THE Kham Aid Foundation website provides a guide on what to expect for those who sign up as volunteer art conservators. Although no experience is needed for the wall paintings conservation tasks, volunteers should be “educated, caring and patient”. Kham Aid hopes to get a multi-talented team to help with tasks, besides cleaning wall paintings. [...]

Some volunteer travel programmes are mere tokenism. For example, which has more value? Volunteers who help out with chores and play with the kids at the orphanage? Or long-term funding for the kids’ nutritional and educational needs? Cambodia-based Pepy (Protect the Earth, Protect Yourself) Tours’ objective is to fund sustainable education projects in rural Cambodia. [...]

A group of adventurous volunteers took the route less travelled, and was greatly enriched by the experience. AFTER their stint in Wayao, the Kham Aid Foundation’s volunteer art conservators journeyed deeper into Kham Tibet to check the state of repairs of temples on their itinerary. They travelled through the more rugged and lesser trodden northern [...]

Voluntourism — the act of giving back when you travel — is all the rage for astute travelers searching for Zen experiences. But does this benefit the local community? Just over six months ago, Alistair Clarke and Maria Browne led the frenzied lifestyles of typical Londoners — long, stressful working hours and little time for [...]

With the mushrooming of for-profit and non-profit enterprises offering volunteer holidays, the traveler gets to choose from mind-boggling choices of trips catering for different budgets, destinations and types of work. Since the industry is unregulated, it’s tough to know which ones are worthy. The trick is to ask questions. Which program works for me? Based [...]