United Planet was founded with the mission of building cross-cultural understanding; we have several programs to help with this effort, including the Ambassador Program. Currently, there are United Planet Ambassadors and Ambassador Clubs in several countries.

One of our most active and vital clubs is in Shanghai. Naomi, a student at Shanghai International Studies University, founded the club last year after learning about United Planet. She has been working diligently to build the club, hold events, and – foster and deepen understanding about different cultures.

In July 2011, more than a year after she first saw United Planet’s name on idealist.com and decided to start the  club, Naomi visited Boston for the first time.  We were so happy to welcome her! She walked the Freedom Trail, rode the T (Boston’s subway system), and visited lots of historic sites (Boston is loaded with those).  She gave us a little info about her vibrant Ambassador Club:

A few months after starting the club, Naomi was discouraged by how slowly it was taking off. Though the club was located at the Shanghai International Studies University, most students were interested in careers in international studies – not in cross-cultural clubs. It felt like it was fading away.

“It was very hard,” says Naomi, the club’s founder, “I just kept thinking ‘we can’t give up’.” Determined that club would succeed, she spent the school break working on ideas.

After winter break, Naomi marched into the first meeting with a plan.  She showed an inspirational video, and laid out seven ideas — ranging from an international food tasting to a party celebrating foreign cultures.  The ideas sparked interest and excitement, and the club was spurred into action.

Recruiting more members was the first goal.  Naomi found mailchimp.com, a free website generally used by marketing professionals.  She used it to create polished e-mails that emitted an image of an exciting, put-together, and fun club – the type of club students would want to join. The club soon attracted dozens of people.

The club then pounced on their first cross-cultural event.  Cross Cultures- Cross SISU (Shanghai International Studies University) was based on the idea that colleges had different cultures just as countries did; students from colleges across Shanghai were invited to listen to live music, meet new people, and enjoy the view of the stars from the roof of a skyscraper.  Although not well attended by students from other universities, many students from Shanghai International Studies University came: a strong start for the new club.

Today, the club has twenty members, including a ten-member board of directors.   Although Naomi, now a second year student, is realistic, she has big dreams for her club. “I want it to become a big club someday,” she says, “maybe we could even expand to other colleges.”

With three new projects for the club to pursue, the future looks bright.  Project one is a contest in which groups will compete to have the best way to promote cross-cultural learning in local communities; Naomi hopes to raise enough money to send the winners on a trip abroad. Project two will be a presentation by someone who has lived abroad or an international food tasting.  Club members learn about other countries and then present them to the rest of the club in Culture Lab, an ongoing project.

After presenting to us in the United Planet office, Naomi enjoyed pizza and chatted with the team.  Conversation flew around the table.  What was Shanghai like?  How did Naomi like Boston?  What were Naomi’s plans for the future? The United Planet team wondered how they could help her. Perhaps United Planet can help with the prize for project one? The staff left with a renewed excitement about teaching people foreign cultures.

As for Naomi, the experience made her more enthusiastic about her club; she plans to make a presentation on Boston when she returns to Shanghai.

A wee story about the joys of volunteering in another country. Rather than traveling. Even as a backpacker… And by “volunteering” I mean: living and working with people. That’s all.

So it was Thursday at the school, with the group of teachers from Boston, and the kids were deep into a long project of decorating the lifesize paper versions of themselves. Gluing bits of paper, cutting out shoes and earrings, drawing eyelashes… they were intensely focused and absorbed. So I wandered into the street outside the school. Hola!

This one had fabulous colors -- and some ladies later emerged.

All along the outside wall (a tall, pale, ugly concrete wall), a bunch of artists were set up and deep into making fantastic murals. Really. Beautiful. All different, all lovely, all creative and world-class.

Different color palette is because she makes her paints from worms. I am not making that up.

Which by itself is something to see. Artists deep in the process of creating. Like, in the span of half an hour, they’d lay down a whole new layer of paint and color and meaning.

Spray paint never looksed so good, so fast.

See? Fast!

So I’m taking pictures, feeling lucky that I got to see this, when the directora of the school wanders out and starts to tell me about it. How Ecuador doesn’t do enough to support the arts, she thinks, but they did do this.

There’s a foundation that does supply some funding. She’d requested their help. They put out the call to artists. The artists sent in their sketches (dibujos! love that word), they decided on the best ones, they paid the artists to show up at the wall and make it real.

She tells me about the artists who makes her own paints out of worms from the jungle. About the artist who’s helping the kids from the school paint their section of the wall.

