning. Fee was US$200, plus transportation and personal expenses.

Maya Research Program at Blue Creek, Box 298760, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76129; tel. 817-257-5943; e-mail mrp@tcu.edu Blue Creek This archeological research station, organized by Texas Christian University, is in Blue Creek, in rural Orange Walk District. It attracts about 30 students and paying volunteers to each of four two-week programs, where they work with 15 to 30 professional staff. The day starts around 6 a.m., with breakfast at 6:30, and most of the work day (until 3:30 p.m.) involves strenuous activity at a Maya site. Your required contribution (likely tax-deductible) is US$1,250 for a two-week program (US$1,000 for each program if you participate in two or more programs) which includes lodging and food, but not transportation to Belize or personal expenses. A small number of scholarships is available for students who intend to pursue archeology as a career. Academic credit through TCU or another university may be available.

Plenty International, e-mail plenty1@usit.net: Plenty places volunteers with medical, midwifery, marketing and other skills in Toledo District and elsewhere. This grassroots organization, founded in Tennessee in 1974, places 8 to 10 volunteers a year, mostly in Belize. There is a minimum three-month commitment. A nominal (US$30) placement fee is charged, and there are no stipends or other payments to volunteers, but in some cases volunteers may receive food and housing.

Raleigh International, 27 Parsons Green Lane, London SW6 4H, England: tel. 44 (0) 20-7371-8585; e-mail info@raleigh.org.uk This U.K.-based organization runs 11 three-month expeditions a year in seven countries. It operated volunteer projects in Belize for five years, including building trails in Cockscomb and in scarlet macaw habitat near Red Bank village. Raleigh says it will run at least two expeditions in Belize starting in 2003, details of which have not yet been announced. Programs are for young people ages 17 to 25. Note: In August 1998, a Raleigh volunteer was stabbed to death near Red Bank village in Stann Creek district. Two local men were arrested and convicted of the crime.

Trekforce Expeditions, 34 Buckingham Palace Road, London, England, SW1W 0RE; tel. 020 7828 2275; e-mail info@trekforce.org.uk Trekforce bills itself as an "expedition charity." It has two basic programs, a shorter program of about two months which involves a project in the rainforest such as building a visitor center at a national park; and a longer program, about five months, that adds rural teaching and language learning components. About 1,000 volunteers so far have participated in Trekforce programs around the world. When you sign up for an expedition, you "become a member of our charity and are authorized to raise money on our behalf." Volunteers can raise money to pay for their expedition just about any way they like -- by holding raffles, bake sales, car washes or by soliciting funds from corporations and friends. Trekforce currently offers several 8- and 20-week expeditions in Belize each year. The 8-week expedition costs 2,350 pounds (about US$3,400) and the 20-week 3,600 pounds (US$5,200), in both cases plus airfare.

University of California Research Expeditions, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616; tel. 530-757-3529; e-mail urep@ucdavis.edu UC-Davis runs four two-week programs on rainforest mammals in the Bladen watershed area of Toledo District. Participants count and measure trees, survey populations of birds and mammals and document the types of seeds they consume. Animals are tagged, weighed and released. Cost ("contribution") is US$1,660 plus airfare and incidentals. Some scholarships are available.

University of Texas/Programme for Belize Archeological Project, Mesoamerican Archaeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712; tel.
512-232-7049; e-mail: marl@uts.cc.utexas.edu The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Anthropology, since 1992 has operated a field research station on Programme for Belize lands. Volunteers must commit for a minimum of one week, up to a maximum of 15 weeks. The field school program involves survey, excavation at several Maya sites, and laboratory experience working directly with excavated Maya artifacts. Field techniques, lectures on Maya culture history and instruction concerning artifact analysis are provided during each session. Program fees are US$620/week or US$1880/4 weeks; after 4 weeks, the cost is US$300 for each additional week, up to 15 weeks. Fees are plus transport to Belize and personal expenses, but do include meals and lodging. Students have the opportunity to earn university credits.

World Challenge Expeditions, tel. 020 8728 7206;
e-mail: ahart@world-challenge.co.uk World Challenge offers teaching and conservation placements in several areas of Belize, for periods of either three or six months. Teaching placements are in rural schools in Corozal, Orange Walk and Cayo districts; conservation placements could be with a warden at a marine reserve or at a visitor center at a park. Volunteers, mostly under age 25, are given an orientation course before coming to Belize and a short in-country orientation. You live with a local host family and pay about US$175 for lodging and meals, plus around US$2,800 placement fee, which includes training and air fare.

TIPS FOR GETTING MORE OUT OF YOUR VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE:

* Don't expect to get free room and board or other compensation. In some cases, this may happen but more commonly you will have to pay your own way and may even have to pay a fee for the "privilege" of volunteering.

* Expect to work hard. Some programs such as archeological digs require hard manual labor. Initially at least you also will have to acclimate your body to Belize's hot, humid sub-tropical climate.

* You may have to put up with primitive living conditions. While some medical mission volunteers stay at nice hotels, many volunteers will be living on the local, staying in Belize-style housing (usually without air-conditioning or even fans and perhaps without indoor plumbing). Conservation and archeological volunteers may basically camp out.

* Volunteer organizations and their programs change constantly, so be sure you have the latest information on programs and costs. The most up-to-date information is usually on the Internet. Just go to a search engine such as Google and search using key words such as "volunteer work Belize." Also, check out specialized Web sites on working, going to school and volunteering abroad, such as [URL=http://www.gapyear.com]www.gapyear.com[/URL] and [URL=http://www.transitionsabroad.com.]www.transitionsabroad.com.[/URL]

* Although volunteer organizations usually do good work, keep in mind that for the staff and administrators these programs may be their career or at least a job. Some of the international volunteer organizations are relatively large businesses, and in at least a few cases their good works appear to be subsidiary to maintaining and building the organization.

* A work permit may be required in Belize, even for short-term volunteer work. There is a small fee, usually US$25. For information, contact the volunteer organization or the Immigration and Nationality Department, 501-822-2611 or the Labour Department 501-822-2204.

* Have realistic expectations of what you can accomplish in a short time. Belize has many problems, ranging from underfunded schools to crime, drug and gang problems to family disintegration and child abuse issues to destruction of the rainforest and natural habitats, and none of these will be solved quickly.

* The most typical volunteer in Belize is a college student or a young person who has recently finished college, but volunteers come in all ages and from all backgrounds.

* While not really volunteer organizations, a number of specialized travel and education organizations such as ElderHostel (Box 1959, Dept. 35, Wakefield, MA 01880; tel. 877-426-8056; [URL=http://www.elderhostel.org)]www.elderhostel.org)[/URL] offer trips and programs in Belize. Many of these are worth investigating.

* For longer-term volunteering, consider the U.S. Peace Corps, which has a significant presence in Belize.