While volunteering abroad conjures visions of backpacking through remote villages to project locations and many a young person heading off from home for the first time to change the world, this experience is not just for the young. Volunteering abroad is also for the young at heart.
According to Women on the Road, “in some countries, more than 50% of women say they would like to volunteer after their formal working lives are over.”
A Senior Volunteer Abroad Speaks
Gloria Kramer visited Ghana to volunteer in December 2007, spending 3 months working with Ghanaian crafts women on their business practices in Cape Coast, Ghana for Women in Progress.
Of her experience, Gloria said, “I enjoy the feeling of doing something useful for an organization that I believe in and that’s helping women. It’s also fun to be working again after being retired all those years…and to meet new people — both the Ghanaians and the volunteers.” As reported in the Women in Progress newsletter, Gloria found life in Ghana as easy as she anticipated, saying the most challenging aspect is walking down the street between the open sewers and speeding cars.
Senior-friendly Volunteer Abroad Programs
An organization noted for being Seniors-friendly, the Earthwatch Institute's focus is sustainability and they offer projects relating to scientific field research and conservation. They have projects in 48 countries around the world and boast that many of their senior volunteers return to volunteer time and again.
Another organization with a reputation for being senior friendly, according to Transitions Abroad, is Global Service Corps which has projects in Thailand, Cambodia and Tanzania and provides opportunities for short- or long-term programs including HIV/AIDS prevention, sustainable agriculture, healthcare, and English language.
PUM for Dutch “Seniors” and Retirees
PUM allows retirees specializing in one of dozens of sectors to volunteer for short- or long-term projects throughout the developing world using the expertise gained through decades of employment or managing their own enterprises.
PUM explains that retired specialists with an entire career of experience undertake over 1,500 projects annually from a database of more than 3,000 experts. PUM’s consultants assist local organizations with financial management, production processes, company restructuring and staff policy, marketing, technical issues, and much more. They can be found in Cambodia, Vietnam, Ghana and all over South America too.
Incidentally, Gloria also mentioned, in the Women in Progress newsletter, that her contemporaries seem to believe that travel at their age (Gloria was 73) is impossible, but she is proof that it is possible and recommends it for anyone physically able to travel.
Aside from the recommendations above, a search of Idealist will also help identify great volunteering opportunities for senior and retired volunteers.
Gayle Pescud - Co-founder of G-lish Foundation in Ghana, an award winning non-profit that welcomes volunteers in Africa.
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