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.
Special education teacher Lynn O’Brien of Indiana volunteered on her first service program last summer on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana. Her mother had worked with indigenous populations in Montana as a young woman in the 1950s, and that drew curiosity in her. Here, she describes what her service projects were like and how she […]
A friendship that includes a shared dedication to service is one that is sure to last. Californians Linn Joanis and Melody Covay have volunteered on four service programs together since 2015, and they have no intention of stopping. They first served together in the Cook Islands, and then went on to serve in Greece in […]
Many volunteers fundraise for their service program contribution by working with Global Volunteers staff to create a fundraising page. It’s easy to do! Volunteers commonly tell us that they were joyfully surprised by how many people in their lives wanted to support their volunteering — and did. Here, Don Diehl shares his story of how […]
In this moving story of her experience in service with the Blackfeet in Montana, Jessica Kohn of Philadelphia describes a “life-changing experience” learning about the talents and roles of the Blackfeet people and the welfare of their community. by Jessica Kohn It was Saturday, August 7, 2021, sometime in the late afternoon. We were driving […]
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 arrived as a volunteer in Crete in 2019, she was an early childhood education student, and anticipated teaching preschool after graduation. But, she admitted her focus was lacking. After teaching teens English for two weeks, she gained a profound sense of purpose and her career vision became clear. She changed her major, […]
Sidelined from travel by the 2020-21 pandemic Global Volunteers Alumnus Don Marshall of Sebastopol, CA, isn’t slowing down now that travel has resumed. As he considers his next adventure in service, he recently reminisced about about his rewarding Vietnam service journey, and continues exploring new opportunities to serve the Vietnamese people. Since 2006, Don and […]
One a Peace Corps devotee in youth, retiree Chriss Hayden sought a meaningful way to volunteer outside her community. She chose service on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana to immerse herself in a culture and make a difference. Chriss prepared and served meals at the Eagle Shield Center, where she says she was able to […]
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 […]