Vacation with a Purpose

Overview

Welcome to AFCA’s “Vacation with a Purpose” program. We offer short-term international volunteer travel opportunities in support of our partner programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as other worthwhile organizations serving the needs of children around the world. These volunteer vacations provide an opportunity for you to make a positive contribution to the world we live in, at the same time that you are having an amazing travel experience and gaining unique insights into a foreign culture. 

Team sizes for our volunteer vacations typically range from 6 to 10 people, and last 10 to 14 days. We welcome solo travelers, groups, students and families (minimum age 14). Teams generally take one of two forms: 

• Open Teams comprised of individuals, many of whom do not know each other prior to arriving in the host country. This works well for those traveling alone, in pairs or in small groups. For Open Teams, our goal is to recruit team members that create a diverse team profile. We look for diversity in age, religious affiliations
  
  
• Closed Teams, where the team is not open to outside participants. This works well for church or corporate groups, or for large “friends-and-family” groups.

Each team travels with a highly-experienced team leader (see Team Leader Bios). Your team leader is responsible for planning the trip, working with the partner program on team logistics, building the team, organizing pre-trip team requirements, keeping team members informed, serving as team liaison in-country, administering team finances and monitoring safety. 

Our trips are not luxury vacations, and they are not like a typical vacation travel tour where every minute of the day is planned for you. Instead, our goal is to make a difference, to develop friendships and to experience someone else’s culture while catching a glimpse into their life, all while lending a helping hand. It’s all a part of what makes a volunteer vacation so memorable!

So take the challenge to come, see, experience, and make a difference not only in your life but in lives of others in our global community.

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Each trip includes a work project where we work side-by-side with members of the local community, developing friendships and gaining knowledge into the local culture. For each trip, we coordinate directly with our local partners to determine what projects our volunteer teams will support. This ensures that our volunteer contributions will have the most beneficial impact. These projects vary depending on the needs of our in-country partners and the particular skills of the volunteers. They may include repair and minor construction work to homes, schools and/or clinics; teaching English; working with women’s and/or children’s groups; planting food gardens; helping with computer skills—and a myriad of other ways that we might help improve the situation for children in need.

And with each project, you will have ample time to interact with the community including working with local volunteers and workmen, playing games, community events, etc.

For more information, refer to the Where We Travel section below.

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What Your Fees Cover

AFCA works diligently with our host country partners to keep your Vacation With a Purpose fees as reasonable as possible while providing a comfortable, safe and interesting volunteer experience. Your fees cover the majority of your expenses while in-country so that there is no burden on the local host partner organization. Included are the following:

• Food (except alcoholic drinks and personal snacks)
  
  
• Sleeping accommodations
  
  
• In-country transportation, to and from the airport as well as to the project worksite
  
  
• Local cultural activity(ies)

Your fees also include a donation to the host partner, to be used to further their various programs as well as to purchase supplies and materials for our specific project, if needed. Additionally, your fee covers administrative fees for AFCA and some team leader costs.  

The trip fees do not include:

• Airfare from your home to the host country
  
  
• Accommodations before or after the official trip dates
  
  
• Medical and/or emergency evacuation insurance
  
  
• Trip cancellation insurance; R&R activities beyond those indicated in the schedule, and visa and exit fees (not applicable for all destinations)
  
  
• Incidental personal expenses

NOTE: A $300 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your spot on the team, and all fees must be paid in full 45 days prior to departure.

If you do not have the financial means to pay the whole amount of the trip fees yourself, don’t let that discourage you. Many team members raise all or a portion of their fees through donations from family and friends. If you do plan to fundraise, please be sure to start well ahead of the due date for full payment of your fees. 

Even if you have the financial means to pay the entire cost yourself, we strongly encourage individuals to fundraise for their trips. Any funds raised in excess of the trip fees can be designated by the volunteer to go to our local partners or to AFCA. Fundraising also helps raise awareness of the mission of AFCA and its partners.

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Where We Travel

For 2011, AFCA is offering travel opportunities to Kenya and Nepal. In this section, we provide you with a profile of the needs in each country, the organizations each trip will be supporting, information about the work project and open team dates. 

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KENYA — $1200 plus airfare

Kenya has long been a favorite travel destination in Africa. Revered by many anthropologists as the 'cradle of humanity', Kenya has magnificent wildlife parks, unsullied beaches, thriving coral reefs, memorable mountainscapes and ancient Swahili cities. But Kenya is also a country with substantial needs.

