volunteer oportunities

lately i have had a huge urge to do something worth while with my time. what i really want to do is go to africa. if i were a doctor or nurse or microbiologist, i would apply to doctors without borders. but since i am none of those things, i can't help them. i went on a hunt for various international aid organizations based out of canada. the one i would like to sign up with is youth challenge international. they offer 5, 6, 10 or 12 week programs to various countries including costa rica, guyana, nicaragua, ethiopia, kenya, tanzania, ghana, and vanuatu. i know some of those aren't african, but they're offered. and not all countries have the different lengths of time. like kenya only has 10 week programs. i think that i'd want to go to kenya, ethiopia, tanzania or guyana. it's expensive though. i'd have to raise anywhere between $2900 and $4000 + airfare depending on how many weeks i'd be going for. and that just includes what they need. i'd have to cover any medical issues such as vaccinations and any equipment or gear that i'd need/want. and some countries require an entrance visas. the good thing about this organization is that they offer tax receipts for people who give you money. i looked at some other ones that didn't.
anyway, how amazing would it be to go and do this? in the african countries the things the volunteers do are youth skills development, hiv/aids awareness raising and gender equality training. i think that it would be the most unbelieveable experience. to be able to help these people and get actual first hand experience of what life is like in these poor countries would be life changing. i'd have to go in the summer though because i can't miss school. i'm already way too behind there. and to go in the summer would mean that i wasn't working to make money to go to school the next year. how does that affect student loans? i could do guyana for 5 weeks in july and august and work before i went...i'd make some money. i dunno. i may never even do this. but i want to. really bad. so why not? but only if i could actually findraise the money. because there is no way that i'd ever be able to pay any of it myself. maybe i'll send them an e-mail and ask some questions. i looked at the application form and it asks you how you feel about heat, bugs, and sleeping on the ground. i hate all those things but i think that the experience would be worth putting up with those things for 5 weeks. especially where i get to come back here where i have air conditioning, no bugs and a bed. those people live there every day of their lives. and the heat, bugs and floor sleeping are the least of their worries. they have no food, no water, and are dying of aids. i want to do it. i think that i'm going to look into it some more.