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.
Some 35 percent of our 32, 000 alumni volunteers have served on previous programs. Lori is a particularly loyal Poland volunteer, and over her 30-plus service programs, she’s formed relationships with several of the same students year after year. Her reflections as a Global Volunteer alumnus are excerpted from the team journal. I’m fortunate to have met so many great […]
Our Cuba volunteer program centers around the Cuban people – their hopes, dreams and goals. We’ve worked with our community partners since 2007. This is a landmark opportunity to volunteer in Cuba and live among the Cuban people! “It was a wonderful trip. I really appreciated all the efforts made in terms of cultural lectures […]
First-time Global Volunteer Ken Higgins was excited to teach children in Poland after his wife served on a Ghana Global Volunteers program in 2012. “I wanted to be able to help others in some fashion and experience a different culture. Based on Debbie’s recommendation of Global Volunteers, it seemed like a good organization to attain these goals, ” he said. […]
A journal by Norina, a Poland Global Volunteer. I’ve served on the Global Volunteers summer camp teaching program in Poland several times. I’ll continue to volunteer at Reymontowka, in a lovely pastoral setting in Siedlce, east of Warsaw, and at Zakopane, in the beautiful Tatra mountains south of Kraków. While the food and accommodations at both sites are […]
This is a common question Global Volunteer Alumni hear when they return from a volunteer program in the Cook Islands. “Where even is Rarotonga? Where are the Cook Islands? Wasn’t Survivor filmed there? How do you get there?” To most alumni, the Cook Islands are a magical place. It has a piece of their heart. And they […]
Long-time Poland alumni report that learning about the Polish people – Polish customs, dance, music, as well as their hopes and dreams is the highlight of volunteering in Poland. This testimonial from Lori, a 30-time (!) Poland Global Volunteer exemplifies how the Polish people enrich the lives of all who come to know them. Several years […]
St. Lucia Global Volunteer Ellen F. settled into her Caribbean Island “home” quickly, thanks to the warm welcome of our host partners and local families in Anse la Raye, St. Lucia. She said the Caribbean community began to feel like home after her first week. Following are a few reflections on a day in the island getaway as a […]
St. Lucia Volunteer Erin C. discovers teaching children in a St. Lucia classroom requires patience – and a measure of “blind faith.” Short-term volunteers teach children ages 10 to 17 at the Anse la Raye Primary School. We woke to the sound of rain on the tin roofs today. I laid in bed listening to the torrential downpour, […]
Global Volunteers salutes Ken Dubuque, a Global Volunteer who works with teens and has shared peace and love every year since 2013 in Montana, the Cook Islands, Poland, and Italy. Ken said he still finds much to talk about, teach and learn from his teen students. He reflects on his recent experience in working with teens […]
India Global Volunteer Fran employs her creativity and bright personality to motivate primary school students at Christ-King School in Chennai. Using an iPad and a story about a chameleon, she creates a lesson about colors, reason, and sentence structure. All the way to the school, I kept hoping that the short video of a chameleon changing […]