Volunteer in Italy

“I feel full of love. The students have learned my lessons well,
and I’m very proud of them. I can see how much they like and
respect me. A lump forms in my throat. I will surely miss their faces.”
Tizza Swanson, Italy Volunteer

Teach English in Italy as a Volunteer! As a lauded tourist destination, Italy’s Puglia region extends a warm welcome to international travelers. Whitewashed buildings, narrow streets, fresh-air markets and rocky coastlines jutting into the sky-blue Adriatic Sea cast a spell on all who visit. But many travelers miss the meaningful human connections afforded through day-to-day service in this enchanting region. What you gain as a volunteer in Italy is the perspective of L’amico preferito” (“favorite friend”) that only a “non-tourist” can accquire. Together with your Italian students, you and your teammates experience the genuine acceptance that dissolves cultural stereotypes and builds international understanding and respect.

FAQs: What You Need To Know

Dates & Fees

Service program fees are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers when you follow our itinerary. Select program options below to see upcoming service program dates for Italy. Then select a program date to hold your place on a team with your $350 deposit. Call a volunteer coordinator at (800) 487-1074 for help if needed. If you prefer, you may print a text application and submit it by mail or fax. Minors – under age 18 – must complete a minor application and travel with a parent or adult legal guardian.

Most partner community lodging is double-occupancy, with a single room option for an additional fee. Click for single room fees in countries where this option is available.

Community:

Weeks:

Year:

Team Leader

Phyllis Thompson is our volunteer country manager in Italy, and has served with us since 2003. She’s an alumna of more than 20 teams to Italy as well as to China, Costa Rica, Montana, Portugal, and South Africa. She earned a Master’s Degree in Health Professions Education, and is a certified health professional, practicing for over 25 years in radiation oncology. Phyllis has completed our intensive team-leader training program, and is experienced in leading diverse groups of individuals. While she said she loves all our service programs, she professes her favorite place to volunteer and visit is Italy!

“Phyllis is great – a very caring and responsible person.”
Angela Bellante, Italy Volunteer

“Phyllis is very well-organized, and has excellent knowledge of the area and a great relationship with the teachers and community. She’s a pleasure to volunteer with.”
Karen Kast, Italy Volunteer

“Phyllis has a great understanding of the Italian culture and the community of Monopoli. She worked well with all team members, and was very helpful with any questions that needed to be answered. Phyllis let our group know that she was thankful for our volunteering and hard work.”
Chrissy Kassebaum, Italy Volunteer

“Phyllis is efficient, effective, thorough, and takes this responsibility seriously—and wants to ensure everyone is happy, satisfied, and having FUN!”
LeeAnn Greer, Italy Volunteer

Arrival and Departure

Our service program officially begins with the evening meal on the first Saturday. Plan your arrival in Bari airport (airport code BRI) any time before 6 pm on the Saturday your program starts. Meet your team at the airport within this window if you travel in the country before the start of the service program. You may depart any time after 6 am on the Saturday your program ends. Provided you send us your flight itinerary at least two weeks before the service program arrival date, your team leader will transport you to the partner community along with your teammates. This coordinated schedule assists us in assembling the team for in-transit transportation. If your flight is delayed, please contact us as soon as you confirm your new arrival plans so your team leader can arrange an airport pickup for you.

For help with your flight arrangements, please visit Janbala, our travel partner’s website.

Health & Safety

Your health, safety and security is our top priority. Your lodging, food and transportation are provided always with a mind to protect you while at the work site and in your hotel. Your team leader is trained in CPR and first aid. Read more about health and safety here.

We strongly recommend you consult your own physician, public health clinic and/or travel clinic for detailed travel health information and preventative measures. For general recommendations, consult the following sources:

Centers for Disease Control | Health Canada Online | Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade | Travel Health Online

Global Volunteers includes emergency medical evacuation insurance in your service program fee. We also recommend health insurance that covers you while you are outside your home country, and trip cancellation insurance in the event you must cancel your participation on the service program. Your travel agent can refer you to travel insurance providers.

Free Time

Ample time is available on evenings and weekends to enjoy the numerous natural and cultural attractions of the Puglia region. The historic central districts of nearby towns make for fun walking tours. Along the way, you can visit important churches, flea markets, outdoor cafes and traditional bakeries. Distinctive shops showcase the work of craftsmen who produce artistic creations using the same techniques as ages ago.

While our non-profit status prohibits us from planning your free-time activities, our local staff will provide a list of the many opportunities to explore the region. For instance, many volunteers tour the Adriatic coastline or the Peninsula of Salento, including the baroque cities of Lecce, Otranto, and Santa Maria San Leuca.

Nature walks, museum visits, concerts, plays and historical sites are popular evening and weekend distractions.

Family Volunteering

Italy Volunteer Margo McDonough describes the opportunity to volunteer as a family:

“Volunteering in Italy gave us the chance to live like ‘locals.’ We headed out each morning not to sight-see, but to work. And while ‘work’ and lavoro are supposed to mean the same thing, we quickly learned how different they are.
On our first day at school, the teacher interrupted us in mid-lesson with a tray of espresso and biscotti (The pursuit of “dolce vita” is as much a part of the school day as spelling and science). Yet the Italian kids seem to learn just as much as American kids do in their classrooms.

The best part was what brought me to Italy in the first place – the chance to spend one-on-one time with my adolescent son while he was still willing to hang out with Mom. After school, we hiked by the Adriatic Sea and strolled through the walled city of Ostuni. One day, Austin climbed a pomegranate tree and picked a fruit, which we split open to gobble the juicy seeds.

