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.
By Lynn Lotkowictz, 3-time Greece Global Volunteer. Volunteering in Crete Three times in Fours Years So I’m volunteering in Crete this week for my third Global Volunteers trip in four years. Same program, same location. Why? The country, though economically struggling with continued high unemployment, remains peaceful with a beautiful landscape and welcoming culture. One of the […]
Recalling his memories of Poland as a volunteer, one recent team member says he’s grateful for the meaning his service with Polish teens brought to his life. Winding down our individual English conversation lessons (but also speeding up our final preparations for the closing ceremony) we reflect on our weeks at Reymontowka. Not only the teachers, but the dance […]
Georgianna, a Poland Global Volunteer, talks about her first day teaching and learning in Poland. My beginner English class started by lining up outside the door, where the young students greeted one another, asked how each other were, and introduced the next person in line. The objective is to have them speak, speak, speak, in English. It’s not easy because these […]
Tom, a Boy Scout Leader who served with his troop in Ciego de Avila, writes about their people-to-people cultural exchange in Cuba: No alarm clock rang as the sun streamed through the curtains. Did we oversleep? After waking early for the past 5 days we all slept in late today. Breakfast was at a slower Cuban pace as […]
Barbara Morris, a Volunteer Team Leader, provides a glimpse into her work supporting and enabling her team of volunteers in Cuba. Bright and early, our gardeners, clad in hats, sunscreen, and gloves headed out with their host to work in the garden. Kind of like sending kids off to their first day of school! Next the “maintenance” crew, […]
A family home visit in a shanty town outside Lima and a conversation with a displaced child’s grandfather raises conflicting questions for Peru volunteers Jody and David. Our final day of volunteering has come WAY too quickly! I’m honestly conflicted, feeling we’ve experienced so much in such a short time, but at the same time have barely scratched […]
Jim, a recent Poland Global Volunteer, describes his personal technique for teaching conversational English to Polish students. This morning was a mixture of excitement and some anxiety. Exciting because I would meet my class of Polish English students for the first time. I’m a bit anxious because I didn’t know for sure if the activities I planned […]
On the International Day of Peace, 2016, Peru Country Manager Daniel Salazar interviewed retired pharmacist and 7-time volunteer Gary Gullikson in service in Poland. Gary said while he regularly prays for peace, he yearns to turn his prayer into more practical actions. That’s what led him to his first Global Volunteers Poland service program in […]
Reflections by Emily, an India Global Volunteer, on the cumulative positive volunteer impact on students in Chennai. Before I made the decision to come to Chennai, India, I debated with myself over what my true volunteer impact would be in such a short period of time. I didn’t know if my time and effort volunteering […]
Global Volunteers’ Philosophy of Service guides team members on the principles of responsible volunteering. This alumni volunteer shares a practical example of how this works on site in Chennai, India and elsewhere around the world. By Fran, India Volunteer. At Assisi Illam, the daycare center in Chennai where we’re serving, we’ve just finished singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, […]