Sometimes a second chance comes along at just the right moment. If you are still weighing things up, or if you missed the application deadline, here is another opportunity to apply for a volunteer placement starting in summer 2027.

We are accepting applications until 22 November – provided you are able to attend the selection seminar at short notice, from 27 to 29 November at the Stuttgart youth hostel. Apply now and secure your chance of a place in the programme.

Through the EMS Ecumenical Volunteers Programme, you spend nine to ten months in Africa or Asia – currently in countries such as Ghana, India, Indonesia or Japan. You live in a new environment, work alongside a local team and become part of everyday life there: in schools and boarding schools, in work with children and young people, in inclusive projects with people with disabilities, or in environmental and climate protection. No prior experience is needed – what matters is openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace the unfamiliar.

To apply, you need to be between 18 and 28 years old at the time of departure. What counts is your age in summer 2027, not when you apply – so if you are still 17 today, you can still apply.

You will not be on your own at any point: preparatory seminars, contact persons on site and a mid-term review accompany you throughout the year.

“Our volunteers experience something no textbook can teach: what it is like to live in another culture not as a guest, but as part of everyday life,” says Kathrin Lehrbach, coordinator of the North-South exchange. “Some of it is wonderful, some of it is hard – but everyone comes home with something that stays with them.”

To see what that looks like in practice, read the blog posts by our current volunteers: they report first-hand on their daily lives – on their first weeks in a new country, on memorable encounters, and on challenges big and small.

All Volunteer Blog Posts

Full details on the programme and requirements: https://www.ems-volunteers.org/en/exchange-directions/north-south/

Apply Now

Any questions? Kathrin Lehrbach and Tanja Klein will be happy to help: evp@dont-want-spam.ems-online.org, tel. +49 711 636 78 65.