The Need

Although Kenya has seen some success in their HIV response, it is still home to one of the world’s harshest HIV and AIDS pandemics. In a country plagued by drought and a history of civil unrest, HIV/AIDS remains a significant problem for the country in its efforts for social and economic development. 

The estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya is estimated to be over 1.5 million, with 76,300 new HIV infections in 2009 alone. Here are some other alarming statistics:

• 1.2 million children have been orphaned by AIDS
  
  
• Approximately 100,000 children are living with the virus, having acquired it from their mothers before birth, at birth, or during breast feeding
  
  
• One-third of all infant deaths can be attributed to AIDS
  
  
• Only 1 in 3 children needing treatment are receiving it. In the absence of treatment, 50% of HIV-infected children will die before their second birthday. 

This demonstrates just how far Kenya still needs to go in providing universal access to HIV treatment, prevention and care.

Our Kenya Partner:  Mombasa Community-Based Health Care and AIDS Relief Project

The Mombasa CBHC and AIDS Relief Project was initiated in 1996 through the Archdiocese of Mombasa. The program provides free medical care to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as to other impoverished individuals in their community in need of medical care. 

The Mombasa CBHC offers a holistic approach to the healthcare of their clients, offering HIV testing, treating for opportunistic diseases as well as managing anti-retroviral treatments. The project also includes counseling services, which is especially important when patients learn that they are HIV+. Beginning in one parish, the project has gradually expanded to 11 parishes in Mombasa. Currently, they are serving 2170 clients, the majority of whom live in the large slums areas of Mombasa and Kilindini districts.

Knowing that patients respond very well to home visits and to continued care outside of hospital settings, the program has grown to include 350 home care volunteers. These trained CHWs visit families in their neighborhoods, provide basic health counseling, and refer more serious cases to the nurses. They also work hard to keep clients committed to taking their medications, creating  HIV awareness within the community, providing a linkage between patients and clinic, and identifying those in need of nutritional support. CHWs care for about 5,900 sick persons living in great poverty.  

Mombasa CBHC also operates an orphanage program for 300 children. They provide education, medical treatment and clothing support. They also offer two HIV prevention programs, specifically suited for children of different ages. One hundred twenty mothers have been trained to lead these groups.

Work Projects

Previous AFCA volunteer teams have participated in a variety of projects in Mombasa. Some of these projects included:

• Helping to build a house for a family of four children who were orphaned when their father died of AIDS and their mother was killed in a traffic accident several months later. Without this help, these children would have had to continue living in an orphanage.
  
  
• Repairing a dilapidated home of two orphaned children who are HIV+ themselves. The home was left to them by their mother, and their financial situation was so dire that they could not afford to make repairs to keep the rains from coming through the roof and walls.
  
  
• Inventorying antiretroviral and other medicines and medical supplies at AFCA partner hospitals and clinics, as well as completing general maintenance projects in these facilities.

Future projects will include the continuation of repairing the homes of clients of the clinic. These clients are at risk of worsening their illnesses because their homes are in such unsafe and unsanitary conditions. We may also help with painting and other miscellaneous renovation projects in local clinics as well as playing with children served by AFCA.  

Other Trip Highlights

Teams stay at a Catholic community center in Mombasa. Rooms will be shared, two per room. The rooms have their own bathrooms (although the water is not hot in the showers), a balcony and electricity. Breakfasts will be served at the guest house each morning. Lunches and dinners will be taken in local restaurants.

Trip Schedule
Mombasa, Kenya — July 1-10, 2011

Current Open Teams

We are currently recruiting for the following open teams: July 1 to July 10, 2011

If you are interested in joining this team, please refer to the Process for Joining a Team section.

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NEPAL — $1290 plus airfare

This volunteer trip will be a part of AFCA’s “Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up” annual fund-raising campaign. It also provides financial support for Nepal Orphans Home, a 501(c) 3 public charity that offers care to orphaned and abandoned children in Nepal. While not an AIDS organization, Nepal Orphans Home serves to improve the dire situation of children in their country. AFCA is proud to partner with them to provide a unique travel experience to Nepal that also helps further their work.

For this volunteer vacation, we will be working and staying at the Tashi Chime Gatsal monastery in the remote Sherpa village of Bigu, Nepal. The Rinpoche (head monk) and nuns of the monastery invite us to participate in almost every aspect of their daily lives during our stay—sharing meals, attending sunrise prayers and helping with their chores around the monastery—making for many memorable experiences.

