Volunteer for SD.

To volunteer in the United States,  Europe, Australia,  click here>>

Who is qualified to apply for these opportunities?
Everyone is qualified to apply.

Where in Africa can I volunteer?
In Cameroon, Africa, where Shaping Destiny is currently operating.

How much does it cost?
The volunteer is responsible for the entire cost which includes airfare (which varies according to season) and a $1000 fee which covers living expenses in Cameroon (including, pick up from the airport, meals, lodging, transportation etc in Cameroon for a two week period).
$500 scholarships plus free meals and boarding are available for qualified volunteers who plan to stay for more than one month. Contact us to see if you qualify.
$1,000 scholarships plus free meals and boarding are available for qualified volunteers that plan to volunteer three months or longer. Also contact us to see if you qualify.
All scholarship winners would be assigned to live at the orphanage. If room is not available at the orphanage, we would assign them to live with a good Cameroonian family or in an apartment. For volunteers paying for all their services, the choice of where to stay is theirs. They can choose to live at the orphanage, in a hotel near the orphanage, with a good Cameroonian family or in an apartment.

What do we do for the visitors / volunteers?
We organize the visit and make necessary arrangements in Cameroon including pick up from the airport in Cameroon, transportation in Cameroon, hotels, and food. Volunteers are responsible for personally applying for their visas and getting their plane tickets. We provide advise for visitors that have not traveled before on how to get tickets, vaccinations, visa etc. If you need advise on that, please contact us.

What else can visitors do?
Interested visitors would have the opportunity to go out and visit historic places in Cameroon and even to go to the farm with Shaping Destiny children. There will be much more to discover and learn about the children and Cameroon. You can make this part of a great vacation in Cameroon where you get to serve at the Shaping Destiny orphanage!
 

Questions Frequently Asked by Volunteers>>

In order to ensure safety and make volunteer experiences enjoyable, Shaping Destiny suggests that all prospective volunteers follow the steps below to apply for a volunteer opportunity in Cameroon (Africa).

VOLUNTEER APPLICATION. Step 1: Application             Part I of Application             Part II of Application          Volunteer Payments Step 2: Travel Preparations Visa Application Please contact the Cameroon Embassy at the following address to  apply for your visa. 2349 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20008 Tel. (202)265-8790, Fax (202)387-3826, E-mail: cdm@ambacam-usa.org

Visit http://www.cdc.gov/travel/cafrica.htm#vaccines for more information. When on the CDC webpage, be sure to read the information found on that webpage under the following sub-titles.

• Vaccines and Preventive Medications: Routine Vaccines, Recommended Vaccines, Required Vaccines, and preventative medications.

• What you need to bring with you

• Staying healthy on your trip

• After you return

Costs & schedules
$120 application fee (non-refundable)
$200 orphans' support donation.
All volunteers are responsible for their air-ticket and living expenses.
Air-ticket prices usually range between $1600 and $2000 depending on the season. Depending on your skills and  the length of time that you are willing to stay and volunteer in Cameroon, you may qualify for a scholarship that could cover your living expenses and part of your ticket. Contact us for more information and to see if you qualify. Generally, volunteers who qualify usually volunteer more than 6 months in Cameroon.
Shaping Destiny helps provide resources to all prospective volunteers to help them raise the money that they need to cover their volunteer expenses including their ticket. See part two of the application for details.

Where is Cameroon located? Click here

Purchasing your flight ticket
Ticket prices vary depending on the season. In addition to seasonal variations in prices, you can often get a better price for your ticket if you buy the ticket several months in advance.  We also encourage you to shop around to find airlines that may have better rates. Find below, some suggested airlines to check.

From the U.S.- The most direct route of travel would be to Paris, France, continuing on by Air France to Douala, Cameroon.  Feel free to use a variety of domestic and international carriers into Paris (i.e., Delta, American Airlines, Continental, Air France, Northwest, etc).  Because Air France is the only major carrier into Cameroon, please be aware that if you fly into another country, you will likely then have a connecting flight that will stop in Paris before continuing to Cameroon. 

U.S. TO EUROPE   
www.delta.com  www.continental.com  www.northwest.com  www.alitalia.com  www.iberia.com
From outside the U.S. – Same applies to travel from the U.S.; Feel free to use a variety of available carriers, but you will find that you will have to go through Paris to board a flight for Cameroon. 

