Stories from students, retirees, working professionals, couples, families, groups, solo travelers, first-time volunteers, volunteer veterans and everyone in-between from more than 20 countries around the world. Learn about your favorite country in their own words.
Septuagenarians Bob and Judy Nix have always had a passion for making a difference, especially in the lives of children. Volunteer travel had always been on their bucket list, so when Bob’s sister Linda Murphy asked them to join her on a service program in Greece with Global Volunteers, they were ready to go. In […]
Minnesotan Penny Louise Flavin said that when she discovered Global Volunteers in 2019, she was looking for a way to volunteer, give back, and learn about other cultures after retiring from her career. That year, Penny Louise served in Peru and immediately planned another service program in 2020. Although the pandemic delayed her return to […]
Our Thanksgiving gift to you: First-time Global Volunteer Courtney Curran wrote she couldn’t let the holiday season pass without acknowledging the transformative power of our Tanzania Service Program experience in her life in July, 2021. She participated on the first volunteer team on the Reaching Children’s Potential Program (RCP) since the onset of the pandemic. […]
When Cassidy Matz was an early childhood education student, she anticipated teaching pre-schoolers once she graduated. A Global Volunteers service program in Greece was the impetus she needed to expand her career perspective. Looking back on obligatory service projects in high school – a graduation requirement – she admitted she hadn’t taken many of those […]
Having wanted to join the Peace Corps when she was younger, as a retiree Chriss Hayden was still looking for a meaningful way to volunteer. She found serving on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana was the perfect way to immerse herself in a culture to be able to learn about it. Chriss prepared and served […]
Global Volunteers Alumna Lilly Cook says her passion for teaching and serving others united in Tanzania in 2019 on a University of Northern Colorado student group. This year she and her husband, Collin, welcomed a baby girl into their family, and named her Addiah, meaning “Gift from God” in Swahili. Read on to learn how […]
Portugal alumnus Donn Rance has returned to Portugal to teach English to youth with Global Volunteers nearly every year since 2013 – the most of any other volunteer. Now as he prepares for his seventh Portugal service program in October 2021, he reflects on his personal enrichment on volunteer journeys not only in Portugal, but […]
Five-time Poland Volunteer Ken Higgins says working with the students at summer camps in Siedlce, Poland “has been one of the most rewarding and enriching” experiences of his life. Read on for his description of a typical day’s volunteering schedule in Poland. By Ken Higgins I have been blessed enough to be a volunteer at […]
After over a year of not having on-the-ground support from volunteers, the RCP staff and families in the Ukwega Ward in Tanzania were thrilled to welcome back the first team of volunteers. Global Volunteers Co-founder Michele Gran is leading this team of volunteers, who arrived in Ipalamwa on Saturday, July 31 for three weeks of […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to far-reaching consequences for children and their families in the communities we serve. Volunteers are needed now more than ever to help deliver essential services and support our community partners as they get back on their feet. Those who joined our first programs back or who are registered to volunteer […]