For individuals looking to do something worthwhile and having an opportunity to explore an exciting country, there is no better place than Malaysia. It is an ethnically diverse country, with Indians, Chinese and Malaysians practicing Islam, Buddhism Taoism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Sikhism all enjoying a peaceful existence. There are an equally wide ranging number of volunteer options available in Malaysia.
For people who enjoy working with animals, you can volunteer to help at the Kuala Lumpur zoo. It is the ideal opportunity to learn about the Malayan sun bear, Asian elephants, tigers and chimpanzees. Minimum duration of the program is two weeks, and duties include feeding the animals, cleaning enclosures, working as guides, and preparing the animal feeds.
For those of you with a greater sense of adventure, there is the conservation volunteer program in the jungles of Malaysian held, northern one-third portion of the island of Borneo.
Volunteers get to observe orang-utans in their natural environment, explore the rainforest’s flora and fauna, and live with the Iban tribe in a traditional village. Projects aim to gather photographic evidence of mammals living in the jungle and inform local tribes of environmental issues. Along the way volunteers get to test the longest zipline in the country.
If teaching is your fort, there are plenty of options here too. Many areas of Malaysia are underdeveloped and the quality of education is low. You can volunteer to teach children in schools in different cities or on the island of Borneo. There are also volunteer options in community development projects which include construction and aiding villages in obtaining running water.
Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it’s often known, combines the old with the gleaming new. Whether you choose to dine out in Chinatown or Little India, shop till you drop in the myriad of modern shopping malls and traditional markets, or just wander the city’s streets absorbing the diverse architecture, KL is more than worth a few days of anyone’s time.