By Ruth Curran, Brain Development Specialist and Global Volunteer Director of Partnerships. You can find plenty of articles questioning the value of short-term volunteers on long-term community projects. But I wonder how many of these authors have participated on authentic development projects managed by fully invested local leaders? As in everything, the truth is in […]
Ever wonder what a day of service-learning in Cuba looks like? We assure you that when you help others in Cuba, your life, in turn, changes in unimaginable ways. But you don’t have to trust only our word… Read the words of Sydney, a University of Central Missouri student, describing her day in the life of a Cuba Global […]
By Michele & Chris, Cuba Volunteers. We continue to be blessed with new Cuban friends at our volunteer project sites and enjoy deeper conversations with our teammates. It’s an abundance of talk, experience, laughter, sweat and takeaways from the Cuban life experience. Following are a few team members’ small, impactful memories. Thanks for sharing: Renee was impressed […]
By Bethany, Cuba Global Volunteer. Question asked during English Conversations Q: “What is different between teenagers in Cuba & The US?” A: “There is no difference; we all want the same things – friends, time, family – we want what any teenager wants.” It seems to me that people are key, for both the volunteers and […]
Lani, a 3-time volunteer and retired schoolteacher, recently returned from her program teaching English in Poland. Lani taught students from kindergarten through sixth grade. She was so touched when she opened her mailbox to a wonderful parcel from Poland. Inside were over a dozen handmade cards and a handmade wire tree! A retired teacher touches hearts […]
Global Volunteers salutes Jim and Carolyn Brueggemann. Jim, a retired physician, and Carolyn, a retired teacher, have served together on 8 Global Volunteers service and people to people programs since 2003. Their first service program was in Mexico, and then came Romania, Peru, Ecuador, China, Costa Rica, Cuba and St. Lucia. It’s obvious Jim and Carolyn […]
Global Volunteers Keith Kresge and Tim Cunniff travel to serve worldwide. Together and individually, they’ve served on 37 service programs since 1998, and say they can’t imagine a better way to experience other cultures. Keith has volunteered on 22 service programs including three trips to India, two each to St. Lucia, Mexico, Vietnam and Italy, as […]
by Barbara Gironda Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” I thought of these words often as I looked at the beautiful Montana Mountains. It has been 27 years since I ventured to Glacier National Park as a recent college graduate, eager to start […]
Global Volunteers received this letter from Don Maher III, who has served on 10 programs since 2006 in Mexico, Romania, Italy, China, Tanzania, Costa Rica, India, Vietnam and Poland. One Man’s View of Global Volunteers Travel Worldwide Do you want to be a traveler or a tourist in life? That is, do you want to […]
Although he didn’t know it at the time, Ken Kieffer made a life-changing decision to become a Romania Global Volunteer over a decade ago. The attachment he felt to the children on his 2005 service program became an “early warning” of what was to come. Over these years, he’s assisted the experienced nursing staff with the children’s daily needs through […]