Volunteer work in South East Asia

[pineapplegirl]

Hi there,

I'd love it if you guys could help me out.

I'm a third year nursing student in Canada, and I am planning on going to Thailand for about a month in February. I'm planning on travelling around the country for 2 weeks, and then i would LOVE to volunteer somewhere in the medical field for about 1-2 weeks in the end of February. I'm wondering if anyone has ever done this before, and how it worked. I'm open to any kind of volunteer work in South East Asia.

Any help would be appreciated.

Happy New Year!

Heather

[suzanne4, RN]

Could you be more specific as to exactly what you would like to do there? I lived there for quite some time and am very familiar with what is available. One big issue will be that you have not graduated from nursing school yet, most of the NGOs there require soem type of experience as an RN.

It may also be at too late of a date to get something as a true volunteer, as you actually need another type of visa, not the tourist visa for that, at least to do things legally for the NGOs.. It is something that would have to be set-up on this end, with a visa stamped in your passport by the Thai Embassy. (NGO is non-government organization)

If you could give me a better idea of exactly what you want, you may be able to do something while you are there, such as volunteer at the children's orphanages, AIDS facilities, teaching English to nursing students there, etc.

[pineapplegirl]

Thank you for replying! Volunteering with children is my biggest interest, I'd love to volunteer at a orphanage, work with children or even have the chance just to observe nurses working. I really am open to anything. I have found many websites about volunteering in South East Asia, but most of them require you to commit to atleast a month, and I don't have that much time to spend there.

I will be meeting a friend in Thailand and I will travel around with him for the first 2-3 weeks, and then my last 1-2 weeks I will be alone. I am too scared to actually travel around alone, so I figure that volunteering will give me a stationary location, a chance to meet some people and a whole whack of new experiences.

[suzanne4, RN]

There is absolutely no issue with travelling around Thailand on your own. I did it for years before I moved there.

I can hook you up with a few of my students over there that would be happy to show you around, if you would like, as well. And they speak English.:wink2: