Volunteering for Travelers

Volunteering has always been a part of our travel plans but in looking into various programs around South America, they were either inexplicably expensive or involved Jumping through lots of hoops. Then Muskoka Foundation contacted us. They are an Australian-based nonprofit that seeks out long-term travelers to pair their skills with needy communities along their route. They make the connection and provide the resources so that it’s easy for willing-and-able nomads to lend a hand–at no expense. It’s a brilliant model and I am thrilled they reached out to us.

Volunteering for Travelers brazil

This May, we are planning to join their program in Peru but to give us a sense of what Muskoka is about, they invited us to stop by their charity project in Rio de Janiero: Tio Lino’s Art Center. Set in the city’s largest favela, this is a safe place for kids to come and express themselves and, as their saying goes, “Trade your weapons for a paintbrush.” It is run by lifelong favela resident Lino and the Muskoka volunteers who pass through. Margaret, the lead volunteer at the time of our visit, had been teaching kids photography for the past few months and in our one day with the kids we taught them the art of Tic Tac Toe.

volunteer travel
Voluteering for muskoka

Stay tuned for more on our Muskoka experience from Peru and, hopefully, Africa and Asia too!

26 Comments

    1. thanks for the love Alison! hopefully we actually do inspire some people to get out there and see the world and do something positive along the way.

  1. Shanmil Herzog says:

    Awesome is Right–I have been following your ‘TREK” with great delight and interest. Haven’t commented because I have been terribly busy with all kinds of stuff.

    Anne a  Belated Birthday Wish. Hope you had a wonderful day and may this year of your life continue to be exciting –adventurous –fun and very rewarding. I am sure it will be!

    Lots of love
    Abuela

    1. thanks so much Shanta! Anne had such a blast today for her birthday (and she smiled when she heard you commented on the blog here…thanks!). yeah the adventure is going wonderfully, and we cant wait to see you in late May 🙂

  2. You guys are amazing. Adventurous and now doing something for others. Wow. Would love to hear more about how/where you are living. An apt? A hammock on the the beach? A suite at the Quatro estações?
    Um grande abraço

    1. thanks val. living is a mix between hotels, posadas and luxury places we hook up through Honeymoons.com (which are awesome). a few hammocks and a few overnight buses, and all is going swell 🙂

  3. Brianna Firestone says:

    LOVE THIS!  You guys are so great. It is inspiring how much “good” you put out there in the world!

    1. thanks Bri. your smile inspires us more than you would think. keep posting smiles and costumes on your FB. and we really cant wait to see you back east…or maybe in the ‘far east’

  4. Lee Rider says:

    Very cool! rock on you two!

  5. Lindsey Barton says:

    amazing experience!
     

  6. Kristin DeMarco says:

    you guys are super awesome!

  7. I love the pictures!  What a great thing to do; as if you guys taking a trip like this wasn’t inspiring enough already 😉

    1. aw, thanks Alison. It means a lot that you guys are following along. And also those of you that take the time to leave a comment :). Glad we are inspiring just a little bit, that is a big reason we are on this trip!

  8. Volunteering and interacting with locals makes the trip more meaningful. Thank you for sharing the Muskoka Foundation. I’ll have to check into this. I recently signed up for a Habitat for Humanity and will be doing more volunteer vacations.

    1. curious nomad, you are so right it definitely makes a trip worth while, and a real connection with local people and their struggles. Muskoka is great because they are geared toward long term travelers, and one of their requirements for all partners is that they dont charge volunteers….which is a fairly common tactic.

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