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When it comes to volunteering abroad, it's attitude not age that matters. Catherine Dell reports. Woman's World - Administration [Joomla!] "I went for an adventure and came back with a commitment." That's how Julie Jones sums up her introduction to voluntary work abroad.

At the age of 61, Julie - a widow and retired teacher - was looking for something more than a holiday and discovered Gap Year for Grown Ups, an organisation specialising in time out for adults 30-plus. The programmes on offer ranged from teaching English in Mongolia and turtle conservation in Amazonia to caring for the elderly in Goa or orang-utan rehabilitation in Malaysia.

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Some of the boys at the home in Tamil Nadu
Julie's choice was a four-week placement in west Kenya, working with an HIV/AIDS orphan outreach project. There, sharing a house with three other volunteers, she spent some of her time teaching in a local school and playing with the children. On other days, she went out with the mobile clinic, "through a Flame Trees of Thika landscape", to visit sick and elderly villagers, many of whom were looking after grandchildren orphaned by AIDS.
"My experience can only be described as humbling," she says. "Everywhere I went I was greeted with smiles, warmth and respect, given gifts and fed by people who had so very little themselves."

Their cheerfulness and resilience, in spite of such wretched circumstances, made a deep impression on Julie: since coming home she has been fundraising for the project and is planning a return visit sooner rather than later.

Julie is one of an increasing number of older people who are opting to take a break with a difference - one that involves spending weeks, months, even years, doing some kind of voluntary work abroad.

Not just students


Traditionally, taking a 'gap' - and doing something worthwhile with it - is the preserve of students, but today their parents and grandparents are getting in on the act: currently, one-third of Gap Year for Grown Ups' clients are over 50.

Older people are catching the 'gap' habit for a variety of reasons: they have worked hard for years and now need a career break; their children have left home and suddenly, with fewer responsibilities, there is more time for 'me'; they are at a crossroads - redundancy, divorce, partner's death - and want change; they have retired and now have the opportunity to travel and, at the same time, 'give something back'.

Nursery nurse Susan Felton, 52, felt that eight weeks' summer holiday - especially since her husband's death - "was too long to do nothing". So Susan went to north India and spent a month helping in a day care centre for infants, an experience that "did so much for me and I like to think I gave something too". Not surprisingly, she has been back.

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Janet's work in Namibia included teaching office skills.
When Susan told her parents, sister and grown-up son about her plans they all expressed grave concern. Kathy Miller's family reacted very differently. With her children now doing their own thing, Kathy, 51, felt she needed a challenge and tentatively floated the idea of overseas volunteer work to her husband. Ken's response, "Off you go," put her on the spot, propelled her into action and six months later she was in Tamil Nadu, south India, helping at a home for disabled boys, all from very poor backgrounds and affected either by polio or cerebral palsy.

From the moment she walked through the gate and met the home's wheelchair-bound director, Kathy knew "this was where I was meant to be". In a way she is still there. On her return to the UK, Kathy did not go back to her lecturing post; instead she and Ken, who had already taken early retirement, set up the Neem Tree Trust, a registered charity dedicated to supporting the boys' home and named after a tree renowned for its healing properties. The Trust's fundraising activities include talks given by Kathy and the sale of Neem oil products, gift stationery and articles made by the boys themselves.

Kathy's original trip to Tamil Nadu was organised by Teaching & Projects Abroad. Like Gap Year for Grown Ups, this company offers a range of placements worldwide for durations to suit each volunteer, from two weeks to one year.

These two organisations and others like them rarely require specific qualifications or training and, because their programmes are ongoing, there is almost always a community of volunteers at each project - loneliness should not be a problem. As well as the placement itself, the 'gap' package typically includes accommodation, food, briefings, insurance, on-the-ground support and, excluding flights, costs anything between £500-2,500, depending on where and for how long.

Consider VSO


For people who wish to help create a fairer world using their professional qualifications and experience and who are willing to commit themselves for two years, VSO is a serious option. This international development charity works with partner organisations - ranging from government ministries to community groups - in over 30 countries; it then recruits volunteers, aged 20-75, whose skills match the needs of those partners. Sought-after skills typically occur in areas such as education, health, management, IT and community development.


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