I don't know a great deal about this and I'm posting more in the hope of getting information in rather than dispensing wisdom but I have wondered many times in the past whether I could offer my services, help or whatever to a charity or any other organisation as I've travelled. Almost universally any approaches I've made have been, well, not dismissed or ignored, more a case of not fitting into any of their categories so they don't know how to deal with you. Most of the charities or gap year companies have well trodden paths for using volunteers but a lone biker turning up on their doorstep isn't one of them (or doesn't seem to be anyway) - unless you're in the E&C league when (presumably) they'll be happy for any publicity it gets them.

My daughter is volunteering in Canada at the moment (through a gap year company). It took almost six months to arrange her time there and she's found a degree of resentment with some of the local people she's been working with (it's a social project rather than a fluffy animal one). I've no idea what you have in mind to try and do but I wouldn't have though a kind of loose "we'll do some volunteering as we go" would be in much demand. Like I said, I don't know much about this and maybe the charities are missing a trick through not having a volunteers wanted section here but I suspect you may need to have had a substantial connection with an organisation before you head off for them to be interested.

Could you say more about what you did, and how you arranged this volunteering? And are you still in contact with the NGO you assisted? And if anyone else reading has done this kind of short-term volunteering during a trip, would love to hear your answers to these questions as well.

I come to this from two perspectives: on the one hand, I'm a development worker, primarily with the UN, and someone coming in for just a few days or weeks, no matter what their skills, rarely made an impact in any of the developing countries where I worked, and I got tired of people constantly asking me for opportunities that, really, were more focused on their desire to help and have fuzzy warm photos than on the people that would be served. On the other hand, I'm also a volunteer management consultant, and know that volunteer engagement is about more than getting work done, and sometimes, volunteering can create understandings and collaborations that wouldn't happen otherwise. So I straddle a gap between both sides of this issue.

To me, what's most important if you want to volunteer abroad during an extended motorcycle trip is to focus on things that will actually make a difference and are *wanted* by the local communities you want to help. Local people can build their own wells, build their own schools, etc. - what they want are people that have and can apply skills they don't have, and can build their capacities so that, when you leave, they can continue on. Helping with computers, for instance: could you help a rural computer lab update its virus software, and help the lab managers to do it themselves? Could you install LibreOffice or OpenOffice on the computers, and show the lab managers how to do so and explain why these are better to use than pirated copies of Microsoft?

To help in this way, you need to do your homework before you arrive in an area: you need to introduce yourself to local NGOs *before* you arrive, be clear about who you are and what you want to do, that you would do this as a *volunteer* - entirely unpaid, and so forth. You need to ask questions about the appropriateness of picture taking, especially of women and children.

The link in my signature file links to a lot more suggestions and resources - I share it all, for free. This is an issue near and dear to me.

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Jayne Cravens
transire benefaciendo - travel & do good

Volunteering is about doing something good for someone else. Even if you buy a bag of rice and drive that to an orphanage, talk to the people there and show them some appreciation on what they are doing and play with the kids. What more does it need to be?
About working in third world countries to make money... You got to be a fool to do that. It will cost you more time then give you money. Maybe the experience will be nice but in the end... dunno.
Why not picking a charity you are sure about and letting you sponsor from your home country, for example every km will earn you a dime or so, thats the way I want to do it but just dont know yet how.
I hope my opinion on this was helpfull.
Kenny

Workaway.info and helpx.net are the big websites for volunteering.

In the first world, people have computers and labor is expensive, so volunteering is apparently quite easy. I've met many people who worked their way around Europe hardly spending a euro. You normally have to be able to commit for a month at least to be taken seriously, though.

In the third world this is not the case. Westerners are viewed as having insanely high living standards and local labor is cheap. It would be cheaper to hire somebody in the village to build your school than it would be to coddle some inexperienced college kids to do the same work (at least this is the belief). So yes, most "volunteer" opportunities end up being more like fundraising ploys, asking for huge fees to cover "room and board".

However, despite this difficulty there is a huge demand for help in all sectors, so it is still possible. I volunteered for three weeks in Ghana, teaching at a poor village school. In the same village I met a midwife who was volunteering in the same way, not through a program, just through some connections she had come across. In Senegal, I met a man and he invited me to volunteer teaching an English class, which I do once a month.

Personally, I do not feel in the least bit altruistic in my volunteer work. Of course once I get to know the kids I come to care about them, but my trip is inherently selfish. When I choose to do volunteer, it's because I want to know the people, know the place, know myself in difficult situations. I do good work and help as much as I can during my time, but it is selfish.

Whether I made a difference, or actually helped? Well, if nothing else those kids now know how tiny Ghana is.
PA180349 by jordan325ic
It took God 6 days to create the world, and me 6 days to paint it. On the 7th day, I rested and drank "Chickbuku Shake Shake International Beer" out of a carton.

As far as actually working for pay, that is more difficult. I do private English tutoring here in Dakar, but it's just enough to cover rent. If you have some sort of desirable speciality AND you speak the local buisiness language fluently AND you can commit to a long stretch of time (1+ year) then you may find something to fund your trip. Otherwise, you're out of luck in the 3rd world. There is no way you can compete with a locals for "unskilled" labor.

I think they would already have the knowledge to that.
You did call it a 'computer lab'.

Those people n that type of work are not stupid, or they would not be called a 'computer lab'.

I see more of a problem of getting the software, than the installation.

Update: I lucked into a job teaching full-time at a bilingual high school in Dakar, making "real" money. I can now save money (albeit not much) for my continuing trip to South Africa. My path to employment was windy but from what I understand linkedin and expat circles is a common way for foreigners to break into the job scene.

At least in Dakar, the work-visa situation looks nearly impossible on paper but once you're on the ground with a contract you find that there are easy work-arounds. Nobody worries about visas here.

Once again, better to have selfish reasons that are not financial. I love Dakar and want to know it better, that little bit of money is not the reason I am staying 8 months.

There's plenty of worthwhile volunteer opportunities out there, as lorraine pointed out. It's just a matter of finding the right fit and putting in the work to find them. It is true that there are a lot of scams out there taking advantage of people's charity though.

You might think that but, in fact, no, many local people at these computer labs, or community technology centers, or whatever they might be called, are often unfamiliar with free and open source software, or have heard about it, read about it, but have lots of questions about it. Having seen such computer centers firsthand myself in Kabul and Luxor, among other places, I have seen a real need for in-person guidance about FOSS, security software and, in particular, child safety, and what little guidance I've been able to provide has been welcomed.

Often, these centers are using pirated operating systems and software. When they see that Open Office, LibreOffice, Ubuntu, and various other software are free, powerful, stable and frequently updated, and that it really isn't an offer that's "too good to be true", they often make the switch.

But don't just show up at a computer tech center and announce you're there to help. Talking online before you arrive, sharing your LinkedIn profile, being absolutely clear about how you would like to help, etc. - all that is essential.

It's readily available for download, for free.

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Jayne Cravens
transire benefaciendo - travel & do good