Dear UP Friends,
I would like to thank all of our invaluable volunteers, team members, and friends around the world for their incredible support over this past summer. United Planet is continuing to build momentum in many key areas. We are excited to work together as a global team to build United Planet into a leading international NGO, which can make a positive difference worldwide for many years to come.
United Planet short-term volunteers have done some amazing work and traveled to all 15 of our program destinations this summer. Many have returned and are busy sharing their stories, blogs, pictures, and videos with us. Please take a moment to check out the UP blog, as well as our YouTube and Facebook. If you haven't sent us the details of your international experiences, please do so and help ignite the global curiosity and responsibility of others. We encourage all of our returning UP alumni to share their experiences through our Cultural Awareness Project and Ambassador Club programs, which are building great momentum. Although many of our international volunteers are busy readjusting to home life, United Planet long-term volunteers will depart for their 6 month and 1 year volunteer abroad experiences throughout September. We wish them the best of luck and thank them for their dedication to addressing shared global challenges.
Over the past six months, the UP team has experienced a growth spurt both nationally and internationally! I would like to officially welcome Tracy Curtin Ropar, our new Director of Communications, and Scott Bryson, our new Director of Development and Major Gifts, to our Boston office. Both Tracy and Scott bring years of experience in public relations/marketing, international development, and fundraising. I am also proud to announce that we welcomed four new members to our International Board of Advisors: Reem Bsaiso, CEO of International NGO World Links Arab Region (WLAR), Joseph Christian, a partner with the global law firm DLA Piper, Jake Brewer, Director of Partnerships for Idealist.org, and Omar Shdeifat, Minister of Higher Education of Jordan.
Thank you once again for your invaluable support of United Planet! Together, we truly can bring the world closer, one person at a time.
Warmest regards,
Dave Santulli
Founder and Executive Director
United Planet
Meetup with the United Planet Team
Join us for a fun evening to get to know other global volunteers and travelers in a relaxing and social atmosphere.
Look for the details about our October MeetUp - Coming soon!
Our UP Team will be on-hand to answer questions about international volunteering. We are looking forward to getting to know you and exchanging stories.
The Ambassador Program on UP Forum
We are proud to launch the new Ambassador Program section in the United Planet Forum!
It is a common space open to everyone where members can share their experiences, activities and creativity to move forward with their Ambassador Clubs.
Please feel free to participate!
Join our Ambassador Section NOW!
Kate's trip to Ghana
Exactly a year ago my trip to Ghana began. I remember everything like it was yesterday and my memories of that warm place are fond. I'd have to say that visiting that country was one of the best things I've ever done with my life. Although I was not there for as long as I may have liked, what I saw and experienced during my stay was simply amazing.
I was able to discover much of Accra (Ghana's capital) as well as teach a summer camp up in the Volta Region in a small village called Biakpa. I knew that I couldn't change the world with just one trip, so I made a goal - to befriend one child and make a difference in their life somehow. During my stay in Biakpa, I was able to help teach kids at a summer camp me and two other volunteers created as well as witness their culture firsthand. One of my favorite parts of the trip was being able to take these children on their first true "field trip" to Wli Waterfalls and the Monkey Sanctuary. This experience was not only a dream come true for myself, but more so for the children who got the opportunity to leave their village for the first time! The look of excitement and bewilderment on their faces was so fulfilling. I'll never forget their expressions as we danced and sang on the way to the waterfalls -it was amazing.
While the first village was a great experience, it wasn't until my even shorter stay in the next village - Putibiw that made my trip complete. It was a little unclear as to what I would be doing there as it was not quite on the itinerary initially and it was a new project for United Planet. I felt a bit lost upon arriving there as the people of the village were not as used to outsiders as Biakpa. However, I befriended a gregarious young girl named Bernice. This girl truly took to me as I did her and I taught her as much as I could in that short time. She really was something else and unlike any other villager I had met in Ghana. There was this spark in her and this desire to know more about the world and more about people outside of her culture. She also differed from the other children I met in a BIG way. She did not ask for one single thing. She never expected anything or desired much from me except for friendship.
By the end, she even insisted on buying me a soda and then attempted to give me the equivalent of two American Dollars for my trip home (which I graciously declined of course), but it showed just how selfless this young girl was. She taught me a lot about the kind of people that can have so little but give so much. I was grateful to be able to connect with another volunteer who was heading to the same village and sent with her a lovely care package to give to Bernice. We still keep in touch to this day with phone calls once in a while and I'm happy to say that my initial goal was accomplished. It is a trip I will NEVER forget, people I will never forget and a place I hope to venture back to!
Read more about Kate's experience in Ghana on kateinghana.wordpress.com
Bsaiso, Christian, Brewer and Shdeifat join United Planet International Board of Advisors
United Planet (UP) is proud to announce that Reem Bsaiso, CEO of the international NGO World Links Arab Region (WLAR), Joseph Christian, partner with the DLA Piper Real Estate Group, Jake Brewer, Director of Partnerships for Idealist.org and Omar Shdeifat, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Jordan, have joined its International Board of Advisors (IBA).
"We are very pleased and honored to welcome Reem, Joseph, Jake and Omar to our UP team," said David Santulli, executive director of United Planet. "All four of these amazing individuals will help strengthen our mission and UP as an organization," added Santulli.
What they say about United Planet
"United Planet's volunteer abroad programs have had a tremendous impact in developing better relations between many cultures and people" said Bsaiso "I am proud that I have been given the opportunity to advance UP's international presence".
"United Planet really stands out as an NGO," said Christian. "Their truly innovative and unique programs allow people from all cultures to connect with each other and to experience one of the greatest things in life - intercultural understanding and friendship. I am excited to join forces with United Planet and work together to achieve their mission," said Christian.
"The work of United Planet goes deeper than simply providing a way for individuals to volunteer abroad," said Brewer. "Rather, United Planet's programs catalyze and foster a call to global citizenship and on-going cross-cultural connectedness. Through these efforts, I believe we cut to the heart of the challenges we face in the workplace today such as injustice and intolerance. In doing so, we begin to heal some of the divides that our global society faces," explained Brewer.
"United Planet's mission to create a community beyond borders inspired me from the beginning," said Shdeifat. "There are many prejudices in the world, especially between the Western cultures and Arab culture. If we work closely together, we will understand each other's cultures better. In the end, we will see that our cultural differences are to be admired and respected and do not have to be obstacles," said Shdeifat.
Salsa Dancing!
Salsa - spicy, fiery, hot, delicious! Of course I am talking about the dance! Like all dance forms, the music and movements represent cultural customs and history, making salsa dancing much more than just a fun, sultry dance. (I am the one on the left in the picture below.)
The origin of salsa dancing is contested with many places claiming to be its "birthplace" - the leaders being Cuba and Puerto Rico. Salsa is a distillation of many Latin and Afro-Caribbean dances. The Latin music we hear today has most of its origins in Cuba where the blending of African drum rhythms and Spanish guitar evolved into a variety of Latin American music.
I fell in love with salsa while studying Spanish and living with a host family in Antigua, Guatemala back in 2002. One day I noticed a flyer announcing salsa lessons for $3.50. Who could resist? I was hooked after my first five minutes! It was a combination of the contagious music, fun moves and the chance to learn more about Antigua from a local's perspective. I took classes five nights per week and joined my new friends at the salsa clubs on the weekends.
After returning to the States, I was not able to continue exploring my new-found passion until I moved to Boston in 2004. Since then, I have taken endless classes and joined a company called MetaMovements (www.metamovements.com). I now train with the student performance team and teach classes both in the studio and at salsa clubs in Boston. I also dance and teach Rueda de Casino - a Cuban dance with casino-style salsa moves done to salsa music, but the 
dancing couples are in a circle and all complete the same moves as they are called out by the group's leader. It is a fun twist on salsa as dancers switch partners throughout the song, making it a very community-oriented dance. You can never stop learning salsa and rueda! The longer I dance, the more questions I have and the more I want to learn!
I am grateful that my job at United Planet requires me to visit many of our volunteer abroad programs worldwide. It has afforded me the chance to dance salsa in many countries including Japan, Peru, Costa Rica and Ecuador. Dance serves as a common language that negates the need for words!
I love dancing with an international group of dancers and spreading the love of salsa! I encourage everyone to find a form of dance that connects with them and explore it to the fullest - its moves, music and history. I think everyone can dance.
- Theresa Higgs, Director of International Programs for United Planet.
Get Involved!
Join the UP Team - Become a member of our Boston headquarters' team. Do an internship or inquire about our permanent positions. We welcome people from all over the world to join our team.
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