Benefits
Volunteer overseas with CUSO-VSO and use your skills to make a valuable and lasting contribution to fighting global poverty.
Working alongside women and men in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the world, you’ll see first-hand the kind of impact that international volunteering can have in improving people’s lives. From the moment you arrive in your placement to years after returning home, you’ll also realize that the biggest changes you see may be in yourself.
Change your world
As one of North America’s leading international development organizations, CUSO-VSO has nearly 50 years’ experience recruiting, training and placing volunteers overseas. Placements are created to respond directly to the demands of our overseas partners. Our experienced staff recruit skilled volunteers whose backgrounds match our partners’ needs.
As a development organization, we aim for long-term impact. CUSO-VSO works in six key goal areas. CUSO-VSO volunteers work to share skills and experiences with their local colleagues, so their contributions continue long after they return home.
Choose to volunteer overseas with CUSO-VSO and be confident that your skills and experience will be used to have a tangible impact in countering poverty and disadvantage around the world.
Change your life
An overseas placement will not just change the world, it will change your life forever. In the words of Lineke Heus (Malawi volunteer, 2004–2005), one of the tens of thousands of North Americans who’ve served abroad:
"Ever since I lived and worked in Malawi, the world has become a different place – because I see it in such a different light. This experience has become part of who I am today and has changed the world forever."
Overseas volunteer placements give you a chance to:
Explore and discover new places and countries
Build friendships and connections with new people and communities far from home
Broaden your perspective on the world and develop international and cross-cultural understanding essential for success in a globalized world
Push yourself beyond your limits, developing new skills and personal qualities through new challenges you encounter
Apply your professional skills in a different context, developing new skills and experience valued by North American employers.
An overseas placement may be right for you
Looking for an experience that will help you apply your skills to one of the toughest challenges facing the world today? Willing to push yourself beyond your comfort zone to develop personal and professional skills in high demand?
You can apply online and our volunteer advisors will assess the current demand for your skills. Please review our volunteering overseas section for additional information on long- and short-term volunteering.
