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A Vacation That Helps Others, Too ALL WORK / ALL PLAY

Posted on: Sunday, 4 December 2005, 12:00 CST

By Jane L. Levere

The South Asian tsunami of last December and the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington of Sept. 11, 2001, have spawned a new kind of travel: the volunteering vacation.

The choice of programs is extensive. In the United States, groups like the American Hiking Society and the Sierra Club offer programs for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts; the Forest Service operates a program called Passport in Time.

Among the 150 scientific projects sponsored worldwide next year by Earthwatch Institute will be a study, authorized by the U.S. State Department, of the American crocodile at a wildlife refuge in southern Cuba, and a survey of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Habitat for Humanity International recruits volunteers the most famous being former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn to build houses for the poor in the United States and overseas, while Heifer International lets volunteers visit its sustainable- development projects around the world, most involving livestock. Heifer hopes that participants, having observed its projects closely, will spread the word about its work.

Some organizations require participants to have specific professional skills. These include Health Volunteers Overseas, which recruits doctors, dentists, physical therapists and nurses to teach medical professionals abroad, and the International Executive Service Corps, which sends executives overseas on consulting projects. One software entrepreneur, for example, recently went to Macedonia to help software companies with their operations and marketing.

Many groups operate multiple programs worldwide, often focusing on education, child care, health care and conservation. These groups include i-to-i, Amizade, Cross-Cultural Solutions, Elderhostel, Global Citizens Network, Global Crossroad, Global Volunteers and Globe Aware.

In one Global Volunteers program, for example, participants work at a children's clinic in Tutova, Romania. And in a Globe Aware project in Luang Prabang, Laos, volunteers assemble wheelchairs from recycled parts.

The costs of programs vary widely. Most do not include airfare, but many cover insurance to cover emergency medical evacuation.

The International Executive Service Corps pays all expenses for participants, while the American Hiking Society's trips generally cost a participant only a $100 registration fee, in addition to airfare.

Other programs can be quite pricey, like a monthlong wildlife ranger training course offered by i-to-i in South Africa, at $3,595, not including airfare, and Heifer's 14-day program in Uganda and Rwanda, at $4,900, including airfare from the East Coast.

If the group that offers the trip is a charity, and if the trip is devoted to volunteer work, the chances are excellent that the cost will be tax-deductible.

LaVerne Woods, a specialist on charitable tax exemptions and a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, a law firm based in Seattle, said that if there was "no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation or vacation in the travel," then expenses would be deductible. "If the accommodations you pay for are a condo on a beach in Maui and half your time is spent sitting on the beach sipping cocktails, there's a significant element of recreation," she said. "But if you're on a research vessel and spend most of your time collecting scientific samples, that sounds like a legitimate, deductible expense."

If you find the concept of volunteer vacations appealing, do your homework first.

"One real danger is when people are not thoughtful about what they want to get out of their experience and what their goals are," said Doug Cutchins, an author of "Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others." He added, "The more you think about what you want to do and why, the more likely you'll find an organization that fits what you're looking for."

And don't have unrealistic expectations about brief trips, warned Zahara Heckscher, an author of "How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas."

She said: "A lot of people have the glamorous but false image of how much volunteers can accomplish in a short period. Be humble about how much you might transform a community and the tangible differences you will make in the short term."

Heckscher also urges anyone who is considering such trips to talk to as many past participants as possible.

Prospective volunteers should also remember that not all programs are open to everyone. For example, Elderhostel trips require participants to be at least 55. And Passport in Time and the International Executive Service Corps say they have more applicants than they can accommodate.

Many volunteers say the right trip can add much value to their lives.

Carleen Kunkel, 63, of Trumbull, Connecticut, a former English teacher, is participating in her sixth Cross-Cultural Solutions program, this one in Tanzania. She said the programs had allowed her to "learn about the culture and not be a tourist; you learn about the people and feel you have some portion of belonging to their culture."

Last summer, Kimberlea Archer, 45, an investment banker based in New York, helped to remodel a women's art cooperative in Costa Rica through Global Volunteers.

"There's something about giving when you're not writing a check," she said. "Giving sweat and hours means so much more than people can imagine.

"For two weeks I was without my cellphone and BlackBerry, and when I landed in the U.S., I found that the whole world had gotten along without me," Archer said. "Since I've gotten back, I've let go of things I couldn't control. The trip caused me to be more confident and less concerned about controlling the outcome, because ultimately, we really can't."

Source: International Herald Tribune

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