Global Volunteers

Saying YES to this volunteer trip to teach conversational English to Polish and Ukrainian children ... was truly a life changing decision. My trip to Siedlce was filled with teaching, learning, bonding, celebrating, nurturing, exploring, entertaining, and truly pushing myself out of my comfort zone. The result was an experience I will never forget. The staff from Global Volunteers were organized, thorough, kind, and excellent communicators. From beginning to end, I was kept in the loop and never felt out of touch with my mission, my itinerary, or the goals of my trip. I felt that the grounds, the food, and the accommodations were all top notch. I always felt safe, respected, and energized by what was ahead of me each day. The schedule was quite rigorous, which proved to be a really good thing. While we had some down time, we also had plenty of opportunity to give back, learn from our hosts, or investigate the area. Thank you to Global Volunteers for making this first trip for me, such a memorable one!

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Our Global Volunteers trip to the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota in July 2022 exceeded my expectations. There were so many dimensions to our service program there. We stayed at a dorm of the Rosebud Episcopal Mission and Rev. John Willard was our host. On our first day after orientation we visited a wildlife refuge and hiked to a waterfall and river. We were invited to sit in on two Tribal Council meetings, which gave us insight on the issues the Lakota Tribe dealt with. On the second meeting we were involved in a discussion with the elders. We were invited to work with the Tribal Land Office. We worked alongside Lakota men and women foraging for various plants used by the tribe and we worked with them picking up litter at the cemetery and a small lake. The Lakota provided lunch for us on some of these occasions. We all felt very welcomed by these kind and generous people. We were also invited to their Bison range and attended a workshop at the Tribal Ranch with lunch provided. We learned so much about Lakota culture by our involvement with the local community. Some of us participated in daily sage smudging prayer services. We were all invited and six of us participated in a sweat lodge ceremony along with Lakota who had recently finished a Sun Dance. On our last day some of our team cleaned out the basement of an Episcopal church while others of us worked with the Land Office at a Children's Day Festival handing out helium balloons, candy, and water. Each Global Volunteers trip is unique, but I list our service program activities to give future volunteers an idea of we did. there. This journey was personally life changing for me and I learned so much. The Lakota concept of interconnectedness with all the elements of nature is a way of life that really moved me. I truly benefited from our interactions with these beautiful people who have suffered so much throughout time and they have enriched my life.

I originally served in Poland in Oct 2019 and returned Oct 2021. I cannot say enough good things about theses programs. They are the “Experiences” that I enjoy the most. If you are willing to leave your “comfort zone” in a helping and learning attitude, then you should investigate these programs. Siedlce Poland is approximately 1.5 hrs east of Warsaw and within an 1 hr of Belarus’s border. Our team worked with some of the smaller towns surrounding the city. All were within 20 kilometers of Siedlce. It is difficult for me to put into words the experience, but I’ll give it a try. The first thing that I noticed was sense of “welcomeness “ by the local communities. That basic human connection was a great way for us to begin. Reminder : With the exception of the English teachers, folks in the area spoke very little English. The main focus was to introduce students to Native English speakers and learn speech patterns and have them practice speaking in the language. Overwhelming majority of students were eager, enthusiastic and willing to try out their skills. Teachers were always their to assist the volunteers and provide feedback both positive and areas to improve on. After my day at school ,I tutored a few times a week or volunteered at a local English school in Siedlce. I think one of the key factors in this program is that for the most part, the students “wanted” to be involved vs “we’re required” to be there. I could tell this immediately. There were instances where we had to work through “shyness” issues , but helping build their confidence helped tear down this barrier. I developed a relationship with one of the teachers and her family in 2019 and have maintained a long distance connection. I was invited to social activities ( cook outs, Sunday worship,mushroom hunting etc) . She also helped me learn a little Polish and understand parts of the culture. They also introduced me to their friends from around the town. I will forever be great for their hospitality to a stranger from the other side of the globe. To wrap this review up , I would say if you can get outside your comfort zone, have a little optimistic attitude and a desire to help in a learning type of manner, and enjoy meeting new cultures, this is worth a look.

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Volunteering at the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Montana was wonderful. I was able to serve at the Eagle Shield Center in preparing meals for seniors living in Browning. The native people living there truly appreciated our presence. We learned so much about their way of life. We also had the good fortune to observe and participate in a prayer service at a Sun Dance on two of our days. We learned from their elders about their culture. And we were able to visit the beautiful Glacier National Park on two different days. Volunteering at the Blackfeet Nation in Montana was truly a meaningful and memorable time.

