Volunteering on the Blackfeet Reservation - Day 1

Today began with the meeting of the rest of Group 55 who arrived from Wisconsin late last P.M. We all joined together for our communal breakfast, anxious to greet our new partners in the group. After breakfast and clean up, we joined our leader Michele for a a video of Global Volunteers history and another about the history of the Blackfeet Nation. The room was still and silent, perhaps everyone was thinking the feeling “I never learned about history this way.”

The rest of the day was a sensory gallery of experiences as we drove around a portion of what we now know as ‘the rez.‘ Geography and the history of the area was brought to life. Much of the secret and unwritten past and culture of the Blackfeet was shared with us by our ever and willing and impressively knowledgeable driver Sam. We visited Many Glacier and saw elk on the loose, sheep, cattle, and ponies at every turn