thinking of taking a year off school. thoughts?

[gamblore99]

I was planning on being a volunteer paramedic in israel this summer, but unfortunately they changed the requirements and now conversational hebrew is required. So i was gonna go on a kibbutz for 2 months, then go next summer and do the volunteer paramedic. In the mean time I heard about other volunteer abroad oppurtunities, namely south africa and ghana. Unfortuneatly the due date for applications is in a week, and the police check which is required takes a month. I want to do the south africa or ghana thing more, as it seems way more rewarding then staying in a community and just doing regular work. So I am thinking of taking a year of school (I am secondy year, science psychology). The idea would be to do them all, work in a kibbutz in israel, become a volunteer paramedic there (4 months total), then volunteer 2-3 months in ghana and south africa each. There was also the possibility of volunteering in brazil for 2-3 months but that program had a strong affiliation with christian groups which I don't mind, but I really don't want to be building churches or working with very religious christian people. I would also be probably playing poker during this time to save up some extra money, though that isn't really why I want to go. Any thoughts?