Africa volunteer work Options

[megggnasty]

(sorry in advance if i posted this in the wrong place.)

ever since seeing the constant gardener and blood diamonds, i've been interested in volunteering in Africa.
only problem is i have no idea where to go or who to talk to to get involved.
i've tried googling it and most of the sites that pop-up are for donating money to a child,
but i'd actually like to go there myself and help out.

my school is pairing up with another school in Africa.
my old school was also (and may still be) paired up with a school of orphans in Losotho.
so i have connections right there.

has anybody here done any volunteer work like this?
or is anyone interested and know of a group to talk to?

i know a lot of churches do this kind of missions trip thing, but i am not religious.
definitely not interested in going with a church.

[alysaphobia]

i've had friends participate in this program and they've said how amazing their summers were:
http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/
basically, if you are over the age of 16, you can travel to various countries (they all have different programs) for a time duration of 1 to 10 weeks and participate in volunteer work such as working at orphanages, house building and teaching, i think. i myself plan on going sometime, because it seems like a really great thing to dedicate yourself to.

hope that helped
and good on you for thinking about volunteering!

[*My Cinderella.*]

Moved to the Lounge.

[micron]

try peace corps. wish you the best in your endeavors.

[cori-catastrophe]

Where do you live? I could help you find missonaries or something. I live in Georgia & there's a missionary called Get Real that went to Africa a while ago. They also went to New Orleans, Tenesee, Atlanta, ect.
I went with them to the Atlanta trip to a homeless place. It was very touching & sad. I am very much grateful for what I have now.