Program Fees

As a long-term volunteer (one or two years), you will receive:

As a summer volunteer, you will receive:

1. Over five weeks of cross-cultural, language, and TESOL training
2. Airfare from your host country to your first point of entry to the US after your service
3. Visa expenses
4. Emergency medical and emergency evacuation insurance
5. Ground transportation in your host country
6. A monthly living stipend
7. Housing
8. VIA annual program conference lodging and transportation
9. 24 hour in-country and home office support

1. Cross-cultural training
2. Emergency medical and emergency evacuation insurance
3. Housing
4. Visa expenses
5. 24 hours in-country and home office support
6. Ground transportation

Program:

Participation Fee

Long Term Program--All Countries 

$2400

Bali Service-Learning Summer Program

 $2000 

Teach-in-Hue Summer Program 

$2000

Traditional Chinese Medicine Summer Program

Viet-Am Service-Learning Summer Program

$1000

 "Why pay money to volunteer?" There was a time when I fully shared the thinly veiled suspicion behind this frequently asked question. At a time when many people have some of the most sought-after skills in a booming job market, it is easy to understand a person's reluctance to pay to volunteer.

"But having learned the hard way, I now encourage everyone I talk to about volunteering to go through a well-established organization. The benefits include:

• Orientation - This usually includes important pre-departure reading materials as well as on-site orientation on local culture, history and customs
• Language and technical training
• Arranged accommodations - A supportive and caring homestay environment provides an important connection to the culture and a first-hand view of social and political events in the country
• A safety net - Staff are there to provide logistical and emotional support.
• Affordability - When you calculate the difference between traveling to a country on your own and the cost of participating in a program, you might be surprised by how little the difference is.

"My advice to the would-be volunteer with good intentions, great organizational skills, and a real interest in international development and cross-cultural education is to allow an experienced organization to channel that energy, intelligence, good intentions into an established volunteer program."