I watched my son stretch himself as he pulled together lesson plans each night – ‘Do my teachers really have to do all this stuff?’ – and faced expectant youngsters each morning. By the end of the week, Austin was exhausted from teaching. As Austin’s mom and fellow teacher, I got to bask in his reflected glow. When it was time to say ciao, the kids asked for my autograph while they waited for the one they really wanted – Austin’s.”

Parents and guardians are expected to supervise their child volunteers, and collaborate with our team leader and local partners to maximize the service experience for everyone. Youth are invited to offer their own perspectives in team meetings and fully participate in free-time activities. In this way, your child gains a personal understanding of the Italian culture as well as the role and responsibilities of a team member. They likely also will create life-long friendships with local youth who share their interests and experiences.

Group Volunteering

Your group is accepted as “part of the family” in Puglia, the region along the Adriatic Sea that’s home to our Italy volunteer program. The “heel of the boot,” has some of the friendliest people, brightest bays, most diverse art, and inspiring architecture in Italy. Its history is a complex weave of colonization, invasion and a continual struggle for independence and the Greeks, Romans, Turks, Saracens and Spanish have all laid claim to parts of Puglia throughout history. Against this intriguing backdrop, you learn and serve together – experiencing Italian culture from the “inside.” Team teach in Italian classrooms, work together in small groups, and share free time at museums, markets and musical events!

Italy service learning for high school and college groups

Nothing replaces volunteering together and experiencing the “real Italy” as you live it daily. Group members in Monopoli meet one-on-one with students, teachers, community leaders and other opinion leaders who explain Italian traditions and customs as topics of conversation. You help the English language become relevant when you practice it in Italian classrooms and with small groups of students. Italian students appreciate conversations about family, film, food, wine, art and, of course, sports, especially football (soccer)!

Group volunteering in Italy

Community Projects

Since 1995, our volunteers have served up to 10 times a year in Ostuni, Monopoli, Cisternino, Carovignio, Ceglie Messapica, Torre Santa Susanna, Martina Franca, Fasano, and Franca Villa Fontana throughout Pulia. Student groups, couples, retirees, families and individuals of all backgrounds serve in Italian classrooms, summer camps and small groups to share their knowledge of English. Review a standard work-day schedule here.

English Teaching
English has become the language of commerce, technology and opportunity worldwide. Especially in times of economic distress, Italian students crave the opportunity to learn American English (the language of the internet) from native speakers to enhance their educational and employment opportunities. Because this area of Italy is seldom visited by American tourists, your volunteer assistance is a valuable resource to middle school and high school teachers. On a typical day, you create your own lesson plans from standard curriculum texts and our Conversational English Teaching Guide, engaging small groups of students in games and diverse interactive activities. In practice conversations, you may discuss North American culture, history, daily lifestyle, sports, and school systems. You might team teach, work one-on-one, or conduct classes on your own – depending on your style and comfort level.

Italy Service Program Snapshot

1 & 2 week summer programs available

Fees From:
$2,795.00 – $3,195

Projects Include:
Teaching

Local time:

Request Information

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I’ll Remember You Forever

Food and Lodging

Your health and safety are our highest priorities in Italy. Your secure home in Monopoli is the charming Hotel Vecchio Mulino, an inspired, modern restoration of a former factory building. Rooms are double occupancy, with private bathrooms and hot and cold running water, telephones, television and free internet access. The hotel also features a central TV lounge.

Air conditioning
Telephone and television
Onsite bar and restaurant
Conference room
Wi-fi hotspots
Single room available for an extra fee

You can enjoy authentic Southern Italian cuisine at all meals. A light breakfast of fruit, cereal, rolls, cheese, yogurt, juice and tea or coffee is provided at the hotel. Lunch and dinner at area restaurants include bread, a salad or soup, two pasta or meat courses, and fruit. The Puglia region is legendary for its distinctive and healthful fare. Bottled water is provided. Vegetarian diets can generally be accommodated.

“My personal opinion is that Global Volunteers represents the people of the United State in the most positive way. When I first met my American volunteers, I was surprised that they did not represent my previous ideas of Americans as self-absorbed and superficial. They….are laying the basic bricks of the greatest building in the world: Peace and brotherhood.

Patrizia MazzoliItaly Teacher

“Global Volunteers has formed this idea of creating peace and justice with other countries of the world, and this idea is not only plausible, but doable. Peace starts with a relationship, and Global Volunteers does just that – build relationships. With small steps, peace with other countries seems closer than we might think.”

Emily HabacivtchItaly Volunteer

“Walking up and down the 2,000-year-old steps put a different perspective on our daily teaching assignments. These steps have provided entry into a beautiful campus in an inspiring community for mankind throughout the ages. We walked in their shadows.”

Edythe McNickleItaly Volunteer

“It’s difficult to explain the wonderful feeling we have in Italy – making new friends, working as a team, interacting with students and staff, learning about the Italian culture, and enjoying the taste, smell, and sights of southern Italy.”

Ed and Carolyn MaruggiItaly volunteers

Be The Change.

Through important, full-day volunteer assignments, cultural activities and time for personal adventures, you’ll learn about the Italian people and remain forever invested. Our time-tested and proven philosophy of service ensures your efforts help advance the host community’s development vision and goals. You contribute to genuine development projects, and in doing so, you‘re accepted as family. Our commitment to work in partnership on long-term community projects enables you, in just a short time, to serve as a critical link in a chain of volunteer support spanning three decades.

Volunteer Voices:

Read more about our Italy program though the prospective of our volunteers below or on our program blog.

Request a Italy Program Fact Sheet

Request a program catalog here or by calling 800-487-1074.

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