hi my name is justin mtui,im from tanzania!what you saying is really true that this travel agents aims is focused on money making&its all a business thing!not only you i have heard from so many of my friends&people i meet about the issue that they want to volunteer somewhere in africa&this travel agents makes it hard for them&in the end they give up because they cant afford!thats quite sad&painful.
i&some two friends of mine decided to start an ngo which will focus on helping such people!so we have this hostel in arusha where you only pay for accommodation which is reasonable amount&we have different volunteer replacements from teaching,construction,helping at ophanage&plently more!so you decide where you want to volunteer.so you are welcomed&if you a have any questions feel free to ask!check out our site(http://sunstrides.org/?q=content/town-hostel).
wish you luck!
cheers
QUOTE(tgeale @ Feb 18 2010, 02:28 AM)

Hello,
I'm a 23 year old male from Australia.
I will be traveling around Africa this year and am interested in volunteer work, although through travel agents I just feel like they are trying to sell me their programs for their own commision and on many websites there are high fees and my trip is on a low budget.
I would love to volunteer in a local community in anyway that I can. One of my friends did this although she just went into places when there asking if they needed a hand. Helping out in schools and orphanages.
Is this a good idea? I'm very torn.
Anything you can help me with would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks.