Not to be confused with Global Aware, Independent Media Organization, Globe Aware is a volunteer placement organization which currently places international volunteers in projects in eleven different countries, primarily in Asia and Latin America.

Globe Aware is registered in the US as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and apparently all program costs are tax deductible as such (though visit the site for more detail on this). I especially liked how they described the reasons for taking a volunteer vacation on the about page. Among other things, such as developing a deeper understanding of the local culture, they say, “You will understand what challenges they [community members] face, and see how they have chosen to address these issues, and then take part in working on one or more of their community projects.”
The site also features a volunteer weblog with entries from different participants.

Starting with an exeption - as it’s outside of Asia and Latin America - you have the program in Romania:
In Brasov, Romania, volunteers can participate in an education project focusing on the Roma population – often known as Gypsies and often at a social disadvantage to those in the majority in most of Europe as a whole, including Romania. The first week in this project costs $1180 and includes accommodation and meals in a guest house; volunteers may stay on for additional weeks with the same accommodation for $350 per week, though Globe Aware notes that the program in this case will be much less structured.

There’s also the program in Jamaica, volunteers can see another side of the island while getting involved in a local sustainable development project and doing environmental work.

There is a homestay element to it thought bed and breakfast accommodation is also mentioned, so it is not clear to me exactly how this works. Prices are the same as for the Romania project above.

Globe Aware hopes to have a volunteer program to Cuba restructured by the fall to fit in with US government regulations on travel to Cuba.

Visit the Globe Aware site for more information on these and other trips to Peru, Costa Rica, Thailand, Nepal, Brazil, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.