Global Village
every home
is a building block
Volunteer overseas with Habitat Singapore
About Global Village: Building safe & affordable homes for families living in poverty
Global Village gives volunteers in Singapore the opportunity to travel abroad and work with low-income communities across Asia-Pacific to improve families' access to decent living conditions.
Volunteers will work as a team alongside the families that Habitat partner to build safe and affordable houses that these families can call home. Working side-by-side with the local community also offers the opportunity to immerse yourselves in the local culture and experience daily life in the host community.
More importantly, the experience transforms lives: both for the volunteers and for partner families who see that there are “outsiders” who care enough to help them break the cycle of poverty.
Move the slider to see the comparison of a family's home in Cambodia.
Eradicating poverty housing across the Asia-Pacific Region
Travel and Volunteer: Impacting lives around Asia-Pacific
When volunteers go on an overseas build trip with Global Village, they will be working alongside the families that they are building the house for.
Wherever they are in the world, Habitat houses around the world are guided by two key principles: they have to be decent and affordable.
Habitat designs the houses based on cultural preferences and traditions, as well as climate and geographical needs of the community.
These factors - homeowners' and volunteer labour, and efficient building methods - help to keep construction and maintenance costs affordable.
Habitat Houses Around The Region:
Click on each photo to find out more about the different build sites in each country
Join us as a Global Village Volunteer!
What To Expect:
Build Trip Information
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Global Village build trips are between 3-7 days, based on each team's preference.
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Country destinations available for Global Village builds:
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Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
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Team sizes vary from 10-15 volunteers, depending on the country chosen.
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Minimum age for volunteers is 15 years old on the date of the build trip.
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Volunteers must be reasonably fit with no serious injuries or medical conditions.
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Every team will have a Habitat host coordinator in the country they travel to as their on-site liaison.
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No prior building experience is required. Volunteers will be trained & supervised by locally employed construction supervisors and Habitat staff.
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Volunteers will also be working alongside the family who is receiving the Habitat house.
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Construction tasks volunteers will do include:
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Hand-mixing cement, carrying & laying bricks for walls, tying reinforcement bars, digging trenches for septic tanks, and nailing wooden strips for floors (for bamboo houses only)
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What It Involves
Volunteer Preparation
Travel Arrangements
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Volunteers are responsible for arranging their own flights & visa documents.
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Accomodation can be arranged by Habitat or by the team.
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What Habitat will arrange: local transport, build site meals, accident/illness insurance and volunteer welfare logistics like tentage & water.
Trip Cost: 3 Main Components
1. Team Contribution/Donation: $1,000-$1,200 per pax* (depending on country)
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Supports Habitat's house-building programme like the cost of construction materials & programme coordination like assessing potential homeowners, hiring local construction supervisors etc.
2. In-country expenses: varies with travel season, team size & length of trip
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Includes accommodation, meals, local transport, volunteer welfare logistics
3. Flights: to be booked by volunteers
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While most teams cover the cost of the trip on their own, volunteers are also welcome to set up fundraising campaigns on our Give Asia portal.
*Contact us to find out the subsidised cost for youth teams
Volunteer Sign Up
Corporates,
Groups & Individuals
For Groups
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Global Village build trips need to be booked at least 6 months in advance.
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Team sizes vary between 10-15 volunteers, depending on the country chosen.
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Groups may email us at info@habitat.org.sg to request for available build locations and dates. In your email, please include details like your name, your organisation, group size and preferred date range.
For Individuals - Lead your own team
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As team leader, you'll get to decide the location & date of your build trip.
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You may recruit your own team members or request Habitat Singapore to help publicise recruitment for your team.
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Find out more about how you can be a Team Leader
For Individuals - Join an Open Team
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If you prefer to not to lead a team, you can join an existing Open Team that is recruiting for individual volunteers. Slots are subject to availability based on a team leader's request.
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Visit our Open Team page to see teams that are currently recruiting. Stay updated by subscribing to our mailing list or following us on Facebook & Instagram.