Why I Give: Helping Kids Get on the Right Track
Kristie Thompson of Minneapolis says that working in an office with adults all day makes her appreciate the opportunities she has to work with children. “I enjoy the opportunity to support them when they’re little and get them on the right track,” she asserts. That’s what first compelled her to serve with Global Volunteers in Ghana in 2008, and then to recruit her college friend Nancy Luna to join her in Tanzania in January 2020. After the pandemic hit, Kristie worried about the kindergarten and first-grade children she had just gotten to know and decided to support Global Volunteers with donations to ensure the program could continue. Read on to learn why Kristie believes her contributions to Global Volunteers are an important investment in children.
“In Africa, where they don’t have very much, they’re so appreciative and excited about what you do for them. In the classrooms, just getting a piece of paper – the students were so excited. I even gave them an extra piece and stickers. They loved the stickers!” Kristie recalled. Working with five and six-year-old children, she was encouraged by their sustained curiosity. “One day, I showed my students photos of a barn near where I’m from in Iowa. I showed them the cows and told them that’s where they lived. They were so amazed that cows in the U.S. lived in a big building,” she chuckled. It was fun and so amazing to see how much you can teach them. They love learning.”
Her desire to ensure that the learning didn’t stop during the pandemic prompted Kristie’s giving to Global Volunteers. “I knew you weren’t sending out volunteers and needed help. I’ve worked for a nonprofit foundation in the past, and I knew you’d be struggling.”
Knowing where the money goes is important to Kristie, and she especially appreciates being to serve in the communities where her donations go. “You can really see the impact by being with the children. They learn so fast. With small organizations, you know your contributions can make a big difference. In Tanzania, I know my contributions help the kids learn because I’ve seen it myself. The teachers have like 60-plus kids in one room. They’re so busy, and have no money to spend on supplies or other resources. I know the materials I can provide and the additional support I can give makes a significant difference.”
“You can really see the impact by being with the children. With small organizations, you know your contributions can make a big difference. In Tanzania, I know my contributions help the kids learn because I’ve seen it myself. I know the materials I can provide and the additional support I can give makes a significant difference.”
– Kristie Thompson, volunteer and donor to Tanzania program
Reflecting on what is most needed, she continued, “I think giving money is really needed for classroom supplies or health and nutrition for mothers – making sure that the local (education and healthcare) professionals can be effective. Anything to improve their lives – helping their education and their health and hygiene to move the family forward is what I’m interested in.”
Good health can be taken for granted in wealthy countries, she said, but in rural Tanzanian communities, good health determines whether mothers and fathers can work and if children can go to school. Good health depends on adequate nutrition and protection from infectious disease. That’s the underlying goal of the Reaching Children’s Potential Program (RCP). Global Volunteers has had significant successes providing essential services to RCP families in the Ukwega Ward since 2017. The result has been an appreciable reduction in childhood stunting – which improves cognition and the ability to learn as a child and earn as an adult. Giving service together with financial support is the best way to witness how far your dollars can go. “If people can, I say giving your service in person is the best way you can really see the difference your donations make,” says Kristie. “Sure, you can just write a check, but you can’t see how important those funds are unless you’re on-site yourself. And, you’re having fun the whole time you’re there!”
“I know I can trust Global Volunteers because I’ve seen personally how organized you are and cautious with materials you buy. You’re conservative with expenses. I see it myself. I know I can truly make a difference in the world. I tell people to try to volunteer as well as give money so you can personally be invested. It depends on the person. I wish more people would do it. I look at my friends and say, “Why wouldn’t you do this?” Some are interested.”
Kristie did recruit a friend of hers to share the volunteer experience with: “My friend from college Nancy Luna went with me to Tanzania and she absolutely loved it. She was one of the people in the classroom who’d do some crafty projects with the kindergartners and first grade students. She knew lots of songs to sing with them because she was a Girl Scout leader. They picked it up in English really quickly. The same was true in Ghana. Because there are so many volunteers, they already knew some songs.”
“If people can, I say giving your service in person is the best way you can really see the difference your donations make. Sure, you can just write a check, but you can’t see how important those funds are unless you’re on-site yourself. And, you’re having fun the whole time you’re there!”
– Kristie Thompson, Global Volunteer alumna of Ghana and Tanzania programs
In 2008, Kristie taught students in Ghana. 
Kristie says of her time in service in Ghana (pictured here) and in Tanzania that she had fun the whole time she was giving back.
She continued, “Seeing the excitement from the kids over two weeks they had for learning. You could really tell you made a big difference. They barely knew colors when we started, but after two weeks, they had really progressed.”
Kristie also assisted the RCP Caregivers with home visits. She said of this experience, “It’s a good way to appreciate other cultures and see how other people live. You can see how local people appreciate everything they have and live a cool life with what they have.”
She commented, “The highlight was attending the church service where the singers were so great. You totally appreciate the culture through their song and faith. You get a bigger picture. You see that having all the money in the world doesn’t make you happy. You can be happy. It’s not about all the physical things you have.”
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