Where to Book Your Vacation If You Want to Volunteer in the Philippines

Here are the environmental and social causes to be a voluntourist for.
by Therese Aseoche | January 18, 2017

With the issues regarding climate change becoming all too real and threatening, we’re now more than ever inclined to do our part to save our land and seas. On your next vacation, be a “voluntourist” and consider joining these volunteer programs!

Mount Banahaw

Join the nationwide movement Road to 2020 that aims to restore Philippine rainforests by adopting native seedlings to be planted at the Mounts Banahaw-San Cristobal Protected Landscape. You can either donate money through a bank deposit of at least Php 1,500 for 5 seedlings, or make a bigger impact by adopting as much as 2,500 seedlings. You and your group of friends can help out in planting these two hectares worth of seedlings and bring back the greenery of Mount Banahaw.

For more information, contact support@haribon.org.ph or call them at (+632) 421-1213

Palawan

Volunteer for the Palawan program of British Volunteer Company GapXperience and be involved in activities that will help the local community. You can choose to teach English, teach and care for kindergarten students, help out in construction projects, or assist the locals with their livelihood — or volunteer for all of them! Non-Filipino speakers can also join the Culture Week program which will teach you the basics of the language and let you experience Filipino culture first-hand.

You can also volunteer for a teacher program through Tru Experience Travel where you can choose to teach primary, secondary, or tertiary schools in Aborlan municipality.

Not only will you enjoy one of the most beautiful islands of the Philippines by being there, but you’ll also enrich the lives of those who live in it.

Zamboanguita, Negros Occidental

Got six to eight weeks to spare to dive with the Marine Conservation Philippines? Over at their headquarters at Zamboanguita just 30 kilometers south of Dumaguete, you’ll be taught how to be a proficient scuba diver through the PADI Program of Education (if you’re a non-diver yet) and participate in various projects such as reef restoration, underwater clean-ups, and creating breeding grounds for fish in marine protected areas. For more information, contact info@marineconservationphilippines.org or visit their official website.

Camiguin Island, Cagayan Province

Spend your summer helping out in the research and conservation of humpback whales and cetaceans in the Babuyan Islands with Balyena.org. You’ll be setting out to sea for the entire day to assist the team in surveying and documenting the whales that surface while simultaneously fighting against the strong winds, waves and scorching heat. It will take a lot of endurance, but you’ll be most rewarded at the end of it all. Plus, you can snorkel at the untouched reefs and marvel at the beauty of marine life during your free time. For more information, visit their official website.

Do you know of other places around the Philippines you can book a trip to not only to get a tan but also to volunteer for causes? Tell us all about them in the comments!