Childcare volunteers China | Volunteer work in China

Volunteer China MapWorking closely with an established partner NGO, the Love Volunteers team now offers volunteers the chance to experience an eye-opening placement in China. Placements are with children living in disadvantage situations and the volunteer’s efforts (and mere presence) are enormously appreciated.

With no barriers to background or education, there is a place for any willing and caring individual as a volunteer. A decision to embark on volunteering typically tends to coincide with a gap year, but volunteering is also a very rewarding alternative to a traditional vacation. An alternative that offers a new outlook on life. Making a contribution to the well-being of children in China, one has the opportunity to come to grips with a new culture, to form friendships and to give much needed help and support.

Volunteering in China brings both rewards and challenges. There are opportunities for you to acquire valuable teaching experience, while really embracing the culture. There is profound satisfaction to be gained from knowing that communities and institutions in China have benefited from your contribution. From the “green city” of Zhengzhou to dynamic and diverse Shanghai, projects are available in a range of locations in this immense country. Also featured are Chang Xing Island, Cong Ming Island, Su Zhou, and Mian Yang City. Volunteers are frequently invited to their students’ houses to dine with them, and are often invited to travel with local families.

Whether arriving as a group or pair of friends, as members of a family together, or as a group under the auspices of a church or charitable organization, your participation is warmly welcomed and is certain to further the expectations of the youngsters whom you will serve. China, over the last hundred years, has had a number of economic problems, and its socially disadvantaged groups still struggle greatly to enjoy the basic requirements for a satisfying life.

With competent, dedicated staff on hand, volunteers in China can be certain of being usefully deployed whilst being fully supported. For more information about the country take a look at Lonely Planet's China guide.

Start and Duration

All of the programs in China are available year-round. Volunteers can choose to sign up for as little as two weeks, provided they have selected kindergarten or disabled children’s centre placements. For all other programs, the minimum duration is four weeks, up to a maximum of thirteen. Programs start each Monday, unless it falls on a public holiday. Volunteers arriving at Shanghai earlier are advised to arrange hotel or hostel accommodation, which we can offer advice on. Volunteers can be collected by our local team from the hotel on Monday up until 7pm.

Volunteer Requirements

The main requirement of volunteers posted to China for educational programs is a good command of English. However, this is not a requirement for those working in certain disabled children’s centres.

Secondly, and importantly, they need to possess willingness and enthusiasm, combined with an ability to work hard and get along well with young people. Volunteers should be over the age of 18, but younger people may be considered if attending as a group. Apply to volunteer in China now!

Project Descriptions for the China

Teaching

Volunteers are required in many parts of China to work with all year groups in schools, ranging from kindergarten to high school. Teaching English, German and/or French, are common options depending on your abilities and experience. Much of the emphasis will be on confidence-boosting, particularly in conversational skills and pronunciation. By adopting a blend of strategies, from teaching current affairs topics to playing games and working from the standard textbook, volunteer teachers can hugely enrich the language-learning which their Chinese pupils gain.

A huge range of locales exist where volunteers may choose a teaching project. Whether in Shanghai, in Jiangsu Province, in one of several schools in historic Zhengzhou, or teaching in Sichuan Province – volunteers can expect to teach between 11 and 15 forty-minute lessons per week, Monday to Friday.

Working with Children with disabilities

Working in South Shanghai with children who have cerebral palsy, volunteers help the children to eat and to look after themselves, including assisting with their personal development and with hygiene education.

There is also work to be done behind the scenes. Helping to design and update the centre’s own website, as well as writing content and approaching international organisation on their behalf, are all hugely beneficial. Those volunteers who have nursing or medical qualifications may additionally become involved in the children's treatment plans.

In Mian Yang City, Si Chuan, a Special Education School for children aged 6-15 also requires volunteers, whose role is to assist the local teacher with physical exercise, and help in dance, cooking, English, pottery and craft classes.

Volunteering Summer Camp

Children aged from 4 to 19 years old attend Mian Yang Children's Palace, in Si Chuan Province. It provides day-long enrichment for children who were badly affected by the Mian Yang earthquake of 2008 in which around 90 people were killed. Volunteers make a contribution by helping students improve their oral English through playing, dancing, drawing, games, singing songs, reading stories and organising dramatic performances.

Football Coaching Program

On one of Shanghai’s islands, there are opportunities to work alongside local PE teachers, assisting with the football team’s playing skills and team management.

Language Courses

Six hours of Mandarin lessons are provided (over 3 days), during the orientation program. Our local team can assist those volunteers wishing to undertake additional study to find a tutor or group lessons.

Program Costs

Love Volunteers is a not-for-profit organisation and is one of the most affordable ways to help out in a developing country while being immersed in the local culture.

Fees for volunteer programs in China start at US$270 (€204), which includes accommodation, two or three meals a day (depending on the program type), an airport pick-up (if required), orientation and 24/7 in-country support.

