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| International Voluntary Services Important: YOU MUST READ IMPORTANT PLACEMENT CONDITIONS BEFORE
YOU SIGN THE REGISTRATION FORM! A Registration Form can be emailed to us as an attached file IF you pay for your registration fee online. Alternately, the form can be faxed to 1-888-299-3164. Completing the Registration Form The HIF registration form appears as simple text and can be printed directly from your web browser or selected, cut and pasted into any word processor where the page layout is set to 1" margins on all sides of a standard 8 1/2" x 11" page. You can copy the project/s of your choice from the list of Open Projects on the web or the printed Directory and enter those choices onto the form. Feel free to edit the form as needed including deleting lines to make room for your entries. If copying the form, please change the font size to 12 point, this will make it more readable when faxed.
Citizens and residents of North America may register through HIF. We may also accept your registration if you live in a country where we do not have a partner organization. If you are a citizen of a country where we have a partner organization, and you are currently in that country, you must register through our partner organization there, not through HIF. Age Limits If you will be under 18 at the time of the project then you may only register for projects that are listed for volunteers under 18. The ages for volunteers appear in the header of each project description. Age limits are firm; we can NOT make exceptions because our foreign partner organizations determine the age limits for their projects. A few or our partner organizations list upper age limits in some of their projects, these are also listed in the header of each project description. Some partner organizations are open to families every year; they will be listed as a "family" camp type in the searchable Directory. Restrictions If you have any medical or dietary restrictions, it is very important to mention them. Be advised that we don't guarantee accommodation of such needs, including vegetarianism, unless specified in the camp announcement. In some countries vegetarianism is virtually unknown and you may find yourself faced with little choice but to go hungry and/or insult your hosts. You may have to be prepared to be more flexible with your diet during your travels. Some vegetarians who travel find that it is helpful to bring along a stash of protein-rich food (like peanut butter or dry seeds/nuts) to supplement their diet. Some camp announcements may state other restrictions such as no smoking, no alcohol or hard labor; volunteers must be in good physical condition. Please read descriptions carefully and be sure you are willing to accept the conditions listed. How to Register We prefer that you either email us your completed registration form (as an attached file) or fax it to us after you pay your registration fee/s online. You can also surface mail us your form, along with your check for the registration fee/s. If you do not pay online, we must have your signature on file, so electronic registrations that are not paid online are only accepted if they are scanned images of your completed registration form including your signature and authorization for payment. Volunteers paying by credit card must have the cardholder sign the form where indicated, and include the full credit card information and expiration date. When we receive your registration form in our office we forward it overseas to the receiving host organization. We must then wait for them to respond. We hope to receive their response within 3-5 business days but there are occasional delays in some cases such as the longer term MTV/LTV placements. There are a few of our partner organizations that will not reply to registrations requests until as late as April 18th. We will always send you our acceptance letter and information sheet by email. We send these by post only upon request or if you don't have email. Projects are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. If we cannot place you in any of the projects that you have selected, we will contact you for more selections. If we cannot place you in a project of your choice we will promptly send you a full refund of your registration fee. The HIF membership fee is not refundable. Placement is not guaranteed since most projects will not accept more than two American volunteers, reserving the remaining spaces for other nationalities in an effort to maintain intercultural diversity, which is a key feature of the projects. We prefer that you give us several additional choices of projects that you are willing to accept. We will always try to place you in your first choice, but if that is not possible, we will try your second or third options if provided on your form. For this reason, you should never buy a plane ticket before being officially accepted to a project. We will try to place you in any project which you have selected, in order of your preference, so please don't list something you don't really want! Motivation! We depend on your genuine desire to be part of a working group. The vast majority of our volunteers are committed to working for the common goals of the project. If you are only interested in tourism or a cheap vacation, please do not register for a project. Fees Unless stated otherwise, your registration fee includes room & board for the duration of the project. In most cases it also includes some recreational activities planned for the group. The HIF registration fee for MOST projects and, unless otherwise indicated, is US $250 per project (US$500 for volunteers under age 18). If you are registering for more than one project, you must include the registration fee for each project (i.e. 2 projects x $250= $500). Don't schedule consecutive projects too closely. A few days between projects provides the necessary time to "re-group" emotionally from the intense friendships, sad goodbyes and gives you time to rest up before beginning a new project. If there is an "extra" or "participation" fee listed in the project header, it is always payable upon arrival in cash to our partner organization. The "extra" fees are common in developing countries only. Deadlines REGISTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE for best selection. There is no specific deadline, but early registration ensures a much greater chance of placement in your preferred camp/s. The majority of placements for the summer months are made before mid-May, but we place volunteers year-round. Some projects fill very quickly. Unfortunately, we can't tell you if a space is available in any particular project until we receive your form & fee and can actually request your placement. The enrollment situation in any particular project changes by the minute since volunteers is registering also from many other countries and organizations. Please don't call to ask if any camps are full, we will not know until we try to place you. If a project appears on our website, then it was still open on the day the database was uploaded. Changing Your Project Selections There is a very stiff penalty of $150 per change, payable in advance, for changing your project selections after we have already received your registration form. Once we have made your placement request to our partner organization/s they, and HIF, turn away other potential volunteers who may be registering for the same space. There is a lot of paperwork and international electronic communication that goes along with every placement request, therefore, by this fee; we strongly discourage any changes to your selection/s. Traveling Together With a Friend Two people wishing to be placed in one project