Community Partner since 2000.
The Indian Festival of Lights Today marks the Indian festival of lights, called Diwali or Deepavali, which is celebrated throughout the country. The Diwali festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. There are many stories associated with this festival. The most common is […]
A sister-sister relationship is a special one for many reasons. Few people will understand you and your childhood better than a sibling – especially a sister – which is great! However, sisters also know how to get under each other’s skin. So… Why spend two weeks on a volunteer program to travel with your sister? […]
Despite its incredible growth, India remains true to its historical essence. This is a brief account by Rita, a first time India volunteer, of her experience hearing the heart of India. This is my fourth Global volunteers program. The first three were in Romania. In December of 2016, I took a Road Scholars trip to Northern […]
On a previous post, Jake told the story of how his wife convinced him to join her on a service program. Now, Jake shares about his first time volunteering in India. Why India? In my circles of academic/student recruitment, many of my comrades who worked the scene in China almost always were doing some work in India. […]
With volunteering couples, it’s more likely that a wife invites her husband on a volunteer trip than the other way around. Some 70% of Global Volunteers team members are women. One recent example is Holly and Jake. Holly had volunteered five times with Global Volunteers, but Jake had never experienced a volunteer abroad program. In January, they served […]
India Volunteers Erich and Katie recently were recruited by local families to judge a kolam competition outside Global Volunteers’ guest house in Chennai, India. This is their report: Today was a very special day as it started the Pongal celebration. Today is the first day of the festivities and it’s called Bhogi, which is similar […]
There’s more heating up on Pongal weekend than just the weather. In India, where this holiday is celebrated, there is a lot going on. If you don’t know about it already, read on to learn about Pongal, one of the coolest celebrations in India. It’s Pongal weekend! Pongal is one of the most important celebrations for […]
As part of our series on Myths and Legends, India Country Manager Stephen Raja continues talking about Kolam, and explains its relationship to yoga, happiness, and prosperity. On a previous post Stephen explained the legend behind Kolam (beautiful drawings found in the streets of India.) Now Stephen explains why women really choose to make this drawings […]
Continuing with our series on Myths and Legends, India Country Manager Stephen Raja talks about Kolam, a tradition of making beautiful drawings in India. What does yoga have to do with drawing? And what does drawing have to with prosperity? According to the Hinduism, a lot. India Country Manager Stephen Raja explains this: If you walk through […]
Resourcefulness goes a long way on a Global Volunteers Program! For instance, this volunteer approached English teaching in India with personal creativity that resulted in an innovation available to successive volunteers. Devra explains what motivated her to inaugurate the Grammar Champion Program on a Global Volunteers India Program. I’m not a teacher, so when I volunteered in 2014 […]