Many university students try hard to fill up their resume with good specs for getting a job. For example, there are a high TOEIC score and certificates, going abroad, and doing volunteer work. For students who want to spend their time and energy obtaining specs, I recommend a real experience, not things which are written in books. You can do volunteer work, upgrade conversation skills, experience other cultures, and do cultural exchange. It is work camp! The Gazette will introduce work camp and IWO.

1. IWO - International Workcamp Organization

International Workcamp Organization was established in 1999. The purpose of this organization is to show a global world to students and give them an opportunity to consider and take care of people with the young in the world. It cooperates with various foreign and domestic corporations, governments, and enterprises without ethnic or religious prejudice. Now, about 3,300 workcamps are managed in 75 countries, and every year, about fifty thousand people participate in the camps.
2. What is workcamp?

Workcamp is a program where people can learn love between people through volunteer work, respect each other through experiencing other cultures, and understand others through gathering with various countries’ people. There are several kinds of work camp, for instance, foreign workcamp, Korea workcamp, teenager workcamp, weekend workcamp, and family workcamp. People who are over 19 can participate in most work camps. However, depending on the programs, teenagers can enter the camp.
Every year, lots of workcamps are held in 75 countries around the world. The working period is 2-3 weeks. Europe and North America’s workcamps are held from June to September. Asia, Africa and Latin America’s workcamps are held all year. Most of the summer workcamps’ lists are announced in the middle of March. Autumn and winter work camps are announced from July.
The participation fee is different depending on the country. The US, Canada, Australia, Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, and France are 450,000 won. Japan, Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, and Malaysia are 400,000 won. Russia, the Ukraine, Turkey, and Hungary are 350,000 won. Asia, Central and North America, Africa, and Iceland are 200,000 won. The IWO fee includes food, accommodations, an orientation, and a host country fee for preparing and operating events. Some participants may pay an extra on-site entry fee. It depends on the country. If a country does not have enough money to run the events, it requires the on-site entry fee. In the application form, there is a “fee” section. If the “fee” section is “yes,” a person should pay extra money.3. Work

If you go to a work camp, you usually work five-six days a week, six-eight hours a day. There are 19 kinds of work camp. For instance, you can plant trees, protect animals, sow seeds, repair schools and buildings, and help to create performances. In some work camps, volunteers discuss particular subjects or hold a party and field day with local residents or students.
Volunteer workers stay in a youth hostel, youth center, farm, school, temple, and community hall, or an organization, for instance, Network for Voluntary Development in Asia, gives tents to the volunteer workers. Often, in their lodging, there are simple facilities for room and board. In some cases, participants take their own sleeping bag for camping. Because of community life, participants prepare meals by turns. Participants buy ingredients at the market or an organization cooperating with the work camp supplies them.

4. Orientation

Volunteer workers get an orientation before going to work camp, and after coming back to their country, they get an orientation. During the orientation, volunteer workers widen their understanding about volunteer work and international exchange, and they are given the purpose and history of the work camp and practical information for participation. Also, they share the recent experiences of former participants and have time for questions and answers.
After finishing the work camp, they have another orientation. In the orientation, they review their work camp and share other participants’ experiences. By sharing, they can experience work camp indirectly. In addition, they widen their own experiences and look into more diverse domestic and foreign volunteer programs.5. Foreign work camp

Foreign work camps mostly are divided into European countries and non-European countries. Work camp organizations try to make work camps with various countries’ participants if possible because originally, work camp’s object was to exchange various cultures. However, in some regions where work camp management is not as developed as in Europe, it is possible to choose a slightly higher proportion of a particular country’s participants.
There are many types of work in the work camp, for example, environmental, agriculture, construction, social work, culture, art, and education. Among these, construction and environmental are usually held in Europe and America. Education and social work are held in Asia, Central and North America, and Africa at a higher rate.

6. Korea work camp

Korea holds a work camp in July-August. In Korean work camps, anyone who is over 18 years old can apply, but if you are over 18 but still a high school student, you cannot apply. To give more opportunity to people hoping to take part in the camp, it has a limitation. You can participate in one place. Many Korean work camps focus on agriculture or conserving the environment.
During spring and autumn, a weekend work camp is held once a month. Additionally, a summer camp focused on education is held, and many work camps are held to interact with local residents.
You can see new updates about IWO on Facebook and Twitter. In addition, you can see IWO videos on YouTube. There are a work camp Naver cafe and photo gallery, so you can usefully refer to these sites.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/iwokorea
Twitter - https://twitter.com/iwokorea
Naver café - http://cafe.naver.com/iwoworkcamp
Naver gallery - http://photo.naver.com/galleryn/169


Through work camp, you can do volunteer work in your own country or another country and have an opportunity to understand a variety of cultures, do cultural exchange, and understand people from all over the world. Also, there is no qualifying condition, so you can easily apply for work camp. Don’t miss this good chance. Enjoy work camp!