Global Volunteers’ Top Podcast Episodes of 2017
Have you listened to them all? Enjoy our top podcast episodes of 2017.
Our Be the Change podcast tells the stories of seekers and humanitarians as they discover the joys, insights, and surprises of service. This podcast series is a conversation about the expected and the unexpected; the active and the passive; the exhilarating and the daunting – changes which deepen life’s journey. Join Global Volunteers host Ruth Curran as we go below the surface with seekers and humanitarians to explore the changes they’ve encountered as Global Volunteers around the world. Here are our top podcast episodes of 2017:
Top Podcast Episodes of 2017
1. Hope = Action – Episode #32
This episode takes us into the new year filled with thoughts of hope. Each of our four featured storytellers looks at cultivating hope through action, from a slightly different angle.
Peggy and her family had a year loaded with personal challenges so large that she felt as though the fabric of her family was ripping away. Peggy, her husband, and their children found hope while working together, teaching conversational English in Greece. She believes that serving as a family facilitated healing and restored a balance in a unique and lasting way.
Abby, a photographer, took her camera to Tanzania this past fall and found hope in the eyes, heart, and spirit of a community. (Below photo taken by Abby.)
The desire to pass her love for travel and service on to her children is so strong for Julia that her 13th birthday present to each of them was a trip that centered on service. Julia sees hope for the future through what she shares with her children.
Mary has been on service programs to China multiple times. With changes in the political climate in the U.S., Mary worried about how she, as an American, would be viewed. She found hope for the future in her positive interactions with teachers in China.
2. Thoughts of Peace – Episode #25
In honor of International Day of Peace, designated by the United Nations annually on September 21, this episode features peace wagers we’ve heard from in earlier episodes, and new ones from around the world.
Global Volunteers’ volunteers and staff reflect on what true world peace means to them, and how they’ve experienced peace waging by working together with others. What does peace mean to you?
3. Volunteering in Vietnam – Episode #10
Three volunteers tell their own personal stories about what compelled them to serve in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Pam, a long-time Vietnam team leader, is drawn to a particular service project more than others – helping young blind adults learn English to improve their limited future career opportunities. Her motivation is close to her heart – and her story will make you reflect on the pivotal role we can each play in others’ lives.
Julie was most impressed by how the Vietnamese she worked with, living in poverty, welcomed her with joy and acceptance. She says: “I never expected the graciousness and the warmth” emanating toward team members from the local people. She came to realize that in their richness of spirit, that “they had everything and I had nothing.”
Joe reads the journal of his service program roommate, John, a Vietnam veteran who returned to Vietnam for the first time since he left in 1970 during the war. “I needed to see it first-hand,” says John. “I came back to do something, however small, to help rebuild a developing country I helped to destroy; to show the Vietnamese that there are Americans who care about them; that there are veterans…who care.” He continues: “I’m going home knowing that the war in Vietnam, and the war in me, is finally over.”
To learn more about our worldwide volunteer programs, check out our website.
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