Volunteer period [weeks]	1	2	3	4	6
Teaching and assisting in schools	-	US$360	US$510	US$645	US$920
Working with Children with disabilities	-	US$360	US$510	US$645	US$920
Sports development	-	US$360	US$510	US$645	US$920
Summer Camp	-	US$360	US$510	US$645	US$920

Volunteer period [weeks]	8	12	16	20	24
Teaching and assisting in schools	US$1075	US$1460	-	-	-
Working with Children with disabilities	US$1075	US$1460	-	-	-
Sports development	US$1075	US$1460	-	-	-
Summer Camp	US$1075	US$1460	-	-	-

Other volunteers periods available. Please, contact LoveVolunteers for pricing of other periods.

A Love Volunteers registration fee of US$235 (approximately €170) is charged in addition to the program fees and covers any placements you undertake for twelve months from the start of your first placement. The fee is refundable if you choose not to volunteer more than three months prior to the start of your initial placement. This fee ensures 24/7 pre- and post-placement support from Love Volunteers, checking and vetting of local organisations, a comprehensive information pack, as well as administration and marketing costs. Given Love Volunteers is a not-for-profit organisation we also ask volunteers to cover any bank charges incurred by international money transfers.

Food and Accommodation

In all cases, except in Zhengzhou, volunteers are accommodated in either a volunteer flat, which our local team manages, or in a flat belonging to the school. Volunteers should be aware that the traffic congestion in many Chinese cities can make for a long commute. In Shanghai, for example, the journey from the volunteer flat to the programs can take up to one-hour.

Zhengzhou Middle School, however, is a boarding school with its own flat on the campus. This flat has an Internet connection, air conditioning, a DVD player and hot water. In many cases, all three meals are available from the school cafeteria at the volunteer placement.

Chinese cuisine is world famous. There are three essential factors, or key elements, by which Chinese cooking is judged: colour, aroma and taste. Carbohydrates are provided by the staples of rice, noodles, tofu and buns made from wheat flour.

With its eight distinct regional cuisines, China has a wide variety of specialities. Beijing is known for duck, while Cantonese tradition dictates that one should combine dim sum dishes with the drinking of tea. Mushrooms, bamboo shoots, seafood and poultry all play a part. Sichuan cuisine is exceptionally spicy, with chillies, garlic and ginger featuring strongly. Also involved in some Sichuan cooking are peanuts and sesame paste. Hairy crab is greatly prized in Shanghai, while in Shandong sweet and sour carp is considered a delicacy.

Orientation

Volunteers are picked up from the airport. Orientation is provided upon arrival and is of five days duration, a 1-hour culture course, a Chinese cultural introduction, sightseeing, and an introductory session for teachers. Once in their placement, volunteers have 24-hour support.

A Typical Week

In most cases, the volunteer’s working week consists of a five day week, working up to eight hours per day maximum, generally teaching 35 to 40-minute lessons, Monday to Friday. None of the programs require you to work in the evenings or at weekends.

Free time can be spent relaxing or travelling to visit some of China's many attractions. Seeing the Forbidden Palace, walking along the Great Wall or ascending the famous Oriental Pearl Tower are all great options. Alternatively, strolling down Dongtai Road looking for antiques and curios is a great way to spend an afternoon.

About the Country

Scale is the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about China. This vast country is also synonymous with rapid progress. The two giants of China are Shanghai and Beijing. While the former really epitomises modern China, the latter is renowned for its scenery and cultural heritage.

Shanghai covers a total area of 6,341 square kilometres with a population of 19,000,000. The city is modern, frenetic, and stimulating with a variety of architectural styles, a cosmopolitan feel and an agreeable climate with an average temperature of around 18°C.

Beijing is noted for the surrounding scenery and for its extraordinary cultural heritage. Elsewhere, Sichuan province has one of the biggest natural reserves of Giant Panda in China - the Wolong Panda Reserve, founded in 1980 with assistance from the World Wildlife Fund. Another source of pride among residents of Sichuan Province is ‘Le Mountain’, the world's largest stone Buddha statue. Sichuan Province also boasts Jiuzhaigou, a narrow strip of lowland, four hundred kms in length, home to nine Tibetan villages, amazing plant life and animal species, such as golden monkeys.

Zhengzhou is also a famous, historically and culturally rich city, founded 3500 years ago. Places of interest here include the Songshan National Forest Park and its highlight, the Yellow River; Shoaling Temple, the Central Holy Temple, Fuxi Mountain, Huancui Valley, North Song Dynasty's Imperial Tombs and North Wei's Grotto Temple. It is unsurprising, therefore, that 9 million domestic tourists and 171,000 international tourists flock to Zhengzhou every year to appreciate the historical sightseeing opportunities.

The city of Suzhou has its origins in 514 BC. Laid out in "double-chessboard" form, it still maintains its ancient features. Its canals serve as navigable waterways, with houses built so that their rear facades face the canals. Visitors to Suzhou are greatly impressed by the bridges, the water, the white-painted dark-roofed houses and the elegance of the classical gardens in the city, earning it the name in China, “Paradise on Earth”.

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