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Improve Community Services in Impoverished Areas

by Katherine Noyes
The Challenge

Basic community services such as health care, education and clean water are things many of us take for granted, but in impoverished areas, people often have to go without. Such services require a working infrastructure of solid buildings and equipment that simply doesn't exist in some communities, or has fallen into disrepair. By helping to build and repair local buildings and equipment, you can help bring critical community services to people who sorely need them.

Around the globe, 2 billion people lack access to basic community services such as electricity, clean drinking water and sanitation. And it's not just those in developing nations who suffer from the lack of these services: Even in the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, about 17 million people are served by substandard facilities for drinking water.

Areas that lack essential community services can face health risks, fewer opportunities and seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their efforts to improve development.

Even if you have only limited experience with a paintbrush or hammer, you can work with a team of international volunteers and local villagers to construct community infrastructure integral to the provision of local services.

Typical projects include constructing or rehabilitating a health clinic, community center, orphanage, school house, or water system.

Construction tasks can vary according to your level of experience and physical fitness. You could find yourself repairing roofs, painting classrooms, constructing chairs, clearing brush, fixing window frames, landscaping a garden, installing a water system, or building a walking bridge.

Most construction projects are physically demanding. Living conditions can be fairly basic. But the rewards of establishing community services and helping an area advance will stay with you for the rest of your life.

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  • Global Citizens Network offers one-, two- and three-week projects to improve community services in Africa, Latin America, Thailand, Nepal, and several locations in North America. These trips are well-suited for people who want to immerse themselves in the daily life and culture of a rural community. Parents may bring their children.
  • Amizade offers one- to six-week trips that feature a mix of community service and recreation. Project sites include Poland, Nothern Ireland, Ghana, Brazil, Tanzania, Bolivia, Jamaica, Mexico, Washington D.C. and the Navajo Nation. Volunteers do not need any specialized skills, just a willingness to help.
  • Global Volunteers offers one- to three-week assignments in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and the Cook Islands.
  • AMIGOS offers six- to eight-week summer projects for high school and college students that are focused on improving community services in Latin America. After attending training sessions, volunteers are assigned to ongoing health programs in host countries. Volunteer activities include health education and (light) construction of health-related facilities. Students typically live with families in small communities in rural and semi-urban areas.
  • Volunteers for Peace offers dozens of opportunities to help build and maintain infrastructure for community services in more than 100 countries around the globe. Most trips last two to three weeks, but longer opportunities are also available.
  • i to i offers trips of anywhere from one to 12 weeks to various locations in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Australia and New Zealand.
  • Finally, GoAbroad.com offers a useful directory that can be used to search for additional volunteer opportunities not listed here based on region, duration and type of work involved.

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