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.
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 […]
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 […]
After over a year of not having on-the-ground support from volunteers, the RCP staff and families in the Ukwega Ward in Tanzania enthusiastically welcomed the first team of volunteers back to the community. Among the team members was Leslie Apony, a volunteer who first served in Tanzania in November 2018. Leslie, who was “excited to […]
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 […]
Eight-time Global Volunteer Judith Love Schwab (pictured in 2012 in Cuba, fourth from left) says her first trip away from her Pennsylvania hometown at age 7 taught her that education isn’t limited to books. Experiencing life from different perspectives – as well as subjects otherwise avoided in daily life – became a magnet for her […]
New York mother and retail professional Tenley Zinke recalls her excitement of discovering new project opportunities each day as a Montana volunteer. A highlight: Getting to meet local people in their typical daily routines. Read on for her description of a day’s volunteering schedule in Montana. By Tenley Zinke Volunteering on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation […]
Having embarked on their first service adventure with Global Volunteers in 2001 in Greece, Don and Mary Jansiewicz have continued to volunteer internationally as a way to contribute to making the world a better place. They have served in Italy, Cuba, and Peru, and were scheduled to return to Greece in March 2020. Here, they […]
Frances (Fran) Johansen found Global Volunteers at a time in her life when she says she was dealing with “angst.” Her husband had recently passed away, she had retired and was thinking about what to do with the rest of her life. Fran describes how she found “a new home” with Global Volunteers. Beginning in […]