Volunteers for Peace (short-stay abroad)

If you're interested in but don't qualify for the Peace Corps or are not in a position to make a commitment that long, consider the Volunteers for Peace. Their mission, as they describe it:

Volunteers For Peace promotes International Voluntary Service as an effective means of intercultural education, service learning and community development. We provide projects where people from diverse backgrounds can work together to help overcome the need, violence and environmental challenges facing our planet. We organize and promote projects where nations join together to improve life on our planet and volunteers experience a microcosm of our world ... read more

Most of their projects are in the summer months and last 2 to three weeks, but a few longer-term projects last up to a year. For most people, their registration fee is only $300 (a low cost for many volunteer opportunities) and you have to arrange your own transportation.

Check out their Facebook page and here's a sample of some of the work they do in Ireland, but they have opportunities around the world.