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Join A Volunteer Team to Hainan Island, China
You can join an inaugural team to an exciting new host community on the renowned Hainan Island in the South China Sea. The first programs are scheduled for December 15 -January 5 and February 23 - March 15.
Hainan is the largest ocean island and the smallest land province in China. Over 50,000 members of the Hmong minority, descendants of early settlers from the mainland, live in the mountains of central Hainan. The Han Chinese, predominant in the north and northeast of the island, form two communities: the Hainanese, whose ancestors came to the island before 1950, and who speak a local dialect distinct from the Cantonese of the nearby mainland; and mainlanders who came to the island after 1950.
Its natural beauty is hailed around the world...earning it the nickname of "the Oriental Hawaii". You can still walk for miles on its white, pristine beaches -- some of the most beautiful in the world -- and not even run into another soul. So much of the island is still relatively "undiscovered." Walk among ancient ruins, touch a 5,000-year-old tree, climb a mountain with breathtaking views of local hot springs and waterfalls, or trace the footsteps of long lost societies. The capital city of Haikou ("Mouth of the Sea") is on the northern end of the island, on the west bank of the Nandu River estuary.
Our new service program, under the direction of the Haikou Municipal Education Bureau, will enable volunteers to teach conversational English skills to youth and teachers through the Haikou Education Research and Training Institute, located in Haikou City. In this metropolitan area of nearly 400,000 population, are nearly 500 public and private elementary and middle schools employing about 1,000 English teachers. Our first teams will work in a variety of these schools, and help establish our long-range development partnership, paving the way for future teams later in 2007 and beyond. Read on to learn more about our new Hainan Island Program. For additional information about Hainan Island, click here.
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Volunteers Respond to Tanzania Book Fundraising
Due in no small measure to generous LINK subscribers, more than $36,000 was raised since our last issue in April to supply textbooks for the Pommern Secondary School in Tanzania. In July, each student will receive their own books in math, English physics, chemistry, and geography classes! The books (with an average cost of US$5.00) have been purchased in-country (to ensure culturally appropriate language and references) by Country Manager Harran Ngede.
As classroom and dormitory construction projects have been completed in recent years, the added capacity for new students in Pommern has created a serious textbook crisis. Because of our long-term commitment to community support and partnership, Global Volunteers turned to "Encore" volunteers, their families and other benefactors to help us fill this gap. The response was immediate and gratifying, with gifts ranging from $20 to $5,000 and one donation over $20,000. In the words of Pommern's Headmaster: "The United Nations has declared that every child has a right to an education. How can we turn down children who want to learn when it is their right?"
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"Show the World We Care" Says Colin Powell at NAFSA
"As a soldier, I saw acts of kindness in action," said General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), the 65th U.S. Secretary of State and founding chairman of America's Promise–The Alliance for Youth at NAFSA's annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, includes nearly 10,000 individuals from all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
"I've met more and more people in high offices who were touched by the kindness of ordinary Americans abroad," said Powell, who urged attendees and sponsors to "maintain openness" in the face of global terrorism. "Show the rest of the world that we're an open, accepting country. Keep students coming here, and continue reaching out to others globally," he said in the opening plenary.
As a NAFSA partner and exhibitor at this year's conference, Global Volunteers met with educators, Study Abroad office administrators, and students from across the country. Global Volunteers President Bud Philbrook met privately with Marlene Johnson, NAFSA CEO and Executive Director, and lieutenant governor of Minnesota from 1983 to 1991, to discuss ways for Global Volunteers to continue working with NAFSA on common goals. "We're proud that Global Volunteers is recognized as a leader and resource for best practices in international service-learning," Philbrook said. For more information about Global Volunteers' university service-learning programs, contact Karisa Grosser, Affiliations Manager.
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Global Volunteers Contributes to UN Goals
Global Volunteers is committed to the vision of the United Nations and the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals. As an NGO in Consultative Status with the United Nations - ECOSOC, Global Volunteers attends yearly planning sessions, and reports on community development projects in host communities worldwide. In our quadrennial report to the U.N. we cited a growth of nearly 50 percent over the previous reporting period and increased board and staff participation in U.N. conferences. As a result, a line item was added to the 2007 fiscal year budget to support increased participation by Global Volunteers representatives in upcoming United Nations’ activities. In addition, Global Volunteers President Bud Philbrook and our Tanzanian host representative, Bishop Owdenberg Mdgella, together met with Deputy Secretary General Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro in early June to cement our relationship with U.N. Councils. For more information on supporting Global Volunteers' relationship with the United Nations, contact Global Volunteers President and CEO Bud Philbrook.
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Staff Goes Green With Tree Planting Project
To launch our long-term commitment to educate Global Volunteers' staff, board and volunteers about the environmental cost of international travel and the opportunity carbon offsets provide for "neutralizing" global damage, the Minnesota staff took a day for tree planting on a Wisconsin tree farm. View photos here. "It's a matter of personal responsibility," said Global Volunteers President Bud Philbrook. "A small percentage of world travelers could significantly reduce global warming if they invested in carbon offset projects." Environmental Defense, one of the nation's leading environmental groups, lists consumer and corporate carbon-offset projects on their web site: www.fightglobalwarming.org. Another useful resource is the Zero Footprint Carbon Offset Personal Calculator. We invite you to share your comments on this topic.
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National Volunteer Effort to Launch in Philadelphia
Join hundreds of international volunteer alumni in Philadelphia to launch a national campaign to increase the number of volunteers going abroad to 100,000 by 2010!
Date: Sunday, July 15, 2007, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm (Please wear RED shirts and arrive promptly to help create a human "we volunteer" sign.)
Location: Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia, PA. (Lawn adjacent to Visitor Center, North of Market Street, between 5th and 6th Streets). This event is the public announcement of the newly formed "Building Bridges Coalition" of international volunteer organizations, educational institutions and corporations dedicated to expanding international service and to foster congressional support for legislation to enact a program of Global Service Fellowships. (Minnesota's Senator Norm Coleman and Congresswoman Betty McCullum are co-sponsors of the bill S. 1464). Organizers hope that media coverage of the event will inspire and encourage the public to consider volunteer abroad programs in 2007-08. To participate: Please e-mail wevolunteerglobally@gmail.com by July 1st.
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"We're links in a long chain of those who have come before
and will follow to help improve the lives of people around the world."
~ Bud Philbrook, Global Volunteers co-founder and president
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YOUR SUGGESTIONS ARE IMPORTANT TO US
Do you have specific topics you'd like to see in a future issue: Send us your ideas. Since 1984, we've worked alongside local people in every corner of the globe -- laying a foundation for peace through mutual international understanding. In mobilizing thousands of short-term volunteers, we've learned valuable lessons about honoring local customs, methods and perspectives. We hope to share what we've learned with you.
Please e-mail us: linkeditor@globalvolunteers.org
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