Dibujo...

Painting from dibujo...

Then she takes me across the street to an art gallery, and introduces me to the owner, who then gives me the guide to the photographs in her gallery, lets me photograph the kids in the store, and then gives me a little package containing tiny versions of the photographs.

Now this is like my favorite moment of the trip so far. I’m happy about Ecuador, the artists, the director, the gallery, the worms, the kids covered in paint… And it feels like this perfect moment of being allowed in: someone drew back the curtain for me, and let me walk into this street, this school, this day, and took my hand to show me around.

The next day is a little cream on top: when we arrive in the morning, the produce market is set up in front of all the still-materializing murals. The chicken feet in front of the artists. The piles of bananas with the kibuki face.

And now look at it!!

Overall, Quito doesn’t have a LOT to recommend it (IMHO, I mean, it’s lovely and full of interesting things! and the people are CHEVERE); but that street, on that day, even with the rain and the clouds and the cold — was perfecto.

Flowers!

Chicken feet!

Fruit with your art!

Zanahorias!

Yay, team!

Don’t know a lot about coaching sports, but do know this: kids engaged in sports, especially team sports, are way better off than kids NOT. They get fit, learn discipline and teamwork, have goals and a healthy competitive spirit, eat and drink better, have fun — and have a place to go with all that restless energy and spirit.

United Planet is really happy to announce a new program where volunteers can help at a sports camp that serves kids in South Africa who are at risk/disadvantaged.

Volunteers will spend time coaching, engaging in excursions and cultural activities, and spending time in communal accommodations on the site.

Girls + team sports = awesome.

“This is the first time that United Planet has offered a volunteer abroad program in sports,” says Theresa Higgs, Vice President of Global Operations at United Planet, “and we are delighted about the possibilities.” The program offers coaching in sports such as soccer, rugby, basketball, and swimming (and more). “It’s such a great way to reach kids, teach discipline, foster team spirit – we’re hoping to have a really positive impact on the community.”

Higgs also promotes South Africa as a great place to visit. “South Africa is a country where a number of complex and different cultures collide; where English is widely spoken and understood; and where the infrastructure makes it easy to move around. Plus, it’s extremely beautiful!”

They're cute AND it's a gorgeous country.

Volunteers will have opportunities to serve in several ways: coach sports; teach health knowledge and social awareness; teach arts and crafts; work in orphanages; interact with disabled or HIV/AIDS affected children. Possible cultural activities include traditional South African dancing and drumming, Boma (an authentic meal under the stars), meeting anti-apartheid heroes, and much more.

The program is open to anyone (from any country) over eighteen. There are specific start dates throughout the year. The program runs for a minimum of five weeks; some sessions allow volunteers to participate for five or up to twelve weeks. There is no language requirement.

The next session starts October 1, 2011, and runs for five weeks. If you’re interested, get in touch asap!

For more information: www.unitedplanet.org/volunteer-in-south-africa

AND, it's a gorgeous place. AND, the climate is perfect.

Please get in touch for all the details, and join us for a really great program!

For the past few years, United Planet has been delighted to work with Flagstone Reinsurance to send groups of employees on Short-term Quests to several countries. Each project has welcomed them with open arms: they’re friendly, lively, and hard-working. They’ve accomplished a lot — and, as Ian reports, had a great time.

Thanks to everyone involved in making these trips possible, and rewarding!

by Ian McKillop of Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings, S.A.

From humble beginnings to an annual corporate social responsibility legacy…

Large multi-national organizations, ethical consumers, and financial donors often suffer from a credibility gap, and struggle to understand whether the money and efforts they entrust with non-profits and NGOs are actually meeting the criteria these organizations set out in their missions and mandates.

Other than information generated through the NGOs or non-profits themselves, or through occasional media coverage, there are few ways for donors and consumers to gather the evidence necessary to judge for themselves the impacts of their philanthropic endeavors. The best way to do something right and to know for sure is to do it yourself. So we did.

“Where to Next Year?”

In September of 2007 I approached our CEO with a unique opportunity to help support disadvantaged communities around the world, to strengthen our corporate team bonds, and to foster respect and appreciation for cultural diversity while improving and enriching lives worldwide.

We promptly enlisted the expertise of Boston-based United Planet and in May of 2008, myself and twelve colleagues from three of our global offices teamed up to volunteer our services for two weeks in Las Québradas, Costa Rica.

Since then, we have been fortunate enough to have a CEO endorse such a worthwhile endeavor every May since the initial experience to Costa Rica in 2008.

