International workcamps or community service projects provide unique opportunities for people from around the world to work towards peace and understanding through service and cooperation. They offer the opportunity to spend time with people from other countries and, at the same time, accomplish something meaningful for a community.

One example of a workcamp is one Mobility International USA (MIUSA) offered several years ago. Twenty people from Ireland, England, France, Denmark and the United States came together in Oregon for a two-week project to make several U.S. Forest Service campsites and a retreat center more accessible for people with disabilities. Individuals with and without disabilities worked side by side to improve trails, modify picnic table areas and construct ramps.

Other examples of workcamp opportunities include: building a house for a low-income family in the Philippines with Habitat for Humanity; clearing out non-native vegetation with local school children in South Africa with Volunteers for Peace; teaching English in Poland with the Council on International Educational Exchange; making crafts in Israel with the Kibbutz Program Center; and teaching HIV prevention in the Dominican Republic with Amigos de las Americas.

Workcamp programs can vary in length from two weeks to several months, and include lodging and facilities for preparing group meals. Travel to the workcamp site is often arranged independently, but workcamps are good places to meet other people interested in traveling together after the program ends. Usually, knowledge of a foreign language is not required to participate in workcamp opportunities. However, it can be fun to learn other languages through interacting with participants during the experience. People of all ages can be involved in workcamps, although some programs may be geared towards specific age groups.

Workcamp programs offer participants the chance to volunteer in a group setting that is diverse. People from different cultures and nationalities, with vastly different life experiences, are able to come together, interact and understand each other. This diversity is what makes the international workcamp environment so powerful. Workcamps teach awareness on all levels — to the participants, to the organizers and to the community.

"We learned some lessons about campground accessibility that took us beyond textbook designs," said the forest ranger involved with the MIUSA workcamp, "We discovered that some facilities built by the textbook were not truly accessible — it was an eye opener." Angie Allard, a Canadian Crossroads International (CCI) volunteer who uses a wheelchair, reported upon completion of a workcamp program in Malaysia, "My life has been vastly enriched by participating in this overseas service program."

Designing an Inclusive Workcamp Program

Individuals with disabilities have many valuable contributions to make, yet have only begun to be tapped as a resource in most workcamp settings. With certain accommodations, people with disabilities can be involved in all types of workcamps. As with all international programs, working together and finding creative approaches to accommodations are key to making workcamp experiences possible for people with disabilities.

Including disabled participants in service programs and projects requires a creative and flexible approach. Making programs accessible will mean different things for different individuals, depending on disability type, individual needs and personal preferences. Making a program accessible can mean removing physical barriers, providing sign language interpretation or simply finding tasks appropriate to each person’s individual skills. Thinking ahead and being open and welcoming to all participants will be easier if these issues are addressed in the initial designing stages of the workcamp project.

Some things to think about when designing for inclusion:

• Is the physical site layout hilly? Is the ground firm? Are there alternative routes?

• Is there an accessible toilet at the site? Can a portable toilet be installed if needed?

• Is there accessible housing? Can a portable ramp or a shower chair be used?

• Is accessible transportation available? What other options are the participants comfortable with arranging?

• What materials can be produced in alternative formats (computer disks, large print, audiocassettes) if needed? Could someone assist as a reader?

• Are there sign language interpreters available? Can a pen and paper be used informally and an interpreter found through a local Deaf organization?

• What are participants’ dietary needs? Can adjustments to the meals be negotiated?

• Are rules and steps to the project stated concretely and clearly? Can these be written down, repeated or stated one at a time, orally and/or visually?

Here are some creative adaptations and approaches that have been used in the past for participants with disabilities in workcamps. They can be inexpensive and involve readily available materials. They show how easy it can be to find creative ways to allow all participants to help make the program a success.

• A broomstick with a sponge on the end can be used to clean wide tabletops from a wheelchair.

• A paintbrush on an extension can be used to paint ceilings or high walls.

• A participant who uses a wheelchair may be able to carry heavy loads on his/her lap.

• A participant with limited strength in his or her arms may be able to do fine woodcarvings or sign painting.

• A participant who has difficulty walking or standing can use a chair to work sitting down.

• With proper orientation, a participant who is blind or visually impaired can help with lifting, building or painting.

• A participant who cannot do heavy physical labor can help organize logistics, such as selecting groups, assigning projects, or organizing kitchen duties.

Part of the workcamp experience is learning to adapt to many new situations. Any workcamp participant, including one with a disability, might have to cope with conditions that are new to him or her. Sometimes it is not possible for everything to be accessible. Until more places are accessible worldwide, people with disabilities have the right to choose adventure and risk, and to find their own ways to contend with difficult conditions. As long as participants are notified that they will need to use a portable toilet or sleep upstairs, they have the choice as to whether or not they can deal with the circumstances. A person with a disability willing to cope with certain situations in foreign countries should be able to join any program. Many people with disabilities will participate without requesting any special arrangements.

In a workcamp, the group goal is to work together. Organizations can think about how this teamwork can be used to enhance the experience for every individual involved. As people across the world become more interconnected, service projects like these can build trust and foster peace. Only with each person in the diverse community playing a part will these ties within the global community grow stronger.

Portions of this article appear in Building Bridges: A Manual on Including People with Disabilities in International Exchange Programs, produced by the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE).