Volunteer Build is building better lives together
Volunteer Build provides safe, quality and affordable volunteering. Volunteer teams build homes & school classrooms for the poor and abandoned, as well as undertaking cyclone & natural disaster relief in Mexico, Peru, Cambodia, Vietnam, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Nepal. Working with our partners in each country, our experienced trip guides create space for you to not only build, but to participate in other volunteering opportunities such as feeding the homeless, delivering much needed aid to orphanages and women’s refuges, and visiting the forgotten in prision. Join one of our Volunteer Build Teams today and do something incredible!
NO PRIOR BUILDING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED!
Check out our 2019 trip brochure here
Volunteer Build partners include
Help us by helping them
Our statistics
Countries
School classrooms built
Volunteers
Years
Teams
NZDollars given directly to the poor through our projects
Homes built
Toilets built
Homeless fed
Joining one of our Expeditions is as easy as
Choose your trip
Fill out the form to register
Once your application is accepted, we send you everything you need to get ready including information on travel documentation, vaccinations, travel insurance, building site safety, things to bring and more.
Join one of the Volunteer Build Teams today and do your part to help eliminate world poverty!
Mexico
Mexico is located between the U.S. and Central America and has a diverse landscape of mountains, deserts and jungles. Our Volunteer Build teams build homes for the poor and homeless in the arid colonias of southern Tijuana, as well as feeding the homeless and visiting the forgotten in prison. Join us on our next departure 28th September 2019.
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian sovereign state and archipelago comprising 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. It has a population of 100,651 people, of whom 70% reside on the main island of Tongatapu. Volunteer Build teams provide cyclone relief by building robust schools, homes and cyclone evacuation centres. Our next Tonga trip departs 6th July 2019.
Cambodia & Vietnam
Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia. Its landscape spans low-lying plains, the Mekong Delta, mountains and the Gulf of Thailand coastline. Neighbouring Vietnam, on the South China Sea, is known for its beaches, rivers, bustling cities and culture. In Cambodia Volunteerbuild teams build homes for the rural poor, as well as supporting projects that protect vulnerable children.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu is a South Pacific nation made up of roughly 80 islands that stretch 1,300 kilometres. Volunteer Build teams provide cyclone relief by building robust schools, homes and cyclone evacuation centres.
Fiji
Fiji is a beautiful country in the South Pacific comprising more than 300 islands. In March 2016 Tropical Cyclone Winston, a Category 5 storm hit Fiji destroying homes, school and lives. Volunteerbuild provides cyclone relief in Fiji by building robust evacuation centres, homes and classrooms.
Peru
Peru is a country in South America that’s home to a section of Amazon rainforest and Machu Picchu, an ancient Incan city high in the Andes mountains. Volunteerbuild teams build homes for families in need.
Nepal
Nepal is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal was devastated by an earthquake in April 2015 which killed over 9,000 people. Our Volunteerbuild teams help to build homes for those that lost theirs during the earthquake. Our Nepal trip departs 27th September 2018.
The Volunteer Build experience
Travelling to Vietnam and Cambodia for 20 days with 15 students was always going to get everyone out of their comfort zones. It was a fantastic time. Diana had things superbly organised and her social justice contacts in both countries made the trip memorable for everyone. It was a trip which will not only live long in our memories but will have changed the girls’ outlooks on life in a very positive way.
Why Build A House In Mexico?
People often ask why not just donate money? Maybe it will be used more efficiently? If we had of thought that we wouldn’t have experienced the poverty some Mexican’s live in (sometimes only 1 toilet per street if you’re lucky!), the joy on the families face at seeing their new house, the comradeship of sharing the experience and the emotional experience of visiting orphanages and feeding the homeless. We returned one year after our first trip to see the house being used as a home. Its amazing seeing how a relatively small amount of our money changes a families life.
That’s all the reasons why we may return for the third time…
The way these trips are run for groups simplifies everything. Whether you are a practical handyman, a nurturer of others, a practical sorter, or someone who loves working with children, there’s something really worthwhile for you to do in Mexico. As someone who has taken teams overseas several times, this trip was fantastically organised. An experience not to be missed, and as a group we can’t recommend it highly enough.
I have been on the Break Free trips to Vanuatu (2014), Mexico (2012) and Cambodia & Vietnam (2014) and I would still like to go to Peru, Fiji and possibly back to Vanuatu and Mexico. I have all enjoyed all of them but it is hard to pick a favourite as they are all quite different. If I had to chose one it would be Mexico because this was my first trip and we worked alongside the family to build the house. It was a ply house so it was “easy” to build, paint and furnish. The people who were part of the Break Free team were awesome too.
The best thing about Break Free trips is the difference you can make to people’s lives in a short amount of time and seeing how grateful they are for something that took only a little sacrifice of money and time on my part. Getting to experience the real culture of a place rather than just from a tourist’s perspective.
The most challenging thing about Break Free trips is the feeling there is always more you can do for others. Also it can be hard coming back and adjusting to the NZ way of life in which we have so much but always want more.
The highlights for me on all of my trips have been working alongside the local people to build the houses. Sharing a laugh while building despite not being able to communicate verbally. Usually handing over the keys is pretty special too.
Went on the Fiji trip 2013.
It was great. Met wonderful people, who I still keep in contact with.
The highlights were being able to bless people and share Gods love.
Diana runs these trips so well, I felt safe and a part of a team, which I love.
She is so well organised and lets you know what’s happening which I found helpful.
Thank you to Break Free Expeditions for a wonderful opportunity to bless others.
Not registered with us yet? You’ll need to make an account with us in order to register for a trip. You can register by following the link below.
