Volunteer With Us

Helps International (HINT), Cameroon has volunteer opportunities to help build individual & community skills, create employment opportunities and place a smile on many faces through our 5 major operation areas which are:

• Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs)
• Health
• Education
• Economic Development
• Community Development

Your participation will help HINT get to the point where she can approach and collaborate with the international development community in a more effective way.

We accept volunteers with a wide range of skills and a strong belief in the value of sustainability and who are willing to make a long-lasting contribution in the work we are doing. Volunteers will bring the most value in their organizational skills, reliability, project and people management, and basic enthusiasm. Each volunteer will be provided with 'SMART' objectives upon arrival. At this point, our work depends largely on volunteer support and involvement plus their generous financial support to kick-start some of our projects or replicate sustainable ones.

Volunteer Location

Currently, all of our projects are taking place in the town of Buea in the South West Province of Cameroon. You can learn more about the historic town of Buea on Wikipedia Volunteers will be accommodated at home, usually living with an assigned caretaker and his/her family. Security and cleanliness are of prime importance to us when deciding where to place volunteers.

Examples of projects you could be working on:

1. Teach Computer Basics, MS Window, Internet, Emailing, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, MS PowerPoint at our IT Centre daily to about 20 students broken up in two sessions of 10 students each (8am-11am and 6pm-9pm)
2. Teach Web Design or Networking, or Computer repairs and maintenance, Desktop publishing or Photo Editing to about 10 students in class for 3 hours a day.
3. Coordinate shipment of computer and other equipment such as medical suppliers and the distribution and installation in schools, centers, NGOs
4. Teach in a primary and Nursery School.
5. Serve at our Community Education Library as a librarian.
6. Serve as Administrator at our up-coming primary and nursery school (from Sept 2007)
7. Write project proposals for some of our projects.
8. Organize fundraising activities for our projects including contacting and following up donors. This can be excellent for online volunteers who do not or cannot leave their home countries to Cameroon.
9. Run HIV/AIDS sensitization seminars in schools, prisons, at Community Groups, etc
10. Train HIV/AIDS Educators at our Centre, in schools, prisons, at Community Groups, etc
11. Consult at our Community Health Centre (to be set up)
12. Participate in a medical outreach as part of a team.
13. Bringing young social entrepreneurs together and teaching them basic business skills.
14. Identify needy orphans especially those due to AIDS in targeted communities for subsequent support.
15. And there can be other opportunities...

Volunteer Requirements

Volunteers with HINT are required to:

• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Be available for a minimum of one week.
• Be able to speak English fluently. Ability to speak French will further ease communication because Cameroon is a bilingual country.
• Be able to mentally adjust to new culture and way of life.

When do we recruit volunteers?

You can volunteer at any time throughout the year. Volunteers can stay from a period of 1 week to 12 months.

Cost to Volunteers

The cost of living in Buea is approximately CFA (XAF) 125,000 per month per volunteer. Volunteers wishing to serve for less than a month will contribute the same amount. This is paid upon arrival in Buea.

The fee covers:

• Accommodation (or rent) (Home stay with a family, a room of your own, shared baths with other volunteers or you may have a bath of your own depending on number of volunteers present), Water, Electricity, Phone use (at home and in the office), documentation, etc
• 3 meals per day (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
• Internet Access at our head office
• Administration and communication fee
• Airport pickup and drop-off
• Support for local volunteer community workers at HINT

You can convert CFA (XAF) 125,000 to your local currency at Yahoo's currency converter.

This fee does not cover:

• Your flight ticket to Douala International Airport and back
• Cost of visa processing in your country and visa renewal in Cameroon (if need be).
• Personal sightseeing & photography in Cameroon.
• Insurance (Health)
• Departure tax of USD 20 at the Airport
• Bottled water (Tap water in Buea is pure and quite healthy)
• Beverages and entertainment

Basically you can get by on US$20 per week for your miscellaneous expenses or US$ 30 per week if you do not want to live on a tight budget.

About Cameroon and Buea

Application Process

Fill out our online application form and send a copy of your recent CV to info@hintonline.org