Hi,
I realise I may be a bit late in answering your question, but it may still help others! There are actually plenty of free volunteering opportunities out there. As a general rule, however, you'll have to pay for accommodation and food - for African countries, this is often around $50pw from what I've found. That said, there are some that are completely free, you just have to look that little bit harder! It was in the quest for these opportunities, and after coming to the same conclusions you did, that I started
http://www.volunteeringinfo.org, where we gather all the information we can find about volunteering, interview past and present volunteers, etc. More importantly, we've got a database of organisations that offer volunteer placements around the world - currently, there are over 30 organisations listed that offer free or self-cost (accommodation and food) placements.
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VolunteeringInfo.org is an online resource for volunteers, with over 100 worldwide volunteer organisations listed, including 30+ organisations offering free opportunities! You can also
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