Over the past four years, we have sent 27 colleagues (some have participated in multiple Quests) from our Bermuda, Cyprus, Canadian, Indian, UK, and Swiss offices on two week voluntourism quests to Costa Rica (2008), Cambodia (2009), India (2010), and Romania (2011) to fulfill the goals set out and mandated by the original group in late 2007.

“Vacation” Choice – which picture is more enticing???

Lucky for me, it wasn’t too hard to convince a few of my colleagues which vacation destination was the more enticing choice for us to use two weeks of our personal vacation time.

It was obvious . . .  we decided to choose the option on the right, and wheels were set in motion to travel to Costa Rica to spend two weeks working in a beautiful biological reserve in the middle of the rainforest. (Believe it or not, BOTH of the pictures above were taken during the same week we were volunteering in Costa Rica.)

Worthwhile Causes

United Planet volunteer Quests are extremely flexible, well-run, and have a lot of experience with groups of our size and background. Also – the ability of staying with host families and at the orphanages and schools adds to the humility of the projects.

Getting away from using video and telephone conferencing – these Quests also allowed our group to work together as a team outside of an office setting.

Our company is extremely diverse . . . we have offices spread across the globe and my colleagues are extremely bright, have diverse backgrounds, and different experiences and ideals to the group. Some are professional accountants . . . others are engineers . . . some have PhD’s and other advanced degrees . . . we even employ meteorologists . . . but one thing we all have in common is a will to expand our horizons, break out of our comfort zones, and immerse ourselves in a completely new and exciting culture.

Who would have known that in just over a week, a group of professionals with no construction background would turn this . . .

Into this . . .

To eventually allow children in Siem Reap, Cambodia the ability to study English in a much better environment.

Reflections and Insights

These types of experiences leave different intangible impressions on each individual and can only be measured by the size of the effort and hearts of the participants who gave their time, blood, sweat, and tears to make these quests overwhelming successes.

The feelings, reflections, lessons learned, and camaraderie throughout each project have carried-on and have since become part of our daily professional lives. The simplicity, and often frugality of these Quests, makes this type of initiative a grounded and humbling experience . . . definitely offering a “less is more” form of leisure travel.

Corporate Social Responsibility programs embrace responsibility for companies’ actions and encourage positive impact through various activities focusing on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, and other stakeholders.

Flood in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, we were able to witness first-hand the massive floods the rainy season often brings without warning. Working for a (re)insurance company, this really hit home for our group. Insurance is a must-have in our North American daily lives . . . health, home, and automobile.

Our programs’ missions is to help support disadvantaged communities around the world, to strengthen our corporate team bonds, and to foster respect and appreciation for cultural diversity while improving and enriching lives worldwide. Working in remote communities allows participants to focus on the first two aspects of triple bottom line concept – people, planet, profit.

You do not get to pick your parents, or the country where you are born  . . . but you soon realize the luxuries you are afforded by simply being born in North America . . . what every day needs really are . . . and that happiness can not be bought.

Voluntourism isn’t for everyone. But embarking on such an initiative for the first time often requires a small push. Breaking out of your comfort zone is tough, but in this case, extremely rewarding. Ask someone who has done it . . . and get a friend, a colleague, or family member to join you . . . you’ll be glad you did!

Respectfully submitted,

Ian McKillop

I will leave you with a few pictures from our past Quests. Although most of the time is spent volunteering . . . individuals are also afforded time to immerse themselves in the local culture and experience the natural wonders of each quest country (which the proud locals are eagerly waiting to introduce you to).

Volunteer Pictures

Costa Rica

Building trails in the rain forest

Painting the Local Community Centre

Cambodia

Building Desks and a Classroom

Teaching English in the Evenings (under a bamboo tree)

Pizza Night with the Children at the Orphanage

India

Painting Classrooms

Handing Out School Supplies to Students

Romania

Laying Laminate Floor in a Newly Constructed House for the Elderly at the Pro Vita Orphanage

Giving Gifts to Children of Pro Vita on Romania’s Children’s Day

Experiencing the Local Cultures & Wonders

Costa Rica

Eating Homemade Ice Cream After Work at one of the Host Families Houses

Cambodia

The Group Visiting Temples

The Group Experiencing Cambodian BBQ (Crocodile, Snake, Ostrich, Kangaroo, Squid)

India

The Ladies at the Golden Temple

The Group Visiting the Taj Mahal (in background)

Romania

BBQ Night with the Shepherds

Visiting Palaces/Castles

“That’s what we wanted to do – come and be able to do something for somebody.”

