Charity work

Alright, so as I mentioned in my last post I've been distracted from the path I was hoping to to take recently. That may be in part because of my exams but I shouldn't be looking back I know, so instead I want to try and discover who I really am and what I can do for this world.
To do this I'm seriously considering taking a gap year to take some serious marshal art schools, wherever the best maybe, to do some conservation work and help different people. However this summer I'll only be halfway through my A levels and it would most likely have far too much of a negative effect on my studies if I took it next year so I've decided against it. Instead I was hoping to take a few weeks over the summer to do some volunteer work and preferably somewhere away from the hustle and bustle of the modern world. Though I was looking at some of the schemes for someone of my age and whilst they looked nice, they all weren't what I was looking for. For a start they all cost a lot of money, but mainly they looked far too holiday like for my liking. I was looking more for something that could take my concentration for a week, take me out of my comfort zone and challenge me physically.

So I was hoping if anyone here knows of any schemes or placements that offer the kind of thing I'm looking for? Also sorry for the rambling and lack of structure, but for one of the first times in my life, I'm really struggling to word this. So thanks a lot in advance to anyone who tries to decipher this rambling and offer some advice

Not sure where you are, but charity work and organizations are all over. Depends on what kind of structured thing you are looking for.

I try to go to Senior/Nursing Homes every Sunday and visit and assist the elders. It costs me nothing and you would be surprised at the insight you can gain from this.

You could assist at homeless shelters/soup kitchens which also costs nothing but time.

You could assist at veterans/hospitals which again costs only time.

You could do Habitat for Humanity or some other such organization in your local area.

I have done all of these and sometimes break it up so I do nto stagnate myself with just one thing, but I try to dedicate at least one day to one of the above functions.

You could try the Samaritans; they have support call centres all over the country and train volunteers to answer the calls.

somewhere away from the hustle and bustle of the modern world. love it and did it for years all over the place, did some free coral reef repairs, but mostly paid work

my first place was India 6 months with 3 friends if you want to help people its the place to start , dont go to Africa its far to dangerous.

you can find a good sadhu holy man to teach you lots of new things, as well as 1000s of NGO non government organizations to offer you a placement : )

the best teaching there that i had from a holy man was "the more food you eat the more poison your body needs to filter"
be careful of fake sadhus also,,,, mine was hard to find very hard... if you can handle it there you will gain a lot : )

American Red Cross, you could help clean up and help disaster victims,or help in other ways, become a camp councilor, Habitat for Humanity

http://www.peacecorps.gov/
i have met lots of people around the place working for this lot as well : )