Blog

I sat near the window, sipping coffee and observing the workers outside as they loaded all of the luggage onto the plane. I watched intently as a young man in an orange vest heaved my two overweight suitcases onto the conveyor belt. My eyes followed those big, blue...

I walked into my first class and saw a room full of girls whose appearances closely resembled mine; dark hair, brown skin, and deep, energetic eyes. I sat down at a table with some of them and didn’t say a word. I noticed their eyes wandering around the room,...

This is a guest post from Rishi Bhandari, a Nepali who grew up surrounded by international volunteers. For Part One of this post, see here.   Most of my work is with international students who come to Nepal, and the first thing I say to them is: “Please do not make...

This is a guest post from Rishi Bhandari, a Nepali who grew up surrounded by international volunteers.   I had a bit of an unconventional childhood. I was born in the western hills of Nepal to a wonderful family, but who were seriously lacking resources. They moved to...

Paying to volunteer can seem like a contradiction in terms. After all, you are already offering your time for free and covering your expenses. Some people assume that to pay to volunteer is just blatant commercialization, and free volunteering is better, but this...

This is a guest post by Liz Tuck, reflecting on her own long career in the volunteer travel sector.   Eleven years ago today I was readying myself to fly to Tanzania to spend a month teaching English in an island secondary school. Looking back, the thought process...

Throughout your volunteer experience, you have the chance to determine to what degree you will integrate yourself into the local culture and to what degree the local culture will become a part of you. Though many volunteers live in luxury relative to local people,...

At Learning Service we talk a lot about how volunteering can sometimes create more problems than it solves. If volunteers are only providing band aid solutions then the underlying problem will persist and can even be perpetuated. For example, if volunteers build...

This is a guest post by International Development student Isabella Da Ruos, who shares her experience of volunteering abroad.   Millions of people travel overseas each year, some seeking a break from their busy lives, some for work and perhaps others as a means for an...