Volunteer in Poland

“After 30 programs in Poland, I’ve received more than I’ve given.
All benefit from this partnership – the future leaders
of this great nation, and volunteers who fall in love
with the beautiful people and culture.”
Lori Wedeking, Poland Volunteer

Volunteers say this is their dream working vacation! On a short-term volunteer program in Poland, you teach English skills to youth who hold the nation’s future in their minds and hearts. Since 1990, our team members have benefited from outstanding program management, Poland’s welcoming and colorful culture, irresistible cuisine, unmatched landscapes and best yet – the most engaging students you’ve ever met!

Volunteer Projects in Poland

English Teaching
You practice English pronunciation, vocabulary, phrases and idioms in classrooms with elementary and middle school students during the school year in Siedlce, Cisie-Zagrudzie, Grala-Dabrowizna, Strzała or Kotun. In summer months, you join two-week English language “camps” – bridging summer break to the school year with fun activities in English such as skits, games, songs, field trips and the like. In both projects, you emphasize “real-life” speaking skills using the Global Volunteers English Teaching Guide as a resource — no previous teaching experience necessary. Employ your creativity, energy and motivation to make a lasting difference in Poland – and invest in a model of European resiliency and progress.

FAQs: How to Volunteer in Poland

Dates & Contribution

Registration is quick and easy! (1) Select the community (there are 3 options), length of program and year you prefer below. (2) The available departure dates and tax-deductible program contributions that match your query will display. (3) Click on the program you prefer. This will take you to the online registration form. (4) Complete the form and hold your place on the volunteer program with a $350 deposit. Be sure to select all applicable discounts explained here. Call a volunteer coordinator at (800) 487-1074 for assistance.

If you prefer, you may submit a text registration by mail or fax. Teens under 18 must complete a minor registration and travel with a parent or adult legal guardian.

Lodging in Zacopane is double occupancy; singles may be available for an additional fee. Singles in Siedlce are generally included at no additional fee. Check option and fee for a single room here.

Note: The published amounts below reflect a $233 discount (limited to one per family or group) for those who register six months (180 days) in advance for Poland service programs. Register early and help us confirm our commitment to the communities we serve.

Upcoming Volunteer Dates in Poland

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Team Leader

Dorota Wierzbicka is Global Volunteers’ Poland Country Manager and Director of International Operations, and leads all our Poland Service Programs. Having assisted in our Poland program as an on-site translator before joining the staff of Global Volunteers, Dorota has shared her personal knowledge of the host community with team members since 1996.

Dorota was named Global Volunteers Staff Person of the Year in 2001 and 2004, and was recognized as “Staff Person of the Decade” in 2011. She consistently receives the highest possible ratings on volunteer evaluations. Further, she has a degree in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), a field she has been working in for some five years, and a master’s degree in applied linguistics through the University of Warsaw.

“ Dorota’s enthusiasm for the Global Volunteers program shines through and generates that enthusiasm for both volunteers and the students. Her dedication to the students is both infectious and unparalleled. She works hard to ensure that each and every day of the language camp experience is valuable for both the students and the volunteers. Her years as a Global Volunteer leader, her kindness, and her willingness to listen to any and all issues that we encountered made the experience incredibly rewarding to all of us involved.”
Fran Johansen and granddaughter Betz Mayer, Poland volunteers

“Dorota is helpful, respectful, incredibly diligent and hard-working. She attends to each team member every day to see how they are doing both personally and in their assignments. This is my seventh program. She is a superb leader.”
Judy Boyd, Poland Volunteer

“Dorota is exceptional. She’s kind, caring, accommodating, helpful, sympathetic…a wonderful leader and human being.”
Rita Novak, Poland Volunteer

“It has been such a great honor for me to work for & serve with such an amazing organization. My involvement with Global Volunteers has always been the greatest passion of my life!”
Dorota Wierzbicka

Arrival & Departure

Our program officially begins with dinner on the first Saturday. Plan your flight to arrive at the Warsaw Chopin Airport In Warsaw, Poland (airport code WAW), before 2:00 PM on Saturday, and your departure from Warsaw for after 10:45 AM on the final day of your program. For Zakopane teams, please plan your flight to arrive in Krakow, Poland (airport code KRK), before 3:00 PM on the first day of your service program and your departure from Krakow for after 10:00 AM on the final day. Meet your team at the airport within this window if you travel in the country before the start of the service program. Provided you send us your flight itinerary at least two weeks before the service program arrival date, you’ll be transported to the partner community with your teammates. This coordinated schedule helps us account for all team members, and provide smooth 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.

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.

If you teach at the Zakopane summer camp in the Tatra Mountains, you must consider the possibility of altitude sickness – indicated by headaches, dizzyness and low energy, which can become life-threatening if not treated. We strongly recommend you consult your own physician, public health clinic and/or travel clinic for detailed travel health information. For general recommendations, consult the following sources:

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

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. Click here to read risks associated with international travel.

Free Time

Ample time is available on evenings and weekends to enjoy the numerous nearby natural and cultural attractions. Because Reymontowka is a regional cultural facility, special cultural events and music recitals are scheduled from fall through spring. During summer months, children at the English language camps organize talent shows and special events for the volunteers. Additionally, once a year, volunteers may be able to attend the International Folklore Festival in Siedlce as well as the annual May Festival at Reymontowka. Walks in the countryside are popular with volunteers, as are tennis games at the Reymontowka Manor House. Zakopane is a popular departure point for many winter sports and summertime mountain climbing and hiking. Kasprowy Wierch and Gubałówka, reachable by cable car and funicular railway, are open year-round.

Because of our non-profit 501c(3) tax-exempt status, we can’t plan your free-time activities for you. However, your team leader will suggest options. On the weekend, you and your teammates can visit the many attractions in Warsaw or Krakow, such as beautiful parks and city squares, Old Town, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Wawel castle, Auschwitz, and the oldest salt mine in Europe. Please note that if you intend to stay in Poland longer than 90 days, you must apply for a Schengen visa.

Family Opportunities

Volunteering at a summer language camp in Poland is a choice family service opportunity. Engaging one-on-one with Polish students of all ages, your children learn how their education and natural skills are important resources to others, and that people the world over share common hopes and interests. Every volunteer makes a difference – Polish students who otherwise have no exposure to native English speakers learn the language of commerce, industry and opportunity from you and your children. Through games, songs, skits, field trips and other creative activities, students learn through “whole body” exercises. In this way, your family’s personal skills and dedication enable youths’ personal development to ripple throughout the country – advancing the entire nation’s capabilities. The emphasis is on improving real-life speaking skills and not on formal rules of grammar, so children ages 6 and up can offer their own perspectives and fully participate in scheduled and free-time activities.

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. In this way, your child gains a personal understanding of Polish culture and traditions from a variety of perspectives, and learns 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 Opportunities

Provide your group a premier volunteering experience in Poland. As volunteers in Polish classrooms, your members connect with their Polish ancestry, improve their understanding of the country’s history, help preserve a resilient culture, and most important – help expand Polish students’ career options in small communities tourists rarely visit. Our Polish partners’ easy and expansive hospitality allows every group member to immerse themselves in daily life – and personally witness the traditions, artistry, spirit and charms embodied by Polish youth and adults. Our accommodations and cuisine are comfortable, safe, healthy and authentically Polish – exceeding the highest standards of international service.

Teaching English conversational skills to eager students one-on-one or at language “camps” is a unifying, inspirational project for groups of all ages and purposes – and is many times more enriching than a traditional “tour” agenda. Our unique philosophy of service ensures your group’s efforts help advance students’ and teachers’ educational goals. Because we’ve committed our resources in Poland to sustained education projects for over 25 years, you can be certain your contributions in just one to three weeks help build students’ capabilities. We work with you to apply your group’s unique skills, interests and personalities.

Opportunities for high school and college groups

For instance, in the spring or fall, you practice English conversation in conventional elementary and middle school classrooms. The emphasis is on improving real-life speaking skills and not on formal rules of grammar. In the summer, you teach at informal language camps designed for elementary through high school students of varying fluency. The camps are centered on small-group classes (three to ten students) and optional organized activities and excursions.

Read on for details on group volunteering

Volunteer in Zakopane or Siedlce, Poland

Poland Service Program Snapshot

1, 2, 3 weeks year-round

Contribution:
$2,062* – $2,895

* with qualifying discounts.

Projects Include:
Teaching English

Local time:

Request Information

Request Program Catalog

View Full Program Schedule

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Food and Lodging

Your health and safety are our highest priorities in Poland. For programs during the school year, your “home” is Reymontowka, a beautiful restored manor house in Chlewiska, a hamlet outside of Siedlce. Some summer language camps are conducted at Reymontowka, and others are held in Zakopane, in the Tatra Mountains at a historically styled hotel in the countryside. Both lodges feature traditional Polish architecture and double-occupancy rooms with full bathrooms and hot and cold running water. Freshly-prepared meals are served on-site in communal dining rooms.

At Reymontowka:

Laundry facilities
Free wi-fi
Tennis court
Piano in common area
Library

At Zakopane:

Early 20th-century wooden chalet
Expansive mountain vistas
Large rural campus

Polish cuisine is hearty, healthy and distinctive. You’ll enjoy soups, salads and assorted meats with sauces (including wonderful sausage) served with a variety of breads, seasonal fruits and home-grown vegetables. Bottled water, coffee and tea are provided daily. Vegetarian diets can generally be accommodated.

“My perspective is from someone who sees the volunteers’ impact on Polish students. These young people are the leaders; the future of our country. They are the second or third generation of people who learned English from Global Volunteers. Year after year, volunteers have transformed this community.”

Marek BlaczekGlobal Volunteers Community Host Partner

“Global Volunteers are people whose support, kindness and commitment to volunteer work proved to be priceless in improving the quality of English language teaching. Classes taught by native speakers not only increase the students’ motivation to learn English, but also greatly enhance their ability to efficiently communicate in this language.”

Magda FrączakTeacher from the John Paul II Middle school in Kotuń

“This gift of getting to know a foreign culture and acquire knowledge and skills in English through direct contact with volunteers is truly priceless. Their presence makes it possible for us to get to know the world better, to understand that when a person knows English, he or she is able to fulfill their dreams and there are no barriers that prevent their implementation.”

Izabela SadokierskaTeacher from the Wł. St. Reymont Elementary school in Cisie-Zagrudzie

“Classes with Global Volunteers offer a unique opportunity for our students to improve their English language skills. In addition, meeting people from English-speaking countries helps the children develop the attitude full of openness and curiosity about the world.”

Katarzyna NiedziółkaTeacher from the elementary school in Grala-Dąbrowizna

“Kids who grow up with Global Volunteers learn not only English but also openness to other cultures, respect and other important values promoted by the organization. In a few years, without doubt, many our students will reminisce about wonderful lessons with enthusiastic volunteers who wanted to share a piece of their hearts at our small school in Strzala.”

Agnieszka NiedziółkaEnglish teacher at the Elementary and Middle school in Strzała

“The Polish staff invited us to dance their national dance, the Polonaise, on the last evening of the summer language camp. It sent chills up my spine, and put a lump in my throat. It felt like I was being welcomed into the family.”

Peg McKeePoland Volunteer

“All of the students like to talk, dance, laugh and genuinely care about each other. At times I had difficulty differentiating whether I was in Poland or the United States when I observed students having fun. This experience demonstrated that I, and people like me, can make a positive difference in young people’s lives.”

Jim PodrazaPoland Volunteer

“Our adventure with Global Volunteers in Poland was the highlight of our year, and we have had many pleasant memories of your staff, the other volunteers, and especially the students. This program is an outstanding example of reaching hands across borders and introducing foreign students to the American culture. It’s an enriching experience for both the students and their teachers.”

Dick BasilPoland Volunteer

Be The Change.

Through important, full-day volunteer assignments, cultural activities and time for personal adventures, you’ll learn about Poland and remain forever invested. Our time-tested and proven philosophy of service ensures your efforts help advance the host community’s 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 Poland program though the prospective of our volunteers below or on our program blog.

Volunteer in Poland

Volunteer Projects in Poland

English Teaching