EUROPE TO CAMEROON
www.airfrance.com

Volunteers may choose from any of the following activities. Our volunteers are encouraged to do what they feel comfortable doing. However, before traveling, each volunteer is encouraged to tell us the kinds of things they would want to do from the list below. So, with us, volunteers are treated as volunteers. You do what you want to do. You can change your mind anytime even when in Cameroon. However, we reserve the right to deny any schedule changes when the volunteer is already in Cameroon if we feel that we cannot accommodate the volunteer's request. While we have some structure to our activities, we are also very flexible because we believe that such flexibility with our volunteers lends to better care for our children. Volunteers can make suggestions about new things that they want to go and do. Yes, even if it is not something on our list. We've had volunteers who are talented in music who want to go and teach our kids music. That is not on our list but we will work with such volunteers to make sure that our children get as many opportunities as possible. So, as a volunteer, you can make your schedule or we can make one for you. The only requirement is that your schedule will have to be approved in advanced and we may require explanation on how your work will benefit our children. If it makes sense to us and we can ensure that its beneficial and feasible, then we'll go with it.
After we've accepted your schedule or given you ours (see sample below) that schedule is only tentative. If you made the schedule, we do everything to make sure we keep it and allow you to make changes if you need to (all subject to approval based on our ability to accommodate the change). If you made the schedule for you, we also work hard to make sure you can change it when in Cameroon if you need to. This ensures that volunteers get to do what they want and also that we accept volunteers that give the type of help we need. For example, construction work is usually done in Cameroon only during the dry season. In that case, even though we have listed construction below, it may not be available for construction volunteers who want to volunteer during the wet season. Even though most of the other activities are done year round, indicating what volunteers want to do helps to avoid a situation where we may accept more volunteers than we need. This selection of what the volunteer would like to do applies to both short-term (less than 3 months), and long-term ( greater than 3 months).

List of Volunteer Activities to Choose from

Teaching English or French, Spanish, German or any other popular language (we need to approve language first):
Mentoring (work with infants, toddlers, young children, and teens)
Construction (Paint, build, and repair buildings)
Providing healthcare (Only for Medical professionals)
Care for vulnerable children
Teaching the bible to groups of kids/ preaching to kids and other local groups / organizing crusades.
Shaping Destiny Volunteer Elective: The volunteer goes to do something not listed above. The volunteer is required to inform us what they want to go and teach and how they think our kids will benefit from it. Subject to approval. This is a great elective that gives the chance to impart your genius and creativity.
 

SUGGESTED DAILY SCHEDULES (Optional)
 

Volunteers can make their own schedule and choose what they want to do and when. However, that is subject to approval.
Many volunteers have no preference and are open. So for them, our suggested schedule below may do. They can adopt it and make changes if they want to. If they choose that, it must be approved before they travel. Changes can be easily made even when in Cameroon (subject to approval).

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR LONG TERM VOLUNTEERS ( GREATER THAN 3 MONTHS) WHO DESIRE TO DO MORE (OPTIONAL).
Long-term volunteers may choose to get more involved in the activities of the orphanage and the organization as a whole. If they decide to do more, they will be given the opportunity to do the following. [ Note: This is for long-term volunteers who want to also volunteer in leadership positions and go the extra mile. It is not a requirement for all long-term volunteers. However, we encourage long-term volunteers who are applying for scholarships to consider going the extra mile to choose and do a few more things from the list below]
   
      -     Within the first one month, follow  your approved daily schedule as other short-term volunteers.

-          After the first month,  may serve supervisory duties at the center laying emphasis on servant leadership.

-          May make recommendations to both local and U.S. teams on how to improve service to the kids and make the organization more efficient

-          After 3 months may serve as co-manager of the orphanage with the local manager and make decisions on how to run the center more efficiently.
If interested the volunteer will contact the U.S. team via info@shapingdestiny.org three months into their volunteer term.

-     May serve as a co-liaison officer (with local manger) between the local and U.S. teams.

-          May send letters and emails that would be sent to Shaping Destiny partners describing the conditions of the center and children and any progress that is being made.

-     May help promote the work of the organization as a whole as volunteer alumni after return from Cameroon.