The organization cites the ripple effect that each volunteer causes:

• The volunteer is transformed, and brings home the spirit of new understanding and relationships.
• The community benefits from the efforts and spirit of the volunteer.
• The volunteer acts as an ambassador for cross-cultural understanding, and helps to lay the groundwork for a “community beyond borders.”

“Each time a volunteer returns from their time in another country and another community, we get to hear the story,” says David Santulli, Executive Director of United Planet. “The person is grateful to have been welcomed into the community and to have forged important relationships. The community is proud to have supported the volunteer, and thankful for their efforts. And the spirit of understanding really does emanate from all involved.” United Planet has place thousands of volunteers in projects in over 40 countries around the world.

“It’s important to recognize that it’s not easy for anyone in the process,” Santulli says. “The volunteer travels and lives in rustic conditions, and pays for their accommodations. The projects have to find ways to tap into the skills and energies of the volunteers, while retaining their integrity and sustainability. And the organizations that coordinate these efforts have to take great care in ensuring the safety and dignity of everyone involved. But in the end, the benefits to everyone far outweigh the costs.”

"United Planet is Padrino General of the Aldea" in Cusco, Peru.

Examples of great volunteer experiences abound, and the benefits last.

First: The volunteer learns from the experience, and brings home a lifelong commitment to change, and new understanding about the world. United Planet volunteers have returned home to start new organizations aimed at supporting their projects, to raise money for new equipment and materials for schools and orphanages – and much more.

Michelle Haywood, who recently returned from Cambodia, says:  “I feel like my life is going to be so much more different now that I’ve done this – it has undoubtedly been the best decision I’ve ever made. Tonight showed me how much of a difference that I and all the other guests and volunteers make… This is really an experience that has to be personally lived for one to truly understand the magnitude of realization, appreciation and gratitude that it instills in someone.”

Second: The volunteers offer valuable services in the communities where they work. United Planet takes great care to find projects that tap into the energy and skills of the volunteers, without disrupting their essential work. These range from a Cancer Hospital in Tanzania to an orphanage in Romania to a school in rural China – and so much more.

In Cusco, Peru, many volunteers have worked at Aldea Infantil Juan Pablo 2, an orphanage that houses over 60 children. The director says “United Planet is Padrino General of the Aldea.” (Roughly translated, General Sponsor.) United Planet recently donated money to enable staff and volunteers to restore and update the buildings by painting and installing new tiles in the kitchens. “The kids, more than 60, will have a better and more cheerful environment to stay in. The local government did not repaint and maintained the houses for the 20 years that they are constructed, so you can imagine how they look like,” says Amelia Collantes Gonzales of the Aldea.

Elizabeth McKay, a medical volunteer in Peru, says:  “I volunteered in a free clinic in Cusco, where I joined the doctors and nurses in community outreach and Hepatitis B vaccinations… The friends that I made and the experiences I am taking with me will stay with me forever.”

Volunteers are just the best.

Third: The volunteers bring the best spirit of their country into other countries and cultures. While they struggle to find words and forge bonds, they are the best kind of ambassador for the idea of a “community beyond borders.”

“In an age where so much of our international strategy involves markets and weapons, it’s essential that we remember that we are all living on the same small planet,” says Santulli. “These citizen diplomats are forging bonds that can make a real difference in our world.”

Says Carolyn Rao, a returned United Planet Volunteer: “United Planet provides an invaluable service to both the Quest countries and the U.S. The friendships fostered on the Quest leave a lasting impact. On my Quest I was welcomed to help at the hospital and assisted as a mid-wife. The experience I gained in the medical field would never have been possible in the U.S. and I was able to help people while I learned.”

We’re really pleased to be able to place volunteers in the children’s department of a cancer hospital in Tanzania. You can help these kids make it through months of treatment, often crowded three to a bed, often unoccupied and restless and hurting. You can teach those who are well enough, assist the medical staff with data entry, and more.

Children in the cancer hospital in Tanzania need you, stat.

You can make a real difference in the lives of some real kids going through some of the hardest things a body has to bear.

Those with medical experience may also be able to shadow the medical staff.

Thanks!

Hello once again,

The rematch took place on July 27th, unexpectedly, but eagerly anticipated by all.  It was the final week of term and the morning break had provided the opportunity for the students and teachers to collude.  Before I knew it, teams had been formed, students organized, and another soccer match was scheduled in front of the orphanage on a beautiful and clear day.

My team in the last game was narrowly victorious, 10-9, and although I had different team members this time I was confident of yet another victory.  How quickly that balloon of confidence was deflated!  Two of my teammates, whom I called Bob the Builder and Tim the Tool Man, decided a wall was the best measure of defense and occupied themselves at the start of the match to constructing a wall of mud with the aid of a plastic bottle of water.  The two girls in my team whom I dubbed Houdini and Copperfield did wonderfully to provide the illusion of intending to kick the ball but rarely ever touching it.  My other team mates (all under ten years of age) could certainly kick the ball, but their sense of navigation seemed distorted, appearing more keen on sending the ball careening into the ditches filled with polluted water and mud rather than scoring a goal.