This from Alisa, after the group of nursing students from Mesa State College had spent the week in three healthcare projects across Quito. But she wasn’t referring to the days in triage, or OB, or cardiology, or pediatric oncology, or giving vaccinations to babies…  These things they did, and they served and learned a lot.

She was referring to an afternoon in a childcare project in the south of Quito, one of the poorest barrios in the city. The center provides care and meals for 40 – 70 children, ages two to 12, who need attention; their families are missing fathers, or struggling with alcohol and drug problems, or suffering from disabilities. Many single moms drop off their kids while they cobble together work – selling food on the streets, cleaning. The center is jumping with life, but existing on a shoestring.

The lovely and charming Alisa, who has five kids of her own, brought loads of clothing for the kids in the center.

For weeks, the nurses gathered together the things they believed were needed: many of them mothers, they brought bags of used clothes, shoes, toys. They bought games, puzzles, markers, paper.  Before they arrived, they were assigned families – they selected the right clothes for the kids’ ages and genders, learned about their history.

That afternoon, the directora, another (!) vibrant, efficient, smart Ecuadorian woman dedicated to getting things done for her kids, introduced the nurses to the kids in the families, and sent them off to their houses.

In one family, the mother had come from Peru, and was illegal, so she couldn’t get legal work; the father had died. The kids went to school during the morning, then came to the center in the afternoon. (Lucky not to be working on the street themselves.) During summer break, the kids spend the whole day.

The nurses followed the kids to their home: a tiny, cramped, dark room in the basement of a building. The kids were pleased to show off their home, to test the nurses’ cameras, to run around in an excited clump, to get and give hugs and attention. The nurses asked about their lives, offered the clothes, played ring around the rosie, spread laughter.

These kids are lucky in many ways: they don’t have to work the streets themselves, they are clean and dressed and not hungry, their home is well-kept, they have access to water. They have people who care: their mothers, and the people at the center. Everywhere, you can see kids not so lucky: walking amidst cars at stoplights, selling gum, snacks, drinks; sleeping on basketball courts; lurking around the edges of public spaces.

At another center, the kids come in from life on the streets.

Next, to the home upstairs – in a storefront on the street. The bunk bed is in the middle of the liquor store, which is open early in the morning when the mom is home, and late at night. When she leaves, they lower the metal grates over the door and window, and the room is plunged into darkness.

We crawled under the door grate and poked around in half light.

"It was like nothing I've ever seen." Here's the wonderful Sue inside the girls' home.

At the other home, the nurses who visited stopped for groceries before they visited: eggs, bread. They were glad the family, which suffers from HIV and unemployment, didn’t take offense at the gesture.

Back at the center, the air crackled with emotion and shock and relief. Some broke down in tears, others met with the directora to see what more they could do.

Mickinsie with a mob of kids, glad for the nurturing attention (and chocolate cake!).

What more turned out to be a simple cash donation.

The center had an unexpected water bill of $600; the group had an unexpected surplus of $200, which they decided on the spot to donate. (The nurses had gathered boxes of medical supplies from Project Cure, and planned on paying the airline $30 to carry each box. They got a donation from the Colorado Nurses Association to cover the cost; but when they arrived at the airport, the fee was waived because it was a humanitarian mission.)

They were delighted to find a simple, direct need to meet.

Center is Paula, the directora of the center, holding the donation from the nurses to cover the water bill.

“It’s been an absolute joy to be down here,” said Maria, another mom.

Have I mentioned how great the nurses are? How great the director is?

Nurses measured all the kids before they saw the visiting pediatrician, who's also Pablo's brother.

And, now to what else they did that day:

• Pablo’s brother, a pediatrician, came to check out the kids in the center that day. The nurses did the intake on each kid: measured height, weight, asked them age and name, then sent them into the doctor.
• The nurses donated their daily lunch fee to buy chocolate cake for the kids, and themselves had pizza.
• They played for a long time with kids of all ages.

Ecuadorian people are so affectionate and warm...

Volunteering is a precarious business: some days you know that you can’t even begin to tip the balance toward good: better nutrition, safety and security, clean water, healthcare. And then some days, you touch someone directly, make a difference in their lives, and feel the power of the direct connection to human life.

The nurses, so warm and caring, so eager for human connection, forged bonds in instants that will last a lifetime. In such a short time, they left a wake of good will, improved health, medical supplies — and so much more.

Gracias to everyone!