Costs

The program fee is $4,970 which includes:

✔️ Roundtrip international airfare to Vanuatu from the U.S.
✔️ Visa (if required)
✔️ In-country airport pick-up and drop-off with your group
✔️ Housing
✔️ WiFi
✔️ Three at-home meals/day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
✔️ Pre-departure + in-country training
✔️ Local support
✔️ 24/7 emergency assist line from ILP headquarters
✔️ International SOS membership
✔️ Hands-on education
✔️ Meaningful service opps

Additional items (like your passport and domestic travel to and from the U.S. group departure airport) and in-country costs (like vacations, shopping, and activities) are not included. See a more detailed list here. It depends on your personal spending habits, but most volunteers recommend budgeting around $1,500-3,500 for the semester to make the most of your time in Vanuatu.

We have custom monthly payment plans to help you make it work. That can be especially helpful if you’re saving up little by little, by working or doing fundraising. 

An ILP Humanitarian Trip

This type of trip means that the kids you are working with come from very limited means and would not otherwise be able to afford this extra support and education provided to them.

The time you spend volunteering in this program is a free gift to the kids and they do not pay a fee to attend our English classes. Thank you for wanting to help our sweet kiddos in Vanuatu!

Is Vanuatu right for me?

Each location is unique and therefore has its pros and cons. What falls into those two categories will really depend on the person you talk to, but we’ve put together common complaints we hear most about volunteering here. Knowing the typical pain points that just come along with the experience will help as you consider which country is best for you.

• You’re living in a remote and rugged island community. WiFi is slow, and has gone out for weeks at a time when the island is hit by extreme weather. The power goes out frequently.
• There are spiders, cockroaches, mosquitoes, lice, and bedbugs.
• It’s very hot and humid, with no A/C.
• Medical care is available but anything serious will be treated in another country.
• Air travel is expensive, unpredictable, and limited, if you choose to vacation off the island.
• Beach days with your students as well as hard teaching days will be a part of your experience.
• The kids you teach have so much love to give, but understand that is one of the most difficult teaching locations. The kids come from a wide variety of backgrounds, many from homes without discipline and structure.

You’re living within walking distance of pristine beaches and prime snorkeling while also living in the middle of a remote village community in the South Pacific, which comes with challenges. It’s not a location for everyone, but if you’re up for the high points and challenges of Vanuatu, it is an experience of a lifetime.

About Your Group

This program has about 10 volunteers in a group, which means you’re a tight-knit group that does just about everything together. Because of housing limitations, our Vanuatu program is the best fit for:

• Single females
• 18-about 25ish years old
• Volunteers from the U.S. and Canada
• No experience needed!

About Your Town

Get ready to discover a country you’ll love, but may not have heard about until now. The country of Vanuatu is an archipelago made up of 83 islands sitting in Oceania. It’s in good company, surrounded by other island nations like Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.

You get to live on the island of Efate in the little village community of Pango. Efate is one of the main islands for resources, home to the nation’s small capital city (Port Vila), the international airport, and is a popular port area for cruises. It’s hot and humid year round which means you’ll be more than motivated to find all the water-related activities on the island! Don’t worry, there are lots.

Your home in Pango sits outside of the small but busier capital and is just minutes from the beach. Pango is a small village with a real sense of community. While most tourists just hang around Port Vila and the popular tourist spots, you’ll have the chance to soak up true local life in Pango. Part of that local life means embracing all the apparent perks (it’s close to the beach and tucked in the jungle) with things that will take adjusting to (there’s no A/C and plenty of visitors, like bugs, lizards, and even crabs who wander up from the coast).

The culture here is really friendly and happy, totally built on family. It’ll seem like everyone in your neighborhood is related (most probably are!). You’ll see friendly people living in humble circumstances, making a living by growing and selling tropical fruits and vegetables. The people here are very self-sufficient and have learned to live on the land. Anything imported from nearby places like Australia is very very expensive, so people make do with what they have. Living here will definitely be different than living at home, but you’ll get the chance to experience (in a small way) what life is like for most people on these islands — a lesson that will probably help you feel even more grateful for the little things.

A semester here is a rugged island experience that comes with some challenges. This program is a best fit for flexible, positive, easy-going volunteers who want the biggest kinds of adventures. Vanuatu is for those who want to really embrace the ups and downs of living abroad. It’s not an experience for everyone, but if you’re thinking “That’s the right country for me!”, we know you’ll love your new island home!

Glimpse A Day In Vanuatu

Wake up in time to see sunrise at the beach — after all, you’re just a three minute walk away. You’re living with your ILP group in a house found in a small village outside of the capital. The culture here is really welcoming. Oh, and your neighbors are all related, even if they’re not really. You’ll live right next to someone’s auntie, and a family friend who isn’t really an uncle, but everyone calls him that anyway. Welcome to the family!

Though you’ll be living in a house with your fellow volunteers, it’s not hard to be close to your friendly neighbors. The people here are a huge part of your ILP experience. Ni-Vans are known to be the “happiest people in the world”, focused on family and community who still follow a distinct island culture.

Alright, onto breakfast. Your group gets a stipend for breakfast so you all sit out on the balcony, soaking up the tropical views while you eat freshly baked bread and local fruit. Yum! You’re not teaching until the afternoon, so plenty of time to hop on a minibus to explore a new corner of the island, or hang out in the village. There is a beach nearby to explore, or your group could play games at home.

Before class, some cute “local mamas” cook up some lunch before you need to leave. You’ll eat lots of classic island staples like rice, eggs, chicken, hot dogs, and fish, as well as fresh fruits and veggies (like avocado, pineapple, papaya, cucumber, and tomato). There are also several local dishes to get familiar with, like yams wrapped in banana leaves and cooked deep in the ground. Then, that’s all drizzled with coconut milk. These sweet ladies will also be cooking your dinner, so you’ll have a real taste of the culture with every meal.

Your whole group teaches at a nearby school, which was converted from someone’s house. It’s a very short walk, and the kids are so excited when you get there. In fact, they’re already begging for a day at the beach after class ends. The beach is just a five minute walk from the school so that’s hard to say “no” to! The classrooms are really open-air, with no A/C, mats to sit on instead of desks/chairs, and clear views of the ocean, especially from the small playground. That playground is made up of what’s available: used tires and a tin roof pavilion. It’s just one example of the community using what the island has to offer. Many families live off their gardens, selling some of their organic fruit and veggies at little roadside stands you’ll see all over the islands.

While you do have free time during the week, having every weekend off leaves time for so many adventures. And Efate is crammed full of the best of the best in Vanuatu. We’re talking turquoise lagoons, and kayaking the coastline for hidden coves — try spotting turtles along the way. Plus, soooooo many pretty beaches. The water here is unbelievably clear, a bright aqua that doesn’t look real. You’ll have vacation days too, if you want to explore another country, but think you’ll want to explore all Efate has to offer.

The Backstory Of This Program

The idea of living on an island near Fiji for a few months is a dream come true. But like so many of our programs, there was something that brought us to this specific spot that felt just a little meant to be?

One of our ILP volunteers from the early days reached out to us about starting a program here (shout out to anyone who volunteered in the 90’s, you’re the real OGs!). Since her semester volunteering in Europe with us, she served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ in Vanuatu, got married, and then returned to Vanuatu with her husband. They both fell in love with the culture and the country and decided to move their family and her husband’s medical practice to the island and live there full time.

She loved her time with her ILP students and saw such value in bringing that service to the kids in Vanuatu. She and her husband both have professional roles that make them very well connected to leaders in Efate, which helped us establish a program here. We are so excited about the impact the ILP program can have in Vanuatu.