Get Social – and Volunteer Abroad

Feeling useful as we get older is being increasingly recognized by gerontologists as part of healthy aging. Researchers, including University of Southern California’s Tara Gruenewald, Ph.D., M.P.H., the lead author of a study on the topic, have found that seniors who feel useful to others – a quality they call ‘generativity” – enjoy better overall health, mobility, well-being – and live longer.

Results indicate that older adults in their 60s and 70s with greater self-perceptions of generativity were less likely to experience increases in ADL disability or to die as they aged into their 70s and 80s. 

Volunteering, according to some reports,  is also associated with reductions in symptoms of depression, better overall health, fewer functional limitations, and greater longevity.

Volunteering in a new locale

Global volunteering is ideal for retirees with the time, resources and experience to do good, satisfy their wanderlust and meet new people.  Volunteer opportunities abound for the 50+ set in Asia, Europe, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and other parts of the world.

Seniors are sought for many reasons, including their calm steadiness, life experience, and, for some volunteer opportunities, their well-honed expertise or special skills.

Doing Good Far Away

The Peace Corps

The Peace Corps: The first option that comes to mind for many is The Peace Corps. This well-established organization operates in nearly 60 countries worldwide from Cameroon to the Kyrgyz Republic, and often there is no language requirement.  A comprehensive searchable database shows open opportunities in general or by location, or you can go where the need is greatest. If you’re not sure what’s right for you they offer a quiz to guide your choice.  The website is comprehensive and the Corps offers pre-trip training.  Some volunteers must commit to a long haul – two years plus a three month training period – but there is a Response Team option for shorter stays if you have special skills.  

Virtual Peace Corps Service

However if you wish to help and have language skills, The Peace Corps offers a Virtual Service Pilot, wherein volunteers commit to a three-to-six month stint of between five to fifteen hours a week…but language skills are key.  Read a blog post by a Virtual Service volunteer here.

Over 50 and Over Seas

Over 50 and Over Seas is another clearinghouse for global volunteer opportunities with a searchable database with links to specific websites for a variety of causes, from fighting homelessness with Habitat for Humanity, to maintaining or preserving important cultural or biodiverse heritage sites with the Conservation International Volunteer Program, which offers one or two week trips to help at some of the world’s greatest landscapes – the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Italy and elsewhere, including U.S. national parks.  You’ll get your hands dirty and it’s not cheap, but you’ll get an short-time immersive experience in a unique – and often breathtaking – setting.

Global Volunteering Tipsheet

What particular volunteer opportunity is right for you?  Before you commit your time, book your trip and get your visa and vaccinations – do your research,  advises John Dwyer host of Over 50 and Overseas. He should know: Dwyer has worked and/or volunteered overseas for nearly two decades.  He points out that research is key before committing including:

• • Checking FAQs, including any links, for opportunities that interest you.
  • Confirming dates and length of opportunities. Most are at least a week but can last up to six months or more. (He recommends two weeks minimum.)
  • Check costs in addition to airfare.  You are volunteering your time and expertise…but there is still overhead and costs to feed and house you.  For more information on this point, visit here.
  • Do you need a visa? What vaccinations do you need pre-trip?
  • Do you want some time off to explore? Some placements arrange side trips for their volunteers, but most do not. However, sometimes weekends are free, so you and your fellow volunteers may have time to explore the region beyond your volunteer site..
  • Want to call home?  Internet availability is intermittent and/or weak in some parts of the world. If electronic access is essential for you, check  with your placement organization.
  • Although English is often acceptable, some organizations have a language requirement – so don’t overestimate your fluency.
  • While you should have your own medical insurance, it’s smart to buy secondary travel medical insurance so that you’re covered wherever you travel. It can also cover an evacuation, should that be necessary.
  • Travel cancellation coverage protects you should you have to cancel a nonrefundable travel flight. Some credit cards include this perk when you pay using their card, but make sure you check.

Want more?

There is a lot of information “out there”. Here are five more sites to get you started:

• https://www.projects-abroad.org/trip-format/grown-up-specials/
• https://www.volunteerhq.org/senior-volunteers/
• https://over50andoverseas.com/programs/love-volunteers/#more-2356
• Volunteer Abroad Opportunities for Seniors and Retirees | Volunteer Forever
• https://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/travel/senior/volunteer_vacations_for_adults_and_seniors.shtml

YOUR TURN

Have you volunteered abroad? When and where?  How was it? Share your experience in the comments!

Nona Aguilar is an award-winning writer of numerous magazine articles and two books. She has also edited four specialty business newsletter publications. Her work has appeared in Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Family Circle and Cosmopolitan, and in The Business Owner.