Living abroad: life changing AND a nice resume liner

April 7th, 2008 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

“Young people who study abroad for a year often come back with a newfound passion for social change, a fresh worldview and even different career interests.” So begins Seth Green’s article, “The Gap Year: Passion for Social Change.” Top universities, he reports, are encouraging students to spend a year abroad before matriculating. “Harvard encourages students to take a ‘gap year’ between high school and college and travel the world. Princeton will soon even be offering financial aid to students who want to participate in a year of global service before coming to college.”

I say do one gap year before college, one or two after you graduate, then see if you don’t get addicted. (thanks L-Boogie)

Peace Corps Wiki Project

March 3rd, 2008 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Nearly 190,000 Americans have served in the U.S. Peace Corps since the program was launched by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. PeaceCorpsWiki is the effort of a few Returned Peace Corps Volunteers to create a “collective public information exchange” for their fellow RPCVs. There are over a thousand pages, but they still need contributions from former volunteers:

“The ultimate goal is to have everything cross referenced, searchable, and freely available to anyone interested in the Peace Corps; countries, cities, sectors, volunteers—all relating to the Peace Corps service and its history for the past 47 years. We’re hoping that eventually volunteers would be able to read what progress has been made in Tamali, Ghana (for example) in the past 40 years. Which volunteers were stationed there? What did the Education volunteers have to do differently in The Gambia then Education volunteers in Senegal, Guinea or Mauritania? What projects did volunteers in Malawi work on 10 years ago, were any in Mzuzu?”

[LINK] 

Apply now for 2008 Volunteer Summer: Go to Uganda, Honduras, Ghana, India, or Nicaragua

January 1st, 2008 | By Joshua | 4 Comments »

AJWS Volunteer Summer applications are due February 1. This is one of numerous overseas opportunities from American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Volunteer Summer offers Jewish young adults (ages 16-24) the experience of living and working as a group in a developing country — for seven weeks volunteers work alongside community members, engaging in cultural exchange as they dig ditches for a safe water system, construct a new school, or participate in other development projects. On their return (the most challenging part of any experience living abroad), volunteers participate in a domestic yearlong program of retreats and projects. I served as group leader for the 2001 Volunteer Summer delegation to rural Honduras and Israel; it was an incredible summer which formed lifelong friends and memories. Since then, AJWS has expanded, developed, and improved the program. More details:
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Phenomenal Photo Stream from Nicaragua

December 25th, 2007 | By Joshua | No Comments »

I love these images from Empowerment International Director (and friend) Kathy Adams and her Nica protégées. Kathy, other volunteers, and Nicaraguan community leaders provide numerous education programs to children in a village outside Granada called Villa Esperanza. Enjoy the photos, poke around EI’s site, then check out these opportunities to get involved. Pictured above is Joseline, daughter of a community leader in Villa Esperanza. Reports Kathy:

“One day I gave her the camera … Very quickly she became adept at using it so I had her take photos of each child we were considering for the program. It was then that I realized the power of giving children the opportunity to learn photography.”

Building New Hope: More good work in Nicaragua, more voluntourism opportunities

November 30th, 2007 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Building New Hope is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization with years of experience doing community level development work in Nicaragua and El Salvador. They are particularly active in Granada, Nicaragua, where I am going this Sunday. I’m very excited to dine at Cafe Chavalos, a remarkably successful—and delicious—endeavor to turn high risk street kids into gourmet chefs. Building New Hope is also selling high quality Nicaraguan fair trade coffee, oozing with dark roast richness and good karma. These are only two of BNH’s many projects, about which I hope to write more soon. In the meantime, read about their volunteer opportunities. Bueno pues—see you in Granada…

Herbal Studies Retreat this January in Nicaragua

November 30th, 2007 | By Joshua | No Comments »

ATRAVES, a Nicaraguan nonprofit association working “to support creative, small-scale, locally controlled initiatives in development, education, health and social justice,” has a few unique opportunities I’d like to share. In addition to building health clinics, schools, and running other projects throughout Nicaragua, ATRAVES offers volunteer opportunities and can help plan and manage group delegations of “students, professionals, women’s groups, service organizations, your five best friends and your uncle—any group with an interest in learning or working in Nicaragua.” They also host a number of themed trips to Nicaragua and there still spaces available for their January Herbal Studies Retreat to Estelí, Juigalpa, and Managua.

I’ll let ATRAVES tell you all about it:
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