together should register as soon as possible after projects are announced and select projects that request more than 12 volunteers. Projects that request 11 or fewer volunteers in Europe, usually only accept 1-2 volunteers from the USA. Send in both your and your friend's registration forms together IF possible and ALWAYS write on the forms that you want to be placed together. It can be difficult or impossible to place more than 2 people together in a project. Exceptions include a few projects in Germany and most projects in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Another option is to do separate camps with similar dates (you will make more friends!) and travel together after/before the project/s. Scholarships Limited funding is occasionally available for under represented groups in HIF's domestic (USA) projects and those in the developing world. The scholarship would cover your registration fee and up to $500 toward your travel expenses. Please address any scholarship requests to Jeter Goldwell, Vice President of HIF Scholarship Program. Reports / Photos We will renew your membership automatically if you submit any report (even a postcard!) on your project experience, postmarked no later than December 1st or within 30 days after your project ends. Also, for many of the projects where there is an extra fee, we will renew your membership AND refund $50 or more of your registration fee for any project report. If we use any of your photos in our Newsletter or online, we'll send you a check for $25 per photo used. We also would like to receive short video clips (AVI files) of your project which you can take with your digital camera. Your concise and candid comments help us to improve the projects. Also, we often need previous volunteers to co-lead HIF camps here in the US. Please EMAIL HIF to get on that mailing list! Families Some partner organizations that are open to families this year, depending on availability of spaces, are: Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Ghana and most other African countries. Placement Conditions Projects outside the USA are jointly organized and supervised by sponsoring organizations in host countries. HIF makes no guarantees as to the quality of work, living conditions in individual projects. HIF and our international partners reserve the right to refuse placement to any volunteer with no obligation to provide a reason. HIF and our international partners reserve the right to terminate a volunteer placement if deemed necessary, with refund of registration fee at the discretion of Help Inc. Foundation. Reasons for refusal or termination include, but are not limited to illegal activities, dangerous behavior, offensive behavior, not participating in the work. In the event that the placement is terminated, you are required to leave the project location immediately without refund. We have a VERY strict cancellation policy. When you register for a project, you are committing yourself to that project, the other volunteers in that camp and the project host community. Briefly stated, once you select a project, our policy is "No Refunds, No Matter What." However, IF HIF is unable to place you in a project/s of your choice, we will refund your registration fee in full! Make sure you are willing to accept placement in any camp/s that you selected in writing or verbally. To protect yourself, please consider purchasing traveler's to reimburse you in the event of sickness or personal or family tragedy. Note that the HIF membership fee is non-refundable. Important: YOU MUST READ IMPORTANT PLACEMENT CONDITIONS BEFORE
YOU SIGN THE REGISTRATION FORM! HELP INC FOUNDATION
VOLUNTEER USA REGISTRATION FORM First
Name___________________ M.I. _________________________Last
Name_________________________ Address
__________________________________________City ________________
State______ Zip________ Date you will leave this address ___________
Occupation ______________ If student/school _______________ Tel
__________________ Work Tel/Fax __________________ Email
__________________________________ Emergency Contact / Home Address
_____________________________________________________________ Tel
________________________ Work Tel/Fax ____________________ Email
__________________________ Citizenship _________ Sex (M/F) ___ Age
______ Date of Birth ___________ IF visa needed - PP#___________
Languages You Speak Well ___________________ Speak Some
________________ Understand ____________ Please list any serious
medical conditions, handicaps, allergies
________________________________________ Choices: Please print your project choices below, in order of preference. You may register for consecutive projects by attaching an additional page with your choices. All consecutive project dates must work with any of your first project choices. Please also write a short (1-3 paragraphs) statement of your motivation for the projects/s chosen. ProjectCode / Project location or name / Dates / Type of work 1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ My signature certifies that I have read and agree to accept the Placement Conditions which includes HIF's strict cancellation policy and am willing to participate in any of the projects that I have chosen. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Date/Signature (Parent/Guardian's Signature if under age 18) Please list any previous voluntary service experience that you have had below: Statement of Motivation: Please Send Payment as Page 2 IF you do not want to pay online. Payment: We encourage you to pay your registration fee online. After paying online, all you need to do is email HIF your completed registration form as an attached file or fax it to us. IF you elect to pay when submitting your form by fax or by surface mail, please complete the remainder of the form below: My signature certifies that I authorize HIF to debit my MasterCard, Visa or American Express card as indicated below. I understand that if I am not a current member, that HIF will add the required membership fee of $30 to my registration fee/s. If the volunteer being placed is under age 18, VFP will charge $500 minimum per program placement. Any XTRA FEES mentioned in the project header are always payable in cash directly to our partners on arrival at the project and should not be including on this payment page. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Card Card number Exp. Date _______________________________________________________________________ $_________________________ Signature of Cardholder Name, printed Amount Other Forms of Payment: We accept payment also by personal or bank check, money order or traveler's checks. If not paying by credit card, you must enclose the HIF Registration Fee, in US FUNDS, for the total number of any consecutive camps that you are registering for. We will promptly refund any excess payment after completion of your placement/s. HIF's Strict Cancellation Policy: We strongly discourage canceling or changing your project selection/s! Please be sure that you will be able to participate before you register. HIF has a VERY strict cancellation policy, NO REFUNDS are given if you cancel a project that you have selected…NO MATTER WHAT! NO EXCEPTIONS! However, IF HIF is unable to place you in a project of your choice, we will refund your registration fee in full! When you select a project, you are making a commitment to it! Cancellations and/or changes in your selection/s cause logistical complications for both HIF and our partners abroad. |
 In 2001, HIF board member Anne-Marie Johnson, M.D., participated in a short-term voluntary service project in Ghana helping to build nurse's quarters at a local medical facility. | |
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