Current News, Field Reports and Volunteer Voices

Several times each week, we post stories about work we do in our host communities – through the voices of our partners, volunteers, and those we serve. Subscribe using the form below to receive updates in your inbox when they’re published. If you’re looking for deeper insight into service in a specific country, on a particular type of project, how you can share your unique skills or volunteering as a family or a group, you can find a wealth of information here. Use the categories next to the posts here or on any page (below right column) to explore more stories that suit your interests.

We welcome your ideas on topics you’d like to see here. Please contact us at marketing@globalvolunteers.org. Enjoy our blog!

Volunteer Voices Greece

Lifelong Friends Cultivate their Roots in Greek Classrooms

Global Volunteers alumni and octogenarians, Wilma Bennett (above, left) and Popi Anastassatos (above, right), have been best friends since the late 60s. When in 2022 Wilma invited Popi to explore her Greek heritage on a service program, Popi…

Staff Worldwide, Volunteer Voices Italy, St Lucia

Volunteer/Team Leader-Turned-Employee Looks Back on 20 Years of Worldwide Service

Upon completing her 50th service program, Volunteer Coordinator Phyllis Thompson paused to consider what first motivated her in 2003 to join a Global Volunteers team, and what inspires her to enable others to serve. We asked her to share with…

Mental Health Projects, Reaching Children's Potential Tanzania

Mental Health Needs Assessment Points Way for Village Families in Tanzania

Pregnant and post-partum women along with fathers who are vulnerable to mental stress because of family conflict, physical illness or disability, food or economic insecurity, and many other threats are at the center of Global Volunteers' Reaching…

Service-Learning Greece

Common Philosophy Draws College Students to Global Volunteers in Greece

An interprofessional group of nursing and occupational therapy (OT) students led by Dr. Samantha Sasson from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY, shared their skills and compassion with local youth and adults in Heraklion, Crete. Dr.…

Classroom Assistance, Volunteer Voices Italy

Retiree Volunteer Rediscovers Ancestral Roots Through Service in Sicily

Seeking purpose through service, and more than a bit curious about her Italian heritage, first-time volunteer Susanne DiBianca joined Global Volutneers in Castelvetrano, Sicily to give back, and get back to her roots. Her service adventure…

Volunteer Voices

Transgender Woman Shares Advice for Service Travel

Nine-time Global Volunteers alumni Linda Roberts says from an early age, the concept of the Peace Corps inspired her. As she neared retirement, she sought out similar programs with a shorter time commitments. Global Volunteer's policy of inclusivity…

Reaching Children's Potential Tanzania

Fueling the Future: The RCP Program’s School Feeding Project

Imagine you are back in school, spending 6 to 8 hours or more per day in class, working hard to learn new subjects. Now imagine doing it without breakfast to sustain you. This is a reality faced by many Tanzanian students, whose parents cannot…

Reaching Children's Potential Tanzania

Partnership Improves Nutrition, Eliminates Hunger in Tanzanian Villages

To help eradicate hunger, Global Volunteers has established partnerships with many organizations around the world, including Rise Against Hunger, an international hunger relief non-profit organization. Rise Against Hunger coordinates the packaging…

Reaching Children's Potential Tanzania

Access to Quality Healthcare in Rural Areas is Life-Changing for RCP Families

Not long after the launch of the Reaching Children’s Potential (RCP) Program in Ipalamwa, Tanzania in the summer of 2017, a new idea was born. Though it was not part of the original plan, the first team of volunteers learned about the…

Reaching Children's Potential Tanzania

Parent Workshops – Transferring Knowledge so Parents Can Do What They Hope to Do

Children are not born with a manual. Most parents learn how to raise their children from their own parents or grandparents. Unfortunately, parents are not always the best instructors. Science, on the other hand, teaches many positive and effective…

Development Impact Tanzania

The History of the Reaching Children’s Potential Program from Anse-la-Raye to Ipalamwa

Running to catch a taxi after meetings at the World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome, Nancy Walters, a senior executive at WFP, handed me a copy of The Essential Package and encouraged me to read it. This United Nations agencies document detailed…

Development Impact Cuba, Montana, Peru, St Lucia, Tanzania, Texas

Why nutrition is a smart investment

Malnutrition and food insecurity are grim issues affecting millions of people worldwide. The latest report from the United Nations shows we are moving backward in efforts to eliminate hunger, and families in low-resource communities bear the…