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This year, over ten million people will go abroad, eager to find the perfect blend of adventure and altruism. Volunteer travel can help you find your place in the world–and find out what you’re made of. So why do so many international volunteer programs fail to make an impact? Why do some do more harm than good?
About Us
International volunteering has grown in popularity, and with so many people going abroad to “serve”, we worry that we are often forgetting a really important step: we have to learn before we can help. If we don’t research our options thoroughly, understand the context and culture of the communities we visit, and ensure that our skills and experience match the needs, volunteering can be wasteful, and at worst, cause a lot of harm.
We are promoting a movement of learning, designed to better prepare young people about to travel abroad for the first time, and travellers of all ages looking to give back through their time, with the skills and mindsets they need to be of “service”, not just for a few weeks on a volunteer trip, but for the rest of their lives.
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From Our Blog
Nepal, Please Don’t Forget Vulnerable Children at Their Time of Greatest Need
This is a guest post written by Sushil Babu Chhetri, whose fascinating life story has been serialised on this blog (read Part One here). There are lots of things to be worried about in this era of coronavirus. I talked about some of the issues I have been witnessing...
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This is Not the Time for Facebook Activism
This is a guest post by Sushil Babu Chhetri. I am writing to you from the western part of Nepal, one the most remote and most disadvantaged regions of the country, and also my birthplace. Since I saw the situation with the Covid-19 pandemic unfolding across the world,...
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Living in a Foreign Country Taught Me What It Means to be “American”
This is a guest post by student Grady Trexler. In late March, as I left my gap year in Indonesia early because of COVID-19, I remember being absolutely sure that I had discovered important insights into myself and the world around me, but absolutely unsure about what...
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