GrowAbroad

The GrowAbroad program is for volunteers interested in traveling to Africa to work alongside a SpanAfrica Grassroots Partner.

Providing hands-on assistance for their ambitious work is not only a life-changing experience for volunteers; it supports social entrepreneurs and communities in Africa as they find innovative solutions to their local challenges. As a GrowAbroad volunteer, you will have the opportunity to help make people's dreams for their community a reality.

The GrowAbroad program is rooted in the belief that people of many backgrounds from around the world can be instrumental to African organizations looking to improve or expand the work they are doing, but only when the volunteers receive adequate pre-field training and support that focuses on sustainability and responsibility to the local community and organization. SpanAfrica’s GrowAbroad volunteer program assists with all pre-departure preparation (both practical and educational), support during your time in Africa, and mechanisms for continued involvement with your Grassroots Partner placement and SpanAfrica upon your return.

We strive to provide quality services to both our volunteers and Grassroots Partners, and we employ and engage local staff whenever possible. Our overhead and US-based headquarter expenses are kept at a minimum due to the majority of our work being handled by the SpanAfrica Board of Directors, US-based volunteer staff, and African staff.

SpanAfrica Provides

• Guidance to selecting amongst our vetted Grassroots Partners to find the project best fit for you
• Full preparation and support pre-departure
• Access to past-volunteers, and project and fundraising expertise and materials
• Facilitation of pre-departure communication with your African Regional Director and Grassroots Partner
• Homestay coordination for the entirety of your stay with trusted local families
• Hosting of your blogging and fundraising through our website
• Both international and local support throughout your time in Africa, and opportunities to stay involved with your Grassroots Partner and SpanAfrica after you return

Travel Preparation

SpanAfrica does much more than just assist you with travel preparations such as recommending vaccines and cheap airlines. We push you to think critically about and plan for the work you will be doing with your Grassroots Partner, and for the challenges you will surely face. We do this not only for your sake, but because we try very hard to only provide well-adjusted and well-prepared volunteers to our Grassroots Partners. Our international team has spent time in all of the locales you may be traveling to, and we are happy to share our personal insights as we work individually with you to ensure that all of your questions have been answered and fears addressed pre-departure. Before arriving, you will have opportunities to communicate with your Regional Director who will locally support you in Africa, the Grassroots Partner where you will volunteer, past and current SpanAfrica volunteers, and your homestay family.

Your Arrival

Upon arriving in Africa, you will be met at the airport by a SpanAfrica Regional Director or representative. A first night's hotel stay and meal in your arrival city, and transportation from the airport to the hotel and to the locale where you will volunteer are included in your Program Fee so you don’t have to worry about money-changing upon arrival.

On the second day, you will be escorted to your homestay and given an orientation to your city or town so you can begin to feel comfortable in your new surroundings. The day after you will be accompanied to your Grassroots Partner organization and provided a tour and a chance to meet the people you will be working with. The SpanAfrica Regional Director and a representative of your Grassroots Partner will meet with you to do any final planning for your project and activities as a volunteer. These initial few days are meant to give you a sense of familiarity with the community you will be living and working with.

Your Volunteering

The time that you spend volunteering will undoubtedly be the highlight of your trip. We work extremely hard to match you with a Grassroots Partner that fits your interests and skills, and has a specific ongoing or new project in mind for you to focus on. We do not under any circumstances send volunteers where they cannot play a clear and valued role to an organization, and we do not provide volunteers for positions that could reasonably be filled by paid local staff. In fact, we are unique among non-profits working in this field in that our Grassroots Partners work with us to approve individual volunteer applications and develop volunteer projects. Your Grassroots Partner will receive a small stipend to cover all preparation and communication expenses associated with your stay.

Due to the amount of time and effort SpanAfrica and our Grassroots Partner put into this process, we expect our volunteers to work hard to prepare themselves fully for their project and work as a volunteer. The importance of connecting with your Grassroots Partner either directly or through SpanAfrica and spending significant time developing your project cannot be overstated. SpanAfrica is here to support you and facilitate that process.

You will also be put in touch with past and current SpanAfrica volunteers who have worked with your Grassroots Partner. These connections are extremely valuable, especially if you plan to work on an ongoing project. As a SpanAfrica volunteer you will also have access to a host of resources developed by our past GrowAbroad volunteers, Board Members, and Volunteer Staff for use in your own project.

Your Homestay

Your homestay is a carefully selected family located within a reasonable distance of your Grassroots Partner. They will provide you two meals a day, a bedroom, and washing facilities. More importantly, they will become your extended family with whom you can experience African culture in a warm domestic setting.

Your homestay fee goes entirely to the family to help them recoup the cost of food, electricity, fuel, and other expenses associated with hosting you. The amount varies slightly from region to region, usually between $8 and $15 per day.

Program Fees

SpanAfrica works hard to balance keeping our volunteer programs affordable with properly compensating our African staff and homestay families. Many volunteer programs go into a long discussion on why volunteers should pay to work for free. We think its pretty simple. Your volunteer experience is made possible by countless hours and effort put in by our Executive Board, Volunteer Staff, and African Staff. While most of us are volunteers, it would be unethical for us to ask our African Staff to work for free when they already struggle to make a livable wage, or for any SpanAfrica member to pay out of pocket for their internet, phone, travel, and other costs associated with setting up your volunteer experience. We are completely transparent about what fees we do charge, and work hard to support our organization's overhead and the work required to develop our Grassroots Partner and Homestay family relationships through separate SpanAfrica fundraising.

Below is a detailed estimate for a SpanAfrica Program Fee based upon a 3-week stay. It may vary slightly from this only because we adjust the Program Fee based upon local homestay and arrival program costs.

    $100 - Application Fee
    ($40 - Rush Application Fee if applying less than 4 weeks prior to departure)
    $565 - Total Program Fee for 3 week volunteer program: minimum stay
    --------------------------------

    $665 Total for initial 3 weeks

    $115 - For each additional week of volunteering

We encourage you to compare the cost of volunteering with SpanAfrica to other international volunteer organizations. We are confidant that you will be surprised at the quality and individual attention we are able to provide at a significantly lesser price. This is because our volunteer programs do not exist to subsidize our other SpanAfrica activities or make us a profit. It is also because SpanAfrica was founded and continues to be run by volunteers who are looking for a better way to create deeply personal and effective international partnerships. To that end, we always welcome your questions in regard to our Program Fees.

How to Apply
Applying to be a GrowAbroad volunteer is an easy process.

1. Take the time to review our Grassroots Partners that interest you. Or look through the list of project requests from our partners relevant to GlobalReach volunteers. Please be in touch during this process so that we can assist you in choosing an appropriate project.
2. Click here to fill out your on-line volunteer application and then provide a $100 Application Fee to initiate the process.
3. Read, print, sign, scan, and return the GrowAbroad Volunteer Agreement to growabroad at spanafrica dot org
4. You will be contacted once both application and application fee are received, at which point we will begin processing your application. We are generally able to provide you with a decision within two weeks of receiving your completed application. If you are not accepted, your application fee is fully refundable.