5 Volunteer Programs for Broke Ass Travelers in Taiwan
Taiwan’s cities are crammed with so much crazy food, sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll that it’ll make you feel like Mick Jagger in 1969. It’s time to pay up for the good times with a little gratitude. Whether feeding babies or planting crops, OTP’s got the hook-up for volunteering options in Taiwan for the broke ass traveler. Known to the Portuguese as the ‘Island of Beauty,’ there’s no better place to bask in good karma.
Talk the Talk
This is your big chance to talk your brains out. Go to Taiwan as an English Conversation Friend (ECF) for up to three months. An in-home stay of the most intimate type, this program pairs you with a local to help them learn English. Your terrible foreign language skills are actually helpful because your pupils will be forced to speak in English. For $400 a month (including room and board) you can shoot the shit over tea with a new friend who’ll finally appreciate the endless stream of consciousness flowing from your mouth.
WWOOF It Up
World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is bitchin’. Become a Taiwan WWOOF member for only $26 and receive a complete listing of all organic-farm labor exchange programs seeking volunteers in the country. Earn your bread the good old-fashioned way—by putting your back into it! You’ll be able to choose from interesting work that ranges from mango harvesting to composting. Pick up a few tricks of the indigenous Taiwanese agriculture trade by digging into the culture of Taiwan.
Help Exchange
HelpX is a backpacker-styled network where travelers answer calls for various gigs in return for housing and food. HelpX covers more areas of interest than agriculturally bent WWOOFing and, while you can find listings pretty much anywhere in the world, there are some baller jobs in Taiwan—like brewing espresso or practicing meditation. As this company is a small collective, job postings come and go quickly. What this means for you? You have no time to fiddle with the idea and call your aunt in Kentucky to see what she thinks; just get up and go before it’s gone.
It’s Fun to Stay at the…
The International YMCA has been keeping it real with the village people long before anyone had heard of The Village People… and they’re always in need of extra hands. Volunteer stints range from one month to over a year. Unlike most volunteer programs, the fee is not based on your length of stay and programs lasting one month to over a year cost a steady $775 (all-inclusive room and board stay). The longer you stay, the better the deal—if you’re there for a year, that’s about $65 per month to sleep, eat and help.
OTP Tip: The placement in Taichung is one of Taiwan’s finest, allowing you easy access to the gorgeous coastline as well as the rest of the island.
Get Down with St. Theresa
No matter how snot-nosed, dirty-handed and smelly they can be, you have to love children. Maybe it’s their inspiring innocence. Whatever it is, United Planet’s program in Yuching has got it on tap. This job allows you to work at St. Theresa Opportunity Center for either six months or a year. At nearly $9,000 for the annual fee, it isn’t the most budget-friendly choice but it’s, without a doubt, one of the most rewarding on our list. In addition to working at St. Theresa’s, you could also teach vocational education, do physical or language therapy, or work in a nursing home. Redeem yourself for all those sinful traveling nights by living like a saint for a while.
Experiencing everyday life with the working people of a place in addition to touring its attractions adds meaning and reason to your trip. You and Taiwan will have plenty of drunken, hopeless (pants-less?) nights, no doubt. Pause the party for a minute to volunteer, it’s the least you can do in return.
Unbridled reality, bitches!
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I want to join the volunteer in between July and august .
But I want to know the detail. I’m from korea so can I join the program?
Even if I’m a foreiner??
And how much money do I need to join the program
Plz let me know
Thanks