June 15, 2006
By Jeffrey Gangemi

Vacation With a Mission
Spending your time off constructing houses in impoverished parts of the world may not be very relaxing, but there are plenty of rewards

Ray Unger, a 67-year-old retired teacher from Toronto, decided to do something different for vacation this year. Instead of taking a cycling trip, as he has often done in the past, Unger enlisted with a work team through Habitat for Humanity , an international nonprofit Christian housing organization, bound for the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast of Louisiana. Unger and his diverse team spent a week hammering shingles and siding for homes for 100 families affected by Hurricane Katrina. What better way to experience a new locale than to build something that directly affects the local community? "It's the difference between going to Cancun and only interacting with wait staff of hotels and restaurants vs. living side-by-side with poor people and helping them solve their housing problems," says David Minich, the director . "INFINITE NEED." One thing you don't have to worry about: experience. For many of the trips, you don't need to be handy with a hammer and nails. "I was installing shingles for a while," says Unger. "For a lifelong teacher, that's sort of a new thing to do."

Andean Village Experience

Volunteers who sign up for Globe Aware's "The Road Less Traveled Andean Village Experience" get just that. In the mountains north of Lima, volunteers travel to the village of San Pedro de Casta, where the campesinos — local farmers — work the terraced land. Volunteers often help build simple Lorena stoves, which are both healthier and better for the environment.For the rest of their trip, participants can hike or take an excursion to nearby fortresses and temples or the capital city of Lima, among other activities. "One of the key components for us is cultural awareness, so we try to put volunteers in the most different environment possible," says Globe Aware executive director and founder Kimberly Haley-Coleman.

Volunteers will also have time to visit many of the famed temples of Angkor Wat and the stunning floating village on Tonle Sap Lake, as well as explore the town of Siem Reap.

Globe Aware

Cambodia Rediscovered

Inste ad of sitting on the beach with the latest bestseller, consider helping someone in need. And it isn't all work and no play

Sure, you could spend another vacation lounging on the beach, staying in lavish hotels, and pampering yourself. Or you could decide to do something really different this year. Take a volunteer vacation and use your time and energy to help others. You could assemble wheelchairs for landmine victims in Cambodia, help build a nature observatory in Kenya, or put together environmentally friendly stoves in the Andes. Want to do something closer to home? How about serving as a mentor to a young person in Appalachia who's pursuing a GED?

And yes, you will be using own your money . . . . But the experience? Priceless.