How To Read The Directory

You can search our "OPEN PROJECTS SEARCHABLE" Directory to find the projects of your choice within the time frame of your availability. The Directory lets you select specific fields such as country/ies, date range, camp type/s or keyword to assist your searching. You have the option of searching optional countries or camp types at the same time. Only countries appearing in green in the country drop down menu have open projects. When the output appears from your selected parameters, you can find the details of any specific project by clinking the link entitled "view details". Be sure to note the current space available for female and male volunteers in the project of your interest.

If you want a listing of only medium to long term service ( MTV/LTV) projects, select those from the Volunteer Term of Service drop down menu on the Open Project Search page. You can print the output pages by clicking the button "view as printable" and then clinking the yellow printer icon or select FILE in the upper left hand corner of your browser and then PRINT. On all searches, ONLY OPEN PROJECTS WILL APPEAR. The Directory contains many edits and additional projects which may not appear in the paper copy version of our Directory.

When you view the details of any project, always read any additional information provided at the web link referenced as part of the full project description. There may be important information provided by our partners there. An example project header appears below:

Our Partner in Thailand is an organization named Greenway. Their project headers are listed in our Directory like this:

The project header lists the following information:

1. Project Code (the first three letters of the country as spelled in English plus the sponsoring organization's acronym and project number, followed by a dash and an abreviation for the year -08 means the Project occurs during year 2008)

2. Project Name (in our example, Kao Yai National Park)

3. Project Location (in our example, Nakorn Ratchasima)

4. Project Dates

5. Project Type

6. Ages of Volunteers

7. Spaces currently open for females.

8. Spaces currently open for males.

9. Is the project open for volunteers under age 18.

10. Number of Volunteers

11. VFP Registration Fee

12. Xtra Fee. Also known as Po fee (Partner Organization fee) which is any additional fee payable on arrival (most camps do not have an extra fee). These extra fees are typical in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the developing world in general.

13. Report Refund: If the volunteer writes a project report by October, or within 30 days of the end of their project, VFP will refund $50 of their registration fee. This is generally available in projects where there is an extra fee of $50 or more payable upon arrival.

14. Background information on VFP's partner organization abroad. It is IMPORTANT that you read this file so you get a clear understanding of the mission, requirements and concerns of our partners. The projects are entirely organized and managed by them!

Most of our partners and VFP write DATES IN REVERSE: day/month, not the U.S. standard month/day format, i.e. 25/07-09/08 = July 25 - Aug 09. Sometimes listings use the 24 hr clock (like military time), i.e. Volunteers should meet at 1400 hrs = 2:00 P.M. If the date of a project has yet to be announced it may be listed as TBA or TBD. Most dates will be written using the first 3 letters of the month i.e. MAR = March.

Each project has a TYPE for the work and study of the project. For most camps, the focus is indicated in the project header using the abbreviations listed below. Sometimes two types or more are combined. TYPES can be used as keywords in our searchable directory.

ARCH = Archaeology
ARTS = Arts related
AG/AGRI = Agriculture work
CONS = Construction
DISA = Assisting disabled people
ENVI = environmental work
ELD = Work with Elderly
FEST = Festival
FAMILY = Open to families
HERI = Cultural Heritage work
KIDS = Work with Children
LANG = language course
LTV = Long-term volunteer project
MAINT = Maintenance work
MANUAL = Manual work, labor
MEN = Male volunteers only
MENT = Work with the mentally handicapped individuals.
MIXED AGE = vols aged over 30 especially welcome / priority given
MTV = Medium-term volunteer project
PEACE = Peace Work
PHYS = Work with physically handicapped individuals
RELIEF = Disaster relief work
RENO = Renovation
SOCIAL = Social Work, Social Projects
STUDY = Discussion/informal learning (fun! not like school!)
TEACH = Teaching
TEEN = Open to volunteers under age 18
WOMEN = Female volunteers ONLY
YOGA = Project involving yoga practice or study
YOUTH = Work with Teens

Project announcements appear as they were presented to us by our foreign partners, with no editing of any awkward/incorrect English and all typos. The announcements frequently use abbreviations to shorten the announcement. A sample of a project description is listed below, along with an explanation of the abbreviations:

Abreviations used in project descriptions:

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