This is a somewhat physical volunteer opportunity. Bigu is situated at 8200 feet in elevation, and there is currently no usable road that takes you all the way to the village. We will travel several hours in a jeep on very rough roads before we begin the hike to the village. We will have porters available to carry the majority of our luggage, so all you’ll need to carry yourself are items you’ll need during the hike.

Don’t let the physical challenges discourage you from considering this opportunity. You certainly do not need to be a super-athlete to participate, but you need to be prepared for a long trek. And your reward for your efforts will be repaid immeasurably by the amazing experience you will have once you get there!

The Need

Despite its beauty, Nepal ranks among the poorest and least developed nations in the world. Nepal’s remote location, security concerns, and lack of technology have hindered the economy. Recent severe drought and unreliable monsoon rains have led to acute food shortages and the highest levels of hunger in 40 years. Nearly 70% of the population lives on less than $2 a day. About two thirds of female adults and one third of male adults are illiterate.

The situation for children in Nepal is especially alarming. One infant in every 10 dies before the age of five. There are an estimated 1 million orphans in Nepal. Even a basic school education is too expensive for many families. 

Child labor is another growing problem facing Nepal. It is estimated that there are approximately 2.6 million child workers in the country. Some children are trafficked into India and sold there to work in the carpet making industry or the sex industry. Every year, a staggering 7,000 to 10,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked against their will across the open border with India.

Our Nepal Partner:  Nepal Orphans Home

Nepal Orphans Home (NOH) rescues children from abject poverty, providing their basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. They also enable these children to develop and realize their potentials by providing schooling, health care and administering to their emotional needs. In addition to taking in orphaned or abandoned children, NOH collaborates with Society Welfare Action Nepal (SWAN), a local nongovernmental organization that rescues girls from indentured servitude.  

What began with 12 children in one building in 2005, has now expanded to providing for 130 children in four houses. Three of the homes provide for girls, over 70 of who were rescued from indentured servitude. The fourth home cares for boys. The children range in age from 6 to 19. 

NOH also supports two schools in remote villages in the Ramechhap district, funding hot lunch programs and contributing to teacher salaries and school supplies for over 140 children, most of whom are Dalits (untouchables).

To learn more about NOH, visit their webpage at: www.nepalorphanshome.org

Work Projects

In the months prior to each team’s arrival, we work with NOH and the Rinpoche of the monastery to determine what projects we can best assist them with accomplishing during our stay. The skills of the team participants will also be taken into consideration. 

In the past, volunteers have helped with:

• Planting gardens and offering suggestions for seed harvesting and cultivation
  
  
• Minor construction projects
  
  
• Repainting decorative panels in the temple
  
  
• Teaching English at the monastery as well as the village school
  
  
• Teaching the nuns to knit and sew
  
  
• Helping to cook meals

One of the future projects will be improvements to the monastery kitchen. Currently, the nuns have to work on the floor and cook over open fires, which creates health issues for them. 

This is a very self-directed volunteer experience—it’s up to you to make yourself as useful as you want to be. You decide where you can best help, and work at your own pace. And you are free to take time to explore the village, hike, share pictures with local visitors to the monastery, meditate, read, or relax.

Other Trip Highlights

The team will be staying right inside the monastery compound. Accommodations are rustic, but comfortable. We will be sleeping on single beds with four to six people per room. Restroom facilities are Asian-style squat toilets that are located across the compound from the sleeping rooms. We will have all meals at the monastery, prepared by the nuns with help from team members.

The monastery does not have hot water for showers. Heating water for a team is a considerable burden for the nuns, as it must be done over open fires. There is a guest house within a 5-minute walk where hot showers are available for a nominal fee – but the guest house hours are unpredictable and there are often more people wanting hot showers than there is hot water available. At the very least, we will make every attempt to heat water for bucket baths at least every other day. 

Electricity is minimal, limited to a few solar panels providing basic lighting for the buildings. For a small fee, we are sometimes able to recharge small electronic devices at the small monastery store (the store also sells snacks and drinks).

Trip Schedule
Bigu, Nepal — November 9-22, 2011

Current Open Teams

We are currently recruiting for the following open teams:  November 9 to 22, 2011

If you are interested in joining this team, please refer to the Process for Joining a Team section.

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Process for Joining a Team

STEP ONE:  The Application

• Download the Application Form (40 KB pdf).
• Complete the application and email, fax or mail it to us. Be sure to make your application as complete as possible. 
• After your application is submitted, it will be forwarded to the Team Leader for the trip you are interested in. 