It wasn’t all bad though, I had another teacher in support and I also had the best player on the field, Quacky, who happened to also be a duck.  Although Quacky had a tendency to want to rummage in a large rubbish pile in one corner of the yard, he occasionally would grace us all with his presence in the middle of the field, quacking loudly and fluttering his wings, always allowing my team to regain the advantage of play.

So what was the final score?  Well, the game started well and after a 3-1 start I decided it was best to be the goalkeeper and allow my other teammates to score.  Whether due to my poor keeping (in an effort to avoid a ball covered in grime and filthy mud) or poor attacking (for reasons explained above) the score soon became 3-7 and in order to prevent a humiliating loss I decided to rotate myself out of goal keeping to help the offense.  We caught up quickly and soon the score was 9-9, once again the game had come to a nail biting finish!

Tension mounted, students on the sidelines were enveloped by a frenzy of noise, all players were shouting instructions simultaneously…but there would be no winner this time.  The bell had sounded, lunch was over, it was time to go back to class.

I couldn’t have thought of a more fitting end for that game, or a better account of my experience here in Uganda.  An experience where I feel I have made headway (scored goals) and encountered frustrations (conceded goals), with the understanding that I have at least helped to shape the game, and possibly created the environment necessary for that winning goal to be finally scored (delivering permanent and significant change).

It is my last week on the project here, and I am now making preparations to head back to the US.  When I think about what I have accomplished, it is easy to get lost in the details and fail to see the bigger picture, that elusive lasting change, just as one gets lost in the pixels of a TV once too close to the screen.  But at the least I am taking away a better understanding of this continent, of the entire blue and green globe and of humanity, all which may help me one day to make that large scale difference I seem to be looking for.

At the Institute we have finally launched our website (www.ialuganda.ac.ug).  I have contacted about 70 organizations in the hope that one may donate some books or computers, despite a counter intuitive ban on the importation of used computers currently in Uganda.   The institute management software I programmed is being populated with all the school financial and academic data and has been holding up well.  The student yearbook has been published and is finally on sale.

I helped develop the first annual report, strategic plan and marketing plan (including the first detailed competitor analysis) for the Institute, now all published.  I published the first academic program (90 pages in all!), introduced new courses, recruited new staff members (with the aid of a formal interview process and aptitude test), and changed the fee structure to introduce more transparency and consistency.

Over a number of months and staff meetings there is now a wider acceptance of accountability towards the students, and for every one of our subjects offered the lecturers are in the process of developing course outlines (a number have already been completed!)  People do things here now that for many would seem obvious, like taking minutes of meetings, seeking feedback, sharing their opinions, setting goals and trying to exert efforts beyond their responsibilities.  All being said, there are still many areas for improvement, but at least there is more responsibility, direction and positivity now.

I only teach half a day each week at the orphanage, and I don’t feel I have had as much of an impact there with regards to affecting change.  Pieces of foam from an old couch are still used to clean the blackboards, there are giant craters in the floors, pieces of wood flake off constantly from the ceiling and walls, tables continue to break down and be piled in a heap, smoke from people burning rubbish outside regularly wafts into the classrooms, there are never enough pencils, or paper, or erasers, time has dissolved any remnants of the staples and glue that used to hold the text books together…

Teachers though certainly know I don’t approve of caning or hitting students, and at least while I am around that doesn’t happen.  I sometimes honestly wish I could find an eraser and clear from the minds of these children some of the bad approaches and techniques they have learnt.  But these children have no other options, so some education is better than none at all, and you have to remind yourself that they really have done so well to get so far.

At 7 in the morning I sometimes run into some of my students, selling maize piled in a pot on top of their heads to help support their families, which always ends in me buying maize that I never feel like eating.  On a personal front I have learnt once more how much I hate the sound and feel of chalk on a blackboard.

I wanted to thank everyone for all their donations, which totaled close to $900 after deducting the wire transfer and exchange rate fees.  I am directing $250 and adding $250 of my own money to go to the orphanage towards books and stationery.  The remaining $650 I am providing to the Institute to support the acquisition of more books and computers.  I am also contributing another $250 to the Institute but this money I am directing towards supporting certain business initiatives I have been helping to start.

Like a wild west outlaw I have been constantly shooting ideas of ways to make money here, so I hope some of the ideas will help people to make an easier living.  My ideas won’t create another Google or Microsoft, but by involving teachers and students at this Institute in new business ventures I am hoping to create new employment opportunities and focus on the practical application of business skills in real life.

