Longtime friends Urvi Doshi and Suma Putcha have always been involved as volunteers within their local community in Allen, Texas. Then they decided they wanted to broaden their own and their teenage daughters’ horizons by volunteering internationally. Urvi and Maya (age 17) and Suma and Avani (age 18) spent a week serving with Global Volunteers […]
Peggy and Bud Cope volunteered in Greece with their three children, Ellie, Adam, and Evan, after having a year that could’ve torn them apart, both physically and emotionally. Peggy had the feeling that the only hope her family had to heal and come together was if they did something meaningful together. So Peggy and her […]
Here we share a guest post from Brenda Warrick, the manager of Regina Apartment Complex. The complex is a group of 24 homes operated by our community partner, the Southern Appalachian Labor School (SALS) in West Virginia. Here Brenda writes on behalf of the residents of Regina, expressing their gratitude for Global Volunteers’ support and […]
A dedicated and experienced team leader is an essential component for the success of the Global Volunteers service programs worldwide. Global Volunteers Team Leaders arrive in-country a few days before the teams’ arrival in order to meet with our community partners, coordinate logistics, and prepare work projects. All Team Leaders are Global Volunteers alumni or […]
Blind-Link began in May 2013 as a dream-come-true for its co-founder and manager, Huong Nguyen. The NGO was established with her lawyer-husband, Phan Vu Anh, to train and employ blind and vision-impaired individuals as massage therapists in Hanoi, Vietnam. Through research and intuition, Huong single-mindedly employed the business advice she acquired in the U.S. on […]
You would think that living on an island, St Lucians would be strong swimmers. Sadly, this isn’t the case, and the number of childhood drownings has risen considerably over the last five years. According to the W.H.O. (World Health Organization) over 360,000 people die from drowning every year worldwide; over 90% of those casualties are […]
Alumni volunteer Peter Dykstra stood on the southernmost point of Key West, Florida and imagined he could reach out over 90 miles of water and touch the Cuban coastline. But the country remained a mystery to him while it was “off limits” to Americans. Now, through Global Volunteers, Cuba travel is fully legal and was […]
Septuagenarian Maggie Caison is a retired middle school teacher who, since retiring, finds herself busier than ever. Apart from volunteering internationally with Global Volunteers, she also volunteers with several organizations in her home town of Lenexa, Kansas. “I feel it’s an honor to give a little of what I can. I love teaching and volunteering […]
Your Guide to Volunteer Travel in Nepal, Stephen Raja Chinnappan. Stephen Raja Chinnappan was born and raised in Bangalore, India. He joined Global Volunteers in 2001 after serving as a free-time tour guide for volunteers in Chennai. After being promoted to Country Manager, Stephen led volunteer teams until the India program was suspended in 2018 […]
Global Volunteers professes that every volunteer helps wage peace and promote justice in partner communities worldwide But, you might wonder: “Can I really make a difference in my two weeks of service? Can I truly impact at least one person’s life?” If you have doubts, this story may just convince you how important you can […]