Africa

[digsy]

i don't really know if this is the place for this post but i figured if the AIDS and poverty crisis had ever been discussed it would have been in here so their might be some people who can help. if its wrong, mods please move it to where its more appropriate.

Basically I'm looking to do some volunteer work in Africa next year. Bono's work with various organisation like DATA and the One Campaign etc has really opened my eyes and shocked me into action as such.

I've signed up to every campaign and petition i can find but really want to be more involved so plan on taking a trip next year to see for myself whats going on and provide as much help as one little me can give.

Basically I'm looking for any information i can find on organsations that offer hands-on volunteering. i've had a hunt on the net but have hit a bit of a wall and i was hoping someone in here knew of someone who had done this or possibly even done it themselves and could help me out.

I'm particuarly aiming to go t o an African country that has been hit by the things that DATA stand for ie debt, Aids and trade problems. from what I gather Uganda, Ghana and Ethioopia seem to be prominently featured countries but i'm sure in a continent the size of Africa there are many other places that need help. unfortunaetly i'm not in a position to quit my job so i'm looking at 2 weeks to a maximum of a month for this trip to start with.

Any advice, information or help anyone could offer me would be greatly appreciated.

thanks guys

digsy

 

[BostonAnne]

I wish I had an answer for you. Perhaps e-mail DATA or http://www.africare.org/ with your request for info.

Good Luck!

 

[Dreadsox]

Are you looking for church organizations...

The Bishop at the conference I was at this weekend asked a very good question.

If the money can do so much good, why spend it on getting to Africa to see it yourself?

The response from the panel unanimously was that people who actually go there, and see, and feel the plight of the the impoverished, tend to come home and raise more money than they would have before.

If you are interested in some church related groups, I might have a few in mind. I am noew at this too...so I may not be as helpful as some of the others in here.

 

[Rinn]

caritas Australia does workshops with an optional overseas two week thing at the end but since you're in London it might not be any use. I hope you get to Africa anyway
Cheers

 

[Jamila]

digsy, being that you're in the UK, here is probably your best place to start to look for organizations that may offer you volunteer opportunities in the Mother Continent:

http://www.afford-uk.org/resources/database/

Look at their website, make some contacts there and then let us know what your progress is in getting to Africa.

Best wishes, digsy - let us know if you need any more assistance.

THE GOAL IS SOUL....

 

[charbono]

go to http://www.idealist.org - it's the biggest database I know of.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I live in West Africa in a country that is very indebted and poor. There is AIDS but not as badly as some other countries. Email me

 

[AussieU2fanman]

wouldn't a solution for AIDS increase poverty in Africa? If everyone was healthy, wouldn't there be an even more rapid population growth rate which will increase poverty even more than what it already is? There would be increased hunger, unemployment, and every other criteria comprising life in Africa. No pun intended, I'm just thinking what would happen if a cure for AIDS is found.

 

[Liesje]

No. If everyone was healthy, everyone would be able to work and provide food for the family. Population growth does not absolutely equal increased poverty. Take some third world development classes or something, Aussie.

 

[AussieU2fanman]

so i take it africa does have some industries apart from producers of primary products (which producers are recieving very low prices for). There are plenty of job opportunities in Africa? I don't fully understand the economic situation in Africa, I haven't studied it. But of course if there are no job opporunites particuarily in the non-agricultural sector, rapid population growth will obviously have negative effects on Africa as a whole.

 

[Liesje]

digsy's just looking to help people, period. Economics does not account for quality of life.

 

[digsy]

hey

thanks for all the help you guys offered.
i've been scouring websites and groups and organisations and stuff and have some tentative plans laid out for later this year, nothing set in concrete yet but at least plans are happening
so thanks for all the info you gave - some of those websites came in real handy

 

[starsgoblue]

Digs...the best of luck with all that! I'm actually trying to do the same thing...I was going to go through a church but I decided I would feel odd with that because I didn't want anyone I was trying to help profess any kind of faith in anything because they feel like they'd have to in order to get any assistance...if that makes any sense. So now I'm trying to figure something out as well...

I have decided recently to switch my major to International Studies and possibly even specializing in the African region...either that or diplomacy/international relations. Crazy what an outspoken Irishman can do to ya, huh?


Aussie...the problem of AIDs is bound up in poverty as well as other things. There really is alot of different factors that are wrapped up in this problem....www.data.org can really help explain everything.

 

[Jamila]

 

[Liesje]

Good luck digsy and stars! My roomie and I are off to east Africa in a week!

 

[Katey]

I'm heading to Jinja, Uganda in the summer for three weeks as well .

 

[indra]

wouldn't a solution for AIDS increase poverty in Africa? If everyone was healthy, wouldn't there be an even more rapid population growth rate which will increase poverty even more than what it already is? There would be increased hunger, unemployment, and every other criteria comprising life in Africa. No pun intended, I'm just thinking what would happen if a cure for AIDS is found.

Often areas with secure and stable economies have lower birth rates, so improving the economies of AIDS stricken areas would actually help stabilize the population, and it would also help control the spread of AIDS. That is why debt relief is so important. It allows for the improvement of both economic and health conditions in the areas.

 

[Rono]

Often areas with secure and stable economies have lower birth rates, so improving the economies of AIDS stricken areas would actually help stabilize the population, and it would also help control the spread of AIDS. That is why debt relief is so important. It allows for the improvement of both economic and health conditions in the areas.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I am glad to see so many of you being moved to do something concrete to help the situation here in Africa. I think that even if the impact you have is small, being able to come here and see for yourself will infect you with the desire to tell others, to raise money, to donate time, to do whatever it takes to be a good neighbor to our brothers and sisters in the "3rd" world.

I know that for myself, having lived here in Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, sometimes you find yourself feeling even MORE helpless. There is no turning off the TV, putting down the magazine, tuning out the poverty and the lack of resources that you see every single day. I walk out my door to a vibrant city teaming with life but also with garbage and raw sewage running alongside the streets. Beggars, some crippled, blind, and old, others young boys sent out to beg money to give to their Koranic teacher (essentially a form of child slavery that is technically illegal but thrives) ask me for money everywhere I go. I hear of a co-worker whose young baby died of complications from diahrea. I see the government officials I work with refusing to work unless they receive bribes. I talk with a young secretary who is thinking of becoming a man's second wife and try to persuade her that she is worthy of better than that. I see women working from sun-up to sun-down while their men sit under the shade and drink tea. And I am by turns enraged, disheartened, cynical and hopeful. Because I also am surrounded by friendly faces. By friends and coworkers who tease and laugh with me. I sit on the public transport and realize that I can understand a lot of the banter in the local language. I walk down the street wearing my Malian clothing and complete strangers call out to me saying that I have become a true Malian woman. I talk to a woman who has become my friend and see her drive to better herself and her family through her small business. I look down at the clasped hands of my boyfriend and I, our fingers, black and white, entertwined, together creating something beautiful.

So come to Africa. Come and have your worldview changed and your expectations re-altered. But realize that going will change you and that you will never be able to see the world in the same way.

 

[digsy]

I'm heading to Jinja, Uganda in the summer for three weeks as well .

how, who with and to do what?

 

[achtung_zoo]

this is awesome! i was thinking about going to south africa to do volunteer in orphanages in the near furure. some of the organizations i've been checking out are as follows..
www.globalcrossroad.com
www.crossculturalsolutions.com

 

[digsy]

ooh - i discovered crosscultural solutions last night - very good site!
will have a look at globalcrossroad as well