Well, this is where I must end, for me one more chapter is complete, though I am yet to figure out how I will write my next one.  There is always as much of a need for financial support as for human capital here, if you have an interest to help more.  Thanks for walking along with me on this journey.  Its time for me to step out of the tropical jungle of Uganda, and onto the fast treadmill of life back in the United States.

One of the most recognizable peaks on the Panamerican highway, Cotopaxi, has been calling to me ever since I arrived in Ecuador. Literally meaning “neck of the moon”, it is the world’s highest active volcano and stands at a mighty 19,347 ft above sea level. For a while, I had entertained the thought of trying to summit this beast, but my lack of technical skills involving crampons and ice picks convinced me to scale back on my ambitions. Hence, Sunday found me and a few friends on a guided trip up to the snow line and around the national park.

On a clear day, you can see Cotopaxi’s snow-capped peak from Quito. Unfortunately, Sunday was not a clear day. Oh well. Onward and upward we went in the bus through the entrance to Cotopaxi National Park and to the parking lot, where we would start our ascent to the base camp at 16,400ft. The wind was howling and icy rain was pelting us from all sides as we trudged along the path covered in volcanic ash. With the fog closing us in on all sides, it felt like we were on another planet. Certainly not Ecuador, since it seemed pretty strange to be seeing snowflakes so close to the equator. Even though I’d been hitting the gym pretty frequently, it was still difficult to breathe at that altitude.

We finally reached the Base Camp refuge after an hour of hiking and were treated to lunch and hot tea. Everyone in our group was soaked and freezing, but we sat around the table animatedly swapping stories and sharing travel tips with fellow volunteers and other backpackers from a handful of countries around the world. I think everyone was secretly relieved when our guide told us that the visibility was too poor to continue our hike up to the glacial line. Instead, we scrambled back down to the parking lot to pick up our bikes and zoomed down to Laguna Limpiopungo, about 8 miles away. Freezing hands aside, it was a great ride and once we emerged from the clouds there were some spectacular views.

It’s amazing that a country as small as Ecuador can have such diverse landscapes; the sparse vegetation and craggy mountains were a stark contrast to the lush cloud forest and humid coast that I enjoyed the other weekend. Sometimes I forget that I’m living in the Andes mountains, and this trip served as a reminder of what an amazing part of the world I’m calling home for a few more weeks.

To read more about Olivia’s time in Ecuador, follow her blog. Want to plan your own trip to Ecuador now? Visit our website!

I am happy to write about our first in-person pre-departure training for United Planet’s long-term volunteers. These volunteers will take off in August 2009 to spend six months or one year volunteering at local organizations in their host communities. Their destinations include Brazil, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland, Uganda, Taiwan and more!

The three-day training was held in Rowe, nestled in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts. We stayed at a comfortable old New England farmhouse, originally built in 1776. We ate the freshest and healthiest gourmet vegetarian food you can imagine! The kitchen’s delicious cuisine and willingness to cater to special diets, from vegan to high protein, really impressed us all. Their hands nurtured our bodies, as their hearts nurtured our souls.

This training was a great forum for the volunteers to meet each other, share common interests, and get to know the United Planet staff. They received answers to their questions on what life would be like abroad and were able to process their expectations, fears and excitement for their upcoming adventure.

Our activities and discussions covered a range of topics including culture shock, international volunteering, identity abroad, health and safety, and more. We asked the volunteers to explore challenging topics on many levels, to look for and analyze cultural patterns, and to step outside their comfort zone. These simulations aimed to give the volunteers a sense of the complexities they may encounter overseas. While everyone appreciates this experience now, we know the real value of the training will come once they arrive in their host communities and have to put these new skills to the test!

We look forward to sharing some of their stories with you once they have embarked on this challenging and rewarding experience abroad!

Stuart and Ying, United Planet’s In-Country Coordinators, are looking forward to welcoming volunteers to Ranong. “Ranong has been our home for the past six years and we love the province for its natural beauty. The children in the Thai and Burmese schools here are in desperate need of assistance with their English language skills. Teachers in the schools are hoping that many volunteers come, so that children from both communities have the best opportunities for their future,” said Stuart, an English expat.

Thailand is a hot travel destination, owing in large part to the spice and variety of its food, people and beautiful landscape. Ranong is one of the few unspoiled locations in Thailand, despite its abundance of waterfalls, lakes and rivers. As a Thailand Quest volunteer, you’ ll also have the opportunity to learn Thai, immerse in daily life through a home stay, and travel to hot springs, local temples and mangrove forests.

The Thailand Volunteer Quest is an excellent opportunity to follow your wanderlust, ride out the recession, and return with both international experience and a new lease on life. Giving back through a volunteer abroad program is a great alternative to backpacking through Southeast Asia.

To celebrate the launch with you, we are offering a discount of 10% off any one to four-week volunteer program in Thailand through May 31, for travel through the end of 2009.