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[kinjal5]

I am from US and hoping to study abroad in Egypt. But along with academics, I want to work for an organization that helps alleviate poverty. Specifically, I want to help build houses/schools/community centers for the poor while I am there. Does anyone know if there is an organization near American University in Cairo where I may be able to volunteer??
Doing this is part of my minor, but I can't seem to find anything other than Habitat for Humanity online :(

I appreciate any help/suggestions!!

[spork]

You're searching in the wrong place. This is an online forum for people who work in academia.

[secundem_artem]

I am from US and hoping to study abroad in Egypt. But along with academics, I want to work for an organization that helps alleviate poverty. Specifically, I want to help build houses/schools/community centers for the poor while I am there. Does anyone know if there is an organization near American University in Cairo where I may be able to volunteer??
Doing this is part of my minor, but I can't seem to find anything other than Habitat for Humanity online :(

I appreciate any help/suggestions!!

And, in all candor, this kind of weepy eyed idealism is NOT often considered helpful by the locals.  I do a bit of work in the developing world and believe me, they are well and truly sick of romantic westerners coming in to save the day and flying home in  2 weeks.  Find an NGO who you believe does good work (even that is harder to do than it sounds) and give them a couple of hundred bucks.  Maybe they can hire a local to build a house.  Your labor is as likely to cost some local a job as to do any 'good'.  Maybe read something by Easterly or Moyo or Collins before you go off to save the world.  Perhaps they can save you from doing more harm than good - as well meaning as no doubt you are.

[notaprof]

Secundem, I agree with you in general, but this sounds a bit harsh. 

To the OP,  if you plan to spend a semester or longer at American University in Cairo there are probably organizations and clubs at the university where you could devote your time to an ongoing and organized charitable effort and be helpful, and not a drain on the locals. Here is a clearinghouse for volunteer efforts - http://www3.aucegypt.edu/volunteer/(S(p2fzfpvanenb5045ydkoexra))/Default.aspx but you may have to be a student at AUC to access the resources.

It is best not to approach this with looking for something you want to do (build houses/schools) but to ask what you can do that is helpful.  And if you are going to commit, don't do so half-heartedly.  If you say you are going to volunteer for several hours a week, then do it, don't flake out.

[samspade]

I am from US and hoping to study abroad in Egypt. But along with academics, I want to work for an organization that helps alleviate poverty. Specifically, I want to help build houses/schools/community centers for the poor while I am there. Does anyone know if there is an organization near American University in Cairo where I may be able to volunteer??
Doing this is part of my minor, but I can't seem to find anything other than Habitat for Humanity online :(

I appreciate any help/suggestions!!

Doesn't Egypt suffer from an overabundance of labor? And aren't they the people who built the pyramids? So what skills can you possibly offer they don't have there?

[secundem_artem]

Secundem, I agree with you in general, but this sounds a bit harsh. 

Harsh?  Maybe it is.  But good intentions can have horrific unintentional effects when working in the developing world.  It is very easy to do as much harm as good.  There are social and cultural issues that westerners either do not consider or simply dismiss.  And the economic consequences of health and development processes are, to say the very least, extraordinarily complicated.  I stand by my response which is based on a combination of academic training and personal experience in the developing world.

[notaprof]

Secundem, I agree with you in general, but this sounds a bit harsh.  

Harsh?  Maybe it is.  But good intentions can have horrific unintentional effects when working in the developing world.  It is very easy to do as much harm as good.  There are social and cultural issues that westerners either do not consider or simply dismiss.  And the economic consequences of health and development processes are, to say the very least, extraordinarily complicated.  I stand by my response which is based on a combination of academic training and personal experience in the developing world.

I was not questioning your qualifications to respond or your valid reasons for frustration with and even disdain for save-the-world volunteer efforts.  I know this is incredibly complex but I believe your statement above is a clearer and more informative way of saying what you said in the first post, without what I perceived to be a harsh or belittling tone.  The OP needs to hear this but I was concerned that the first post would be more likely to result in a "good-bye cruel fora" response rather than the OP learning something important.

Can you suggest some worthy NGOs that do work in the developing world for possible monetary donations?  As you say, identifying charitable organizations that are well-managed and get closest to accomplishing their worthy intentions is more difficult than one might expect.  If the student doesn't have money to give, perhaps he or she could direct the well-meaning intentions towards fundraising for a charitable organization.

[secundem_artem]

Secundem, I agree with you in general, but this sounds a bit harsh.  

Harsh?  Maybe it is.  But good intentions can have horrific unintentional effects when working in the developing world.  It is very easy to do as much harm as good.  There are social and cultural issues that westerners either do not consider or simply dismiss.  And the economic consequences of health and development processes are, to say the very least, extraordinarily complicated.  I stand by my response which is based on a combination of academic training and personal experience in the developing world.

I was not questioning your qualifications to respond or your valid reasons for frustration with and even disdain for save-the-world volunteer efforts.  I know this is incredibly complex but I believe your statement above is a clearer and more informative way of saying what you said in the first post, without what I perceived to be a harsh or belittling tone.  The OP needs to hear this but I was concerned that the first post would be more likely to result in a "good-bye cruel fora" response rather than the OP learning something important.

Can you suggest some worthy NGOs that do work in the developing world for possible monetary donations?  As you say, identifying charitable organizations that are well-managed and get closest to accomplishing their worthy intentions is more difficult than one might expect.  If the student doesn't have money to give, perhaps he or she could direct the well-meaning intentions towards fundraising for a charitable organization.

Your criticism is well taken.  I offer 3 suggestions:

1.  for a cash donation to a major NGO, I would suggest Oxfam

2.  Kiva.org is a micro-credit organization.  They bundle loans from individuals (about $25 each) into a larger loan (e.g. $3000) that then allows somebody in the developing world to start a small business.  This is the 'trade not aid' approach to development

3.  Wait until you are on the ground in Egypt and make a donation to a group at the local level.

If the OP has skills in carpentry, perhaps it may be more useful to teach such skills to a local rather than to employ them oneself when in-country.  The way the original request was worded - a specific activity to be done in a specific location - is, to my experience, a bad prognostic sign.  Better to arrive and see what is needed than to arrive with particular requirements in mind.  The former suggests a 'let me be of service' mindset while the latter can be construed locally as 'let me assuage my western conscience'.  The OP's goal of alleviating poverty is worthy and incredibly difficult and complex.  I'd suggest small goals, as local as possible and with the full recognition that the law of unintended consequences can show up and make everybody angry.

All that said, your points are also well taken notaprof.

[notaprof]

Thanks for the helpful suggestions, Secundem Artem.  I hope the OP is still around to see them.

And by the way, congratulations on your posting total of 333.  Just wanted to document a fun number.

[spork]

I think secondem hit the nail on the head.

The OP won't be back. He/she was either a very clueless undergrad or a failed spammer.