FAQ's (Frequently asked questions)
• I am American/ Korean/ Colombian/ Indian/ Ukrainian/ Finnish... Can I get a place to
volunteer/an internship through your organisation?
Theoretically, any human being of this planet can get a volunteer/an
internship position through us. There are very few nationalities that
are restricted to get visas for the countries that we offer. We will
find this out for you. Costs for visas might differ depending on your
nationality.
• I am 32 /35/ 49 / 76 years old. I am too old to take part?
Of course not! We are happy about any partipants who can contribute their life and professional experience. We regularly have participants of all ages.
• What’s the minimum age?
For reasons of liability, the minimum age is 18 years when entering your host country.
• I would like to volunteer/do an internship together with a friend. Is this possible?
This is possible in most cases, as most projects and organizations
accept more than one volunteer at a time. Please inform us about what
you want to do and when and we will check this! If you arrive together
and will be doing the same voluntary work, you might also get a
discount on the price of the trouble-free package.
• Is it dangerous to travel to Africa/Central America as a single female traveller?
You can travel to Africa or Central America as a single female
traveler. The majority of our World Unite! volunteers are females and
none of them has ever had any serious problems. However you should
follow certain rules of behaviour and dress code. You will get detailed
information about this in the info PDF which we will send you as part
of the trouble-free package.
• Can I use an internship with you to gain credits for my university studies?
This is typically possible, but it is up to your university to decide this. As part of the trouble-free package we can write or arrange confirmations about the internship. We can also sign and fill out internship contracts or an internship plan together with the internship organisation. Most of the organisations have qualified staff which can act as a mentor/supervisor for your internship. We can arrange proof for the qualification of the staff beforehand.
If the decision whether an internship with us is possible depends on the agreement of your university, we can arrange all papers which are needed for 30 €. If your university then agrees and you will come, this amount will be deducted from the costs of the trouble-free package.
• I have
tried to find a place to volunteer myself/with the help of another
organisation and now it looks as if this won't work. Can you arrange
something for me within very short time notice (one week, two weeks, one month...)? I have already booked my flight!
If you are a little flexible concerning what you will be actually
doing, we can often help in such cases. Some options such as
volunteering in the medical area or teaching at government schools
(where we need approvals from ministries) will sometimes be difficult
to arrange within a very short time, but many other things will still
be possible. In general, some time is needed to arrange Residence Permits and visas. Please contact us in any case and we will try to find a fast solution.
• Can I travel around before/after/during my internship/voluntary work?
Of course you can. As we are a network of tour companies we are happy to consult you
and we can also give you special volunteer rates. Also we can link you
with further World Unite! volunteers who are in the country at the same
time so you can travel together if you want. If you hold a Residence
Permit for Tanzania you can get reduced rates for domestic flights and
boats, as well as for local festivals and events. Unfortunately the
entrance fees to the National Parks are not reduced for residents. In India, if you have an X visa (volunteers/internship visa) you can of course also travel and don't need an additional tourist visa.
• Is it possible to extend an internship /voluntary work once in the host country?
Often this is difficult due to the visa or residence permit which is being issued for a certain time frame only. Instead of planning a short stay and possible extend it, it would be better if you knew prior to your stay for how long you realistically intend to stay as a maximum time.
• Will I be the only participant at my location or will there be other foreign participants?
In Moshi, Zanzibar, Tangier and Mumbai at any time we have several participants. We will let you know their email addresses before you arrive as well as their local phone numbers. Often you will be living with them in a flat or with a family. There are also other organisations (many from the US or England) who bring volunteers to the same places and it is relatively easy to get in touch with their participants.
At other places, it can be that during your period of stay you will be the only partipant or only temporarily there will be further participants. If you want to have no or little contact with other foreigners, please let us know and we will find a volunteering/internship option where this is possible.
This depends on the country of your choice and the duration of stay. As part of the trouble-free package we will arrange everything that is possible for us and will let you know in detail, if there is anything that can only be done by yourself personally.
• I don't need a work permit! I'm not even making any money as a volunteer! I will just have a tourist visa!
For Tanzania, India and Israel:
The immigration laws of Tanzania, India and Israel state that any activity which is different from typical tourist
activities (and this includes unpaid work as a volunteer) can not be done just with the tourist visa, but a special Residence Permit or visa is needed. In order
to avoid trouble for you, for the projects we work with and for
ourselves, we have to insist that anyone who will be volunteering at
one of the projects that we offer must have a valid Residence Permit
that he or she can arrange herself/himself or through us as part of the
trouble-free package.
• Will I get paid for my volunteer work/internship?
The very nature of volunteering consists in getting involved into a certain cause "voluntarily" and without any financial compensation.
Also for internships, there is usually no salary. In developing countries such as Tanzania there are no financial resources for interns. Please have a look at the average incomes in these countries: In Tanzania for example, a professional nurse with many years of work experience only makes around 100 USD per month (70 €). This amount, as part of the overall costs of your stay in Tanzania only play a minor part, but it is a high amount for many Tanzanian organizations. If they have the funds, it makes more sense for them (and for the economy and development of the country) to employ a professional from their own country for a longer time, rather than paying foreign short-time interns. In India, income levels are even lower than this. Qualified staff in many parts of India has an average income of 50 USD per month.
In the best case, organizations can offer you accommodation, a contribution towards your accommodation, food or other non-monetary assistance, but this is rather the exception and not only the case with private-sector companies such as hotels and tour operators, but not with for instance social organizations.
• What will happen if I have problems with my volunteering/ internship organization / can I change the volunteering/ internship organization if I don't like it / do I have to stay with my volunteering/ internship organization or can I change it?
Luckily only in few cases there are problems between volunteers/interns and their organization, but if there are, the reasons are typically due to cultural discrepancies.
Therefore, it is important that you are aware about the
right attitude and the phenomenon of
culture shock. Should there be any problems, we will first try to mediate between you and the organization to clear any misunderstandings. Should this not be possible, we will try to arrange an alternative organization for you.
• Can I do my BA/MA/PhD dissertation/thesis paper with a project that you offer?
This is also possible. Many of our project descriptions
explicitely mention the possibilty to do university research; if it is
not mentioned within a certain project description, but you think that
that particular project would perfectly fit into your concepts, please
contact us and we will assist you to make it happen. However please be
advised that those in charge of certain projects are not familiar with
academic work and you might need to know how to work with a high level
of autonomy and independence. For research projects with certain institutions (such as government hospitals), about certain topics, certain research methodologies or at certain countries, special research permits are needed that we need to arrange for you.
• I would like to support a project in a way other than working there myself. How can I do that?
Simply contact us and tell us about your ideas. We are happy to
assist
in the interest of our projects, which of course are happy about any
kind of support. For monetary donations within the European Union, we
can issue tax deductibility receipts through our partner "
Go for Zanzibar e.V.", also for donations to organizations based at other places than Zanzibar.
•
Can we participante as a special interest group?
We
are happy to intermediate and arrange tailor-made programs and
itineraries for foundations, associations, companies, churches, schools, universities or any other individuals or groups who want to get engaged.
•
Our
company would like to start a partnership with a project in Africa as
part of our CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) program. Can you
assist?
Of course we can. Please contact us.
