Volunteering for the 40+s: “Go on, go on, go on”
- Mrs Doyle -
Volunteering for the over 40s to Seniors
The video above is of a couple in their 90s doing Lindy Hop; you’re never too old to motivate yourself, so let volunteering with us energise you. And that is me in the top photo, Paul, in my 50s, (doing a stan lee on my website), a qualified teacher and experienced manager, volunteer teaching in Sri Lanka.
Others may tell you that ‘the sky may fall on your head’ (Asterix the Gaul), but in truth, the worst that happens to most people volunteering is that the project is poorly organised (ours are well organised), and you sign up for one thing, but when you arrive it’s not what you were told you were paying for. (With GAFV, you will be doing what you signed up for.)
I came to Sri Lanka on business, and by request, ended up volunteer teaching, and getting involved with villages, and realised just what a major asset volunteering is to the developing world, and how they rely on it for skills, as well as funding for their projects’ development and survival. (The greater percentage of what you pay us goes directly to the communities you volunteer with.)
It was that desire to make a difference in the world, and to do it well, and to involve as many people as possible in fulfilling that aim, as affordably as possible, that led to the creation of Give A Fig Volunteering
So, what is different about over 40s volunteering?
You!
The projects are the same, irrespective of age.
Why over 40s?
It was in my early 20s, in volunteer youth work, that I first recall the age of youth being shifted from teens to 15 ‘til 35, so past 36 marks your official (belated) UN arrival in ‘adulthood’.
As a result, you may not wish to repeat some of it, or you may relish the thought of new territory to explore. In Kenya you could do 1 night in a homestay, showering with a bucket of water, as a story to engage your dinner guests, but actually you’d rather stay in a local hotel the rest of the time. We can arrange that.
In Sri Lanka, you may prefer an ensuite to a dorm (been there, done that!), and you may prefer a range of food styles, (Asian, Western…), not just rice and curry three times a day every day as most Sri Lankans eat. (But don’t ask for lactose free milk - we can’t get it in Sri Lanka. But, we can make fresh coconut milk each day.)
And maybe you just fancy doing a 3 day week, or just mornings, because why not? Volunteering doesn’t have to be a busman’s holiday.
And volunteering for a month can be cheaper way of seeing the world than simply ‘going on holiday’.
Whatever you may think about what volunteering may be like, just give us a call, and we’ll talk you through the options, without obligation.