STEP TWO:  The Interview

• After receiving your application, the Team Leader will contact you to arrange for a 30-45 minute interview with you.  
  • Couples:  please note that we must have individual interviews with each of you personally. 
  • Minors (14 to 17 year olds):  We will also need to interview you individually. We will then need a follow-up interview with one or both custodial parents or guardians who will be traveling with you.
• The interview will consist of a number of questions that allow the Team Leader to get to know you. And it gives you a chance to learn more about the Team Leader as to ask any questions you may have about the trip.

STEP THREE:  The Invitation

• If after the interview, you decide you would like to continue with your application, and the Team Leader feels that you would be a good fit for the team, an invitation will be extended to you. This will occur either right on the phone or within a few days if multiple applications are being considered. 

STEP FOUR:  Pay Your Deposit

• Once an invitation is extended, you’ll need to pay your $300 deposit to AFCA. 
  • This needs to be done within 15 days of receiving an invitation for the trip, unless other arrangements are made with the Team Leader. Otherwise your position on the team cannot be confirmed.
  • This deposit is non-refundable.
• To pay your deposit:
  • You can send a check. 
    • Simply mail it to:
      American Foundation for Children with AIDS
      6221 Blue Grass Avenue
      Harrisburg, PA 17112
      
      
    • Be sure that you note "VWP" and the host country and dates on the memo line of your check. 
  • Or you can pay online:
    • Click "Donate Online"
      
      
    • Complete the whole form but remember to:

1. select Vacation with a Purpose from the pulldown menu in Section 2 Donation Information and...
2. type in the host country location and dates for the team you are joining in the Comments field

• After you have made your deposit, you are officially on the team!

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Getting the Most Out of Your Experience

To try to help make this as rewarding an experience as possible for you, we would like to share some of our observations of previous successful teams. These might help you determine if this is the right type of travel experience for you, and help minimize any frustrations or disappointments. 

We have found that team members who have the best experiences and are most suited for these types of vacation share these traits:

1. A high degree of flexibility and patience.  If there is anything that we know for sure from our experience in traveling to developing countries, it’s that something we plan won’t work the way we hoped or may not happen at all. Being prepared for shifting gears, adapting to changes in schedule or work is imperative for you to avoid being frustrated.
   
   One common frustration is delays in the work project. This can be understandably frustrating, because you have travelled a long way and want to feel useful. But although our host partners try their best to be organized and prepared, we will likely feel under-utilized from time to time. Often this happens because we get ahead of schedule. Sometimes materials just don’t arrive as planned or aren’t available. 
   
   
2. Self-motivation.  The team will be provided with tasks that the host partner would like us to complete. But you won’t be assigned to a particular task. It will be up to each team member to decide what work you would like to do and at what intensity you want to work, depending on your skills and comfort with the tasks.
   
   There will also be periods of free time when no team activities have been planned. During those times, you will need to take initiative to find things to do—on your own or even better, with others from the team. You might want to organize a board game or card game or a game of charades. Or you might invite others to go for a walk or explore the town with you.
   
   
3. Cultural Sensitivity.  One of the most rewarding aspects of a volunteer vacation to a developing country is experiencing a culture often vastly different from our own. But that also means that tools, equipment and materials may be far below the quality we are used to at home. And we may be asked to use methods that seem inefficient to us. While you are definitely encouraged to share any ideas on how to improve their processes don’t be offended if they don’t use them. It may simply not be possible due to availability or cost of tools or materials, or it may be a cultural difference. And learning a new way of doing things—even if it seems primitive or inefficient—could come in handy some day!
   
   
4. Willingness to Participate.  The success of any team experience is largely dependent on group participation and sharing of responsibilities. There will be some tasks where volunteers from the team will be asked to take the lead. Everyone has something to offer, and a willingness to offer assistance is essential.

Just as important though is a good sense of humor, willingness to work with a servant heart, openness to new experiences—and a desire to have FUN!

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Team Leader Bios

Val Tomey

Val has been an international team leader for many years, having lead volunteer teams to numerous countries around the world, including Madagascar, Cameroon, Zambia, Jordan, Mongolia, Chile, Nepal, and Thailand. She has also travelled as a participant on volunteer teams to India, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Ireland.

As a team leader, Val strives to build teams that are diverse in age, gender, religious affiliation and cultural backgrounds. She looks for fellow team members who are adventurous, flexible and find fulfillment in serving others—and are willing to give up some of the luxuries of home for awesome experiences!