International Student Volunteers

An International Student Volunteer in Thailand

Image source: Lifetimeadventure.tumblr.com

Students are some of our most important volunteers. These are young people, excited to learn and to grow, often having their very first experiences overseas. College is a time of transformation, when children become adults. It’s a time when we learn about ourselves: how we learn, who we want to be, and what matters most. When I think back to what I was like before college, I remember feeling scared, like I didn’t have the stuff to be bold and outgoing. I relied heavily on my parents. I wanted desperately to be independent but didn’t know what that meant, or how to achieve it. College helped me to mature, but travel was what really challenged me to think deeply about life choices and to ask myself a very important question: how was I going to save the world?

GoVoluntourism: A Global Voluntour Network

Ruma National Park: A GoVoluntourism Project

Image source: Govoluntourism.com

Recently I wrote about VolunteerMatch.org, a social network style website that matches volunteers with opportunities. This week I found another online network in this niche: GoVoluntourism.com. The two sites share several similarities. Both allow organizations and volunteers to register for free, and both have robust information-rich platforms so organizations can thoroughly detail opportunities. GoVoluntourism also offers access to journalists. This is, understandably, very valuable to voluntour businesses hoping for media attention.

The Infinite Family of Amy Stokes

Amy Stokes, Founder of Infinite Family, With Mentees in Soweto Township

Image source: Creativityfuse.com

In the U.S. we are so accustomed to using email, video chat, social networks, and Google to navigate our everyday lives. In Sub-Saharan Africa however, these technologies are still unfamiliar to many, and inaccessible to most. In some ways, it’s hard to imagine how simple online communication can make a difference in people’s lives. At first I was skeptical—how does talking make someone less hungry or healthier? But the more I read about Amy Stokes and her organization, Infinite Family, the more I realized how critically important simple communication can be.