Volunteer Service Workcamp

  Japan

• Tokyo: 
Tokyo
• All Other Areas: 
Kyoto,  Aizuwakamatsu,  Fukuoka,  Fukushima,  Gifu,  Nagano,  Osaka,  Hokkaido,  Nagasaki,  Niigata,  Shirakawa,  Oita,  Kanagawa,  Kitakyushu

Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months, 7-12 months and 1-2 years
Typical Duration of Program: 1-2 weeks
Dates: 25/04 - 05/12

Description: NICE is recruiting volunteers for International Volunteer Service programs from April to December of 2009.
Participants from around the globe come to work and live together in cooperative voluntary service workcamps.

Volunteer workcamps are projects where participants work directly with local communities for 2-3 weeks on various innovative projects aimed at engaging communities, developing more sustainable practices and a more cooperative world.
In 2009 we will organize fifty or more workcamps in Japan, Taiwan, India, Uganda, France, Mongolia and Malaysia. Please contact us if you would like to join us in our mission engaging local communities in creating a sustainable and cooperative world.

Some Project Examples: (Please refer to our website for specific details on our more than 50 projects)

Project 32 (Kuromatsunai), from 21st July - 16th August is held in Hokkaido on a national natural reserve where volunteers can help run a summer program for kids which focuses on ecological and cultural education in an outdoor setting.

Project 38 (Hanawa), from 3rd August - 18th August is held in a small town in Fukushima prefecture, where volunteers can take part in the summer festival 'Toro Nagashi'. Volunteers will help to activate the community by working together to make very large lanterns (2m x 2m) and designing their own smaller lanterns that will float down the river for the festival.

Project 43 (Wazuka), from 10th - 25th August is held in between Kyoto and Nara with a focus on agriculture and construction, where volunteers will work to activate the community through tea. We will learn about the history of Japanese tea, how to produce organically grown tea, and help to build a tea garden.

Project 59 (Unzen), from 1st - 14th August is held in the small town of Kunimi, near Nagasaki with a focus on kids, disadvantaged and elderly people. Volunteers can work with a local volunteer club of teenagers who help at a social welfare center with a day care facility and a nursing home for elderly and disadvantaged people.

Highlights: Reasons to join:
* Create a second home by living and working with rural communities
* The common language in our programs is English, but you have a chance to practice your Japanese with the local community
* Experience the real lifestyle of Japanese people
* Make friends with local inhabitants, volunteers from many other countries, and Japanese volunteers that live in your area

Qualifications: Qualifications:
a) You must be 18 years of age (although there are some exceptions depending on the host organization)
b) Motivated to do volunteer work
c) Speak and understand some English
d) The responsibility to respect and cooperate with the rules of NICE, the partner organizations and respect for the cultures of the hosts and the other volunteers
e) To adapt to and enjoy simple conditions of living
f) An open-minded approach to making friends and cooperating with local communities and people from around the globe whose English skills might not be fluent. Make an effort to try out the local language.

You don't need special skills or to be fluent English.

There is no application deadline, but once the number of volunteers needed for a project is full we are unable to accept applications, so apply as soon as possible.

Workcapms are designed to be beneficial for both local and global communities, and volunteers. On occasion we have been confronted with difficulties when some volunteers have misunderstood that workcamps are not a holiday or a chance for exclusively interacting with other volunteers. They are a unique opportunity for cultural exchange with local and international people. Please apply if your motivation is to create effective innovative change within the community and the world through voluntary service.

Non-Japanese volunteers who live outside Japan, must apply through our partner Workcamp NGOs in their country of residence (if there are no such NGOs, then apply through NVDA. Only apply directly to NICE if you reside in Japan.

Cost in US$: USD 280

a) From organizations charging no fee to NICE vols: No fee
b) From organizations charging some fee to NICE vols: 10,000 YEN per workcamp*
c) Individual applicants who are living in Japan: 27,000 YEN per workcamp **

Most of European and North American partners fall under group 'a' and Asian, African and Latin American partners fall under group 'b'.
* This depends on the agreement with each partner organization. We usually charge the same amount as the partner organization while we can consider a discount or exemption for applicants from certain countries.
** This includes the fee of annual membership and a pre-workcamp. People originally from countries with a GDP below 5,000 USD are discounted 22,000 JPY.

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Motivated to create effective innovative change within the community and the world through voluntary service.

Age Range: 18 years or older (there are some exceptions)

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Japan Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups of varies according to project

Application Process Involves:

• In-Person Interview when Feasible
• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Phone Interview
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Job and Internship Network

NICE's Mission Statement: To connect, develop and revive communities and their environment- We promote innovative volunteer projects through grassroots movements engaged in reshaping a world fraught with a lack of cooperation and unsustainable practices into a more balanced community and ecology that promotes global citizenship. To encourage projects of local NGOs/ NPOs and the mobilization of local communities- By involving the local communities we create opportunities for people to meet and develop new projects. We build bridges between isolated NPOs and the public, and invite youth to depopulated areas. To promote global friendship, understanding and solidarity- Through exchange among the world's youth and local communities we encourage growth through living, working, communicating and laughing together. The aim is to improve global citizenship and outlook, sensitivity, planning and language skills.

Year Founded: 1990