Volunteer

Thank you for your interest in volunteering for Central Asia Institute. We are pleased to hear from so many people who wish to make a significant difference in the world.

We currently do not have a need for domestic volunteering. However, if you would like to help, we invite you to assist in fundraising, so please visit our Fundraising Page.

For International Volunteering, most of our projects are in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. At the present time we do not have international volunteers for several reasons:

1) Central Asia Institute’s limited financial resources are devoted primarily to community-based projects, to keep our overhead at a minimum. At this time, it is impossible for us to manage projects as well as be responsible for volunteers.

2) Central Asia Institute is a grass roots non-profit organization, established in 1996. CAI is a small organization with few staff, and we are not set up to coordinate volunteers or manage them in the field. It is imperative that any volunteer who came to Pakistan or Afghanistan would have a positive learning experience, as well as offer something constructive during their time in return. We are not in a position to oversee such an opportunity due to our limited staff that could serve as a liaison between the locals and foreign volunteers. Due to language and cultural barriers, such an intermediary is essential in this region. It has taken our founder, Greg Mortenson, twelve years to establish relationships and trust with the local villages, and it was hard earned.

3) Pakistan and Afghanistan’s government’s are in a state of dynamic transition. It is difficult to predict what the regional long-term outcomes will be. The US State Department and British Council have warned US and UK citizens not to travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Current U.S. State Dept. Travel Advisories)

4) There are inherent dangers in the local region we work in, and safety considerations are paramount. The Siachen Glacier war between India and Pakistan is ongoing. CAI projects are also on the LOC (Line of Control) border war area, and involve war refugees from the conflict. As one of the only full-time agencies to work in certain restricted and closed regions, CAI is under the close scrutiny of government, military officials and intelligence agencies. For these reasons, we are uncomfortable with the responsibility for other foreigners. Anyone assumed to be with us incurs the same risks we do. In Afghanistan, rural security has deteriorated making rural travel dangerous in some locations. Opium and heroin trafficking has escalated. The renowned aid agency “Médecins Sans Frontières” (Doctors Without Borders) pulled out of the region after 23 years, when five of its aid workers were murdered in 2004.

We do not want discourage anyone who sincerely wishes to help. Your enthusiasm, curiosity and determination are appreciated. Although we are not able to offer you a volunteer opportunity with Central Asia Institute, we do encourage you to pursue your goal in another area where you could make a difference and learn a great deal. Thank you for your interest.

Here are a few organizations that may be contacted for volunteer information. Many more can be found with a simple browse of the Internet.

CSI
Cross Cultural Solutions
Himalayan Healthcare
Global Volunteers
UN Volunteers
Volunteer Abroad
Volunteer Nepal