I loved my experience volunteering at La Comunidad de Niños Sagrada Familia in Peru. Sagrada Familia is a community that ministers to the homeless and abandoned street children in Lima, Cuzco and other places in Peru. It provides them with food, education, safety, homes, medical care and, above all, love. The children come from difficult backgrounds but I have never in my life experience such love and caring. The community is based in a compound in the middle of a very poor neighborhood to the north of Lima. The poverty can be a bit shocking, but the compound itself is very safe and the local people were very warm and welcoming. Sagrada Familia is a relatively new partner for Global Volunteers and while we were there they were still discussing ways the volunteers who visit can help the community, but there is no question that we made a difference. As Miguel, the community founder noted, just the fact that we came to see them is inspiring to the children. I split my time between helping construct new classrooms and teaching English to a sixth grade class. The hand made thank you cards I received from the class when I left are something I continue to treasure. We volunteers stayed in the nearby seaside resort town of Ancón in a comfortable family run hotel. It was the off season, so things in town were relatively quiet, but the food was excellent and we were well taken care of. Global Volunteer begins all their trips with a day of training to help the group get to know each other and understand what kind of experience they can expect as volunteers in the community. I really appreciate the values of community partnership and service that they bring to their programs. This was my fifth trip with Global Volunteers and it was by far my favorite and the most rewarding. I will be going back.

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It is a fabulous opportunity to help and experience new cultures. The best part is meeting the local people! Our work in Quito, Ecuador was headed by Maggie Bjorklund and she was fantastic! The program was very well organized and we always felt safe. We spent two weeks doing labor work at a pre-school and loved playing with the children and assisting the teachers. We also had some free time to explore the city and to try typical Ecuadorian foods. Our hotel was centrally located and was near restaurants and supermarkets. Our pick-up and return to the airport was on time and very comfortable. We highly recommend Global Volunteers! It will exceed your expectations!

I decided to take my 12 year-old son with me, and volunteer abroad for the first time in our lives. I felt he was old enough to experience the joys and struggles of a completely different culture. I researched, and then researched some more. As a single mom, I wanted it to be something that he'd never forget, be a realistic experience, yet feel completely safe and cared for. Global Volunteers was the top of the tier as THE best international volunteering agency. Every review I'd read during the research phase confirmed that you get what you pay when choosing Global Volunteers - for us, it meant the most meaningful trip of our lives. We said goodbye to our small town in Ontario Canada, and headed to the beautiful lushness of Quito, Ecuador. It meant so much to me that our role during this trip was to act as 'servant-learner'. Global Volunteers mission is to meet the needs of their partner community, and that community decides what projects are valuable to them. When a community identifies what is important to them, and you can help them achieve it, the reward is unforgettable. My son and I knew we were there to help the families of the daycare centers in a way that helped them most: the initiatives were driven by the center, by the people who lived and worked there, by the parents and kids themselves, and I truly felt our small group made a big impact. Our host Maggie was a force of nature. She has been a part of the lives of the community partner for (I think) 7 or 8 years, and they treasured her. Her leadership, and her years of working in this community, gave us an experience that would never happen anywhere else. I can't express how meaningful this trip was for me as a mom, as a nurse, and as a global citizen who wants to see young kids thrive, no matter where they live in the world. My son wants to go back next year. The breathtaking Andes, their resilient, loving people, and the dedication of the Global Volunteers leader and our team members means we will definitely be returning. It honestly changed our lives.

My husband Dave and I found a way to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary on an Orphanage Adventure in Service trip with our Global Volunteers team in Barlad, Romania May 19-29, 2017! Nurses at the Municipal Hospital allowed us to hold, change, and feed infants & children. Dave helped paint hospital rooms but came into the childcare room once in awhile to say hello to our infants & children. We enjoyed going for walks and eating out at night with teammates! During the day, we worked from about 9:00-1:00 p.m. and then were given two hours for lunch during which time we ate with teammates, then napped while the children napped. About 4:30 p.m. each day, Dan Cirjontu, our Country Manager, usually brought back bananas which we fed as a snack to our children. Mihaela Cirjontu, Dan's wife, often taught and reviewed the Romanian language with us before meals. Romanian nurses did not speak English. We learned enough Romanian to make it through each day, anyways! Umed scutec meant wet diaper; scutec murdar meant dirty diaper. Barlad is located about six hours West of the Ukraine and about six hours East of Bucharest. Residents still tell stories of how life was growing up under Communism which ended about 29 years ago in 1989. When we took a train back to Bucharest for the last stretch of our trip, we found St. Joseph Cathedral Bucharest (Catedrala Sfantul Iosif) which was the only Western Roman Catholic Church, which was located in downtown Bucharest, just in time for a Saturday 5:00 p.m. Mass which is the same Mass worldwide throughout but just spoken in Romanian! Most anyone with a nurturing heart may provide love & care to infants, children & families!

I went to Cuba for two weeks with Global Volunteers to tutor English and learn about the Cuban culture, and I was amazed, enlightened, fulfilled, and rewarded beyond words with my experience there. G.V. is very organized, the cultural activities were very good, the local contacts were brilliant, the students I tutored were wonderful and grateful, and the people of Cuba are very welcoming. Thanks Global Volunteers.

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You never know how well your experience is until you try Global Volunteers, They are efficient at helping you through the process from inception to conception. This includes registration, orientation, project operations and settling in at your destination. You are looked after from the day you arrive until the day you leave. You’re always in communication. Volunteering aims to be a personalised experience, how much you put in is what you get out. What you do varies from department to department. You may volunteer with pre-schoolers through to adult ages. Whatever you do, you'll have a responsibility and even more creative liberty in all facets of education and development. If you want to do something important and influence individuals volunteer in Portugal they will love and respect you because you made their life important. I highly recommend if you want to grow, this is a good opportunity. If you want to be a great, think about what social problem you could solve. You never know that the things you’re doing are that meaningful to society. A+

Via Global Volunteers, I have had the privilege of volunteering and serving as a volunteer team leader with 3 service programs in Ciego de Avila, working alongside local people. The work projects vary from weeding in an organic garden cooperative to enabling local people, ages 5 to 85, to practice their English. Global Volunteers enables local people and volunteers opportunities to build friendships, make connections, and increase mutual understanding and respect for one another. Cuba is incredibly "rich," depending upon your definition of rich. The words that come to mind are culture, family, dance, music, creativity, no billboards, resourcefulness, unplugged, people working together, roosters and salsa beats serving as alarm clocks. Food is pure and fresh. People are incredibly friendly. Me gusta la gente de Cuba.

Overall I had a good experience, but I felt that my skills were totally under utilized. The so called "English tutoring" program involved people showing up at the Council of Churches and the volunteers standing around and in a basically helter skelter manner people connected. There were no lesson plans, grouping of people with similar skills - nothing. There were times that we had difficulty finding a place to work with our students. In my case it ended up with several volunteers to one or two students. I spent my mornings at a church were ladies gathered to do various types of needle work. Fortunately, that is something I do. I sat there and knitted and talked to the ladies and made a couple of things that hopefully they can sell to help the church. But other volunteers who had no skills in that area just sat and talked and I tried to teach them some needle work skills. But for an earlier group that had left yarn and needles we would have had no materials to work with. And it was not like we could go out and buy things. I felt that we should have been told what we were going to be doing so that we could have brought supplies. While I had a interesting experience with Global Volunteers and would not travel with them again. There were too many rules; I felt like I was in Jr. High School and not enough planning.

I have volunteered with Global Volunteers on eight service projects and, while it is hard to pick a favorite, Portugal is one near the top of the list. I taught English with two other adults to professors and college students who knew some English and wanted to become more confident in speaking. They were eager to learn from us and eager to share their culture with us as well. Not only did we spend two weeks together learning from one another, I am still in touch with several friends I made there. I can't say enough about the friendliness of the people of Portugal. Global Volunteers is a well run organization that works to provide a safe and enriching experience while helping others.

Working with Chinese English teachers is wonderful fun and deeply rewarding. No need to have teaching experience, just a desire to share your own interests and be open to new experiences. Far from the pollution of eastern China, Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province has a wonderful climate and a large variety of natural and cultural attractions. Part of the program is to explore some of them with your students and fellow volunteers. I've volunteered in Kunming seven times and hope to go back again.

I was a member of the 4th team to St Lucia. Myself and one other person worked on contacting sites, training locals on how to use Earthboxes and planting various vegetables with locals. We were driven to a nursery that supplied the plants, fertilizer and other gardening needs. It was very hot and humid and looked forward to cooling down in the swimming pool with other volunteers Since this was relatively new to the locals it was hard to judge the effectiveness of this program I had heard some opposition from an element of the local population.

I have gone to the Cook Islands with Global Volunteers for eight years. There is a wonderful spirit on the Cook Islands that takes over your visit. It is relaxed and the people are warm and welcoming. I have been able to work in the same school every year and have watched the children grow and learn and benefit from the efforts of the volunteers. This is a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and make a difference.

The workers at the Viet Nam Institute for Development Strategy could not have been nicer. It was a joy to go to work each day. Even a first time Global Volunteer who was a native speaker in English would have no trouble doing this job. All you needed was to help them with their pronunciation and a few vocabulary words. There was ample time to experience the history and social life of the city of Hanoi (Hanoi in our language). The hotel was one of the best stays in my numerous Global Volunteers trips.

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Next February (2017) will be my 11th Global Volunteers trip to the Cook Islands. Usually my main job is to tutor Maori students in English at the same primary school. Not only is it rewarding to see students progress year after year, but the community has taken me in as a contributing member.

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I have been on 7 programs in China(5 of them in Xi'An) with Global Volunteers. They all provided me with a valuable insight on the people of the areas I visited (I still have contacts from these trips).The programs were all expertly organized by the GV organization in Minneapolis the local China Country manager Ms. Wang Baoli. I found the students at the schools I worked at very enthusiastic learners and were a pleasure to work with.

I helped with blind students trying to learn some English for their clients. The students were very appreciative. I also worked in the high school where students were learning English. I think both cases the need for English was evident.