Customer Reviews

Alternatives to the Peace Corps: A Guide of Global Volunteer Opportunities, 11th Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An essential resource for anyone looking for volunteering, responsible travel or internship opportunities. Two-thirds of the book is simply a list of organizations that the author considers credible, with a short description and contact information for each. Opportunities range from the professional (Doctors Without Borders, and similar groups) to entry-level internships to glorified tourism. I found the book's analysis to be reasonable and practical, as far as could be seen from a simple read-through. I've been looking to get involved in this sort of work for some time, but I've always been wary of giving my time and money to an organization that I know nothing about. This book introduced me to several organizations that appear to be serious and to know what they're doing. Without this book, I likely would've joined the Peace Corps simply for lack of a better option (and I still might).

The first 30 pages or so is a series of essays on various aspects of volunteering, which, if nothing else, lets you know whether you can agree with the author's approach. The political analysis was on the liberal side, though many of the organizations listed are clearly not (Mennonites and other anabaptists were surprisingly well-represented). I highly recommend this book as an practical introduction to volunteering; I can't think of anything about it that could be improved.

The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One What could be more exhilerating than to live in a completely different culture, meeting completely different people, and contributing in a way that may be completely new to us? This book shows us lots of ways to do that without having to be part of a government program. In fact the biggest problem this book presents is how to choose which alternative to pick. Fortunately enough specifics are included to differentiate between the options and who says we can only do one?