Volunteering in Iceland

To search for projects currently available in Iceland please visit the VFP Open Projects Directory.

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	“For work I was in a small town with six others - four from Europe and two from South Korea. The town had a population of about 150, was in its own fjord, and at the end of a 45 mile dirt road. Once I arrived there it was so peaceful and beautiful that I did not have an urge to go anywhere else. Everybody else must have felt the same way because nobody left for two weeks. Our accommodation was excellent. We had a guest house to ourselves with seven beds, two bathrooms, kitchen, dining area and comfortable living room. This was a "hiking camp" and our work consisted of marking the hiking trails.” James J Minot ~ 2009
	“A few days after the camp itself started, my excitement began to deflate as I realized the work wasn’t what I had expected. The description ‘beautifying’ turned out to be a euphemism for ‘weeding’ and ‘garbage collection’, but I got over that quickly because it was evident that I was in a beautiful country, with 11 other great people who all had to do the same work, and it was clear that we were all having fun and enjoying each other’s company and the atmosphere. I would willingly do the exact same work again in exchange for the same opportunity.” Joseph Beeton ~ 2009
	Joseph Beeton ~ 2009
	Brother and Sister Angela and Billy Speece at the Viking Village “My brother and I just returned from a magnificent time in Iceland.  Here we sold traditional items in the street shop, and had a chance to make some of our own art to sell as well. We also promoted the Viking Village and a dinner play in Reykjavík by handing out flyers tourists. “    Angela Speece / Iceland ~ 2008
	“The idea of a work camp never crossed my mind until I was directed towards Volunteer for Peace. I think it is the PERFECT way to see a country. I got to go somewhere off the beaten path, interact with locals, help out a part of the country that certainly needs it." Irene Duong / Iceland ~ 2007
	"The whole experience was amazing, and I can't wait to go somewhere new next year!!" Suzanne Lak / Iceland - 2006
	Work at the Sólheimar Eco-village. Katie Booth / Iceland - 2005

“There were ten other volunteers from countries as diverse as Japan, Korea, Poland, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Sweden, we all lived together in a two story flat in center Reykjavik and shared kitchen and cleaning duties. Perhaps it was luck of a draw, with this size of people there might have been friction but it was thoroughly amazing how well everyone got along, which also made the work very enjoyable because we got along so well together. The work was varied, from renovating a local theater to helping reseed the plants at a botantical gardens, I learned a lot from the work itself and the local coordinators who drove the projects. Everyone I met was a dedicated professional who was top of their craft. “ Andy Su ~ 2009

” We worked for the horticulture department at the HNLFI Health Clinic and Spa. Our group of 12 was split into 2 teams. One team pulled weeds in the landscape beds surrounding the clinic – this team was best for the people with allergies. The second team worked in the green house and vegetable fields pulling weeds, spreading mulch, and picking tomatoes. We occasionally helped harvest plants for tea and then picked weeds from the harvested tea plants before laying them out to dry, then grated the dried leaves, and packaged the mixed tea leaves to be sold in stores.” Margaret Doolin ~ 2009

“Doing international volunteer work is a perfect way for me to travel, because I loved meeting people from all over the world while getting to know a country and culture with more depth than you can achieve as a tourist.” Bronwyn Steinberg / Iceland ~ 2007

"The Hvammstangi camp was very well organized. The generosity of the local community was impressive. I truly enjoyed the interaction with the local community and the activities. The local organizer, Arnot (works for the community of Hvammstangi), was excellent. I would strongly recommend this camp to other volunteers." Dawn Murphy / Iceland - 2006

"What a great experience. Would you believe a town of 1500 people serves free food to 40,000 at their fish festival. They do not even allow any vendors at their festival unless they are giving away their food. We worked with the school children who work in the summer at "work school" to make the town beautiful for the festival. The Thursday and Friday before the festival the 16 volunteers packaged 40,000 fish portions in aluminum foil to be grilled. We worked with three of the most famous chefs in Iceland who, yes volunteered their time to the festival. I enjoyed working at a festival because we were working with the local Icelandic people and developed friendships with them." Patricia Nauman / Iceland - 2006

"… all the volunteers in our group got along with each other. You would always see huge groups of us doing all the activities together, whether it was hanging out in the kitchen playing games (cards, or famous people on sticky notes on the head, etc.) There was always a new fun game to keep us "energized". We would be seen up late every night hanging out. I even learned how to speak some Japanese! It was so cool. I spent so much time learning about other people. The camp leaders had a lot of fun games for us to play! And they arranged for a few night activities as well. We would often go to the Hot Springs to hang out after a day of work. We rented cars and drove to the Blue Lagoon, we hiked up Mount Esja. It was so cool.We went out both Saturday nights too. I was so sad to leave everyone behind. But we made envelopes a few days before we left with our names on them and everyone wrote plane notes to read on the plane rides home. It was really touching. The whole experience was amazing, and I can't wait to go somewhere new next year!!" Suzanne Lak / Iceland - 2006

"My camp was in Patreksfjordur in the West Fjords region, and it was the most amazing trip I have ever taken!! We worked on rebuilding and marking old hiking trails in the isolated village, and we were so lucky to work in such a beautiful and dramatic natural environment. There were huge cliffs, gorgeous beaches, and endless lava landscapes that took my breath away. And I was so happy to meet 13 other like-minded young people from Europe and to share this experience with them! I made friends that will last a lifetime and I will never ever forget this trip. Thank you so much for your work to make these opportunities available to people like me!!!" Elizabeth Gwin / Iceland - 2005

"The leader of our camp was terrific and went out of his way to provide us with opportunities outside of the work environment. We also met an amazing Icelandic man who paid for us to all go to the blue lagoon and around numerous other Icelandic sights; by and large, the people we worked with were very kind and incredible, I will miss them greatly. The work we did differed a lot from the job description, which said that we would be cleaning and creating hiking paths and various other jobs. We planted trees every day (7 of us planted 18,000 of them!) which is obviously a terrific thing to do, but it felt very tedious after oh, about

10,000. Overall, though, I was very happy with the work we did, even though it was difficult." Raphaela Levy-Moore / Iceland - 2005

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