Micah, an Ecuador Global Volunteer and University of Iowa student, reflects on his life-changing volunteer experience in Quito, Ecuador. I was blessed with the opportunity to volunteer at a daycare center for disadvantaged children in Ecuador for a couple weeks. The kids welcomed us with full hearts and grins across their faces on the first day. […]
Since early 2016, Global Volunteers Crete teams have been called upon by local authorities to help meet the needs of Syrian refugees in Greece. To date, volunteers work packaging and sorting donated clothing at the port of Heraklion, and preparing filled boxes for shipping to Athens. One team’s story: More than a million refugees and migrants have traveled across […]
It’s not uncommon for volunteers’ life-altering service program experiences to lead to changes in school choices, career aspirations – or even the choice of spouse! Some of our alumni have taken the next step and established scholarships enabling other volunteers to follow in their footsteps by serving in the same partner communities. Many donors operate anonymously, but others […]
Jocelyn and Will Challas wanted to spend their children’s summer vacation experiencing something meaningful together rather than the traditional family cruise, so the two decided to embark on a journey of a lifetime with their three young daughters (aged seven, ten, and thirteen) to serve and lend a hand in Ecuador. For two weeks, they spent their time offering love […]
by Kathy LeNoir My favorite memories while volunteering in Ciego de Avila all include interacting with the local Cuban people. The gardeners at the community garden were just lovely. We arrived there every morning in horse-drawn carriages to friendly greetings by all of them. Andreas instructed us with our daily tasks then both serenaded us with […]
by Pam Cromer, Mexico Volunteer Team Leader My favorite poet is Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Her poem “How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways….” says it all for me about Global Volunteers in Mexico. The charming, historic town of Querétaro is a “magnet” that keeps drawing me to the people and the volunteering that we […]
March 15, 2016 Poem written by: Gerardo, Cuban student who works with Global Volunteers Since November of last year we’ve been lucky to receive every month a happy team of the Global Volunteers Ever since, we have been blessed to have these people around. to have their love so profound and also to […]
Dear brothers and sisters, You might wonder what kind of work you come to Cuba to do. Indeed, you do not come to build schools, because we have schools and education, available for everyone. You do not come to do medical work, because we have excellent free medical service, and we don’t need evangelism because […]
With the help of our wonderful volunteers, we carried out a reading glass campaign in Ecuador to distribute reading glasses to members of the community. Since 1996, Global Volunteers has partnered with the local organization FUNDAC (the Spanish acronym for Foundation of Ladies of Calderón) in Calderón, Quito. Quito is the capital of Ecuador, nestled […]
by Mindy Lull, Professor at Wegmans School of Pharmacy Three years ago, I had a wild idea to find a service trip in the United States where I could take a group of my students to experience a new culture, help a community in need, and grow together as teammates. I’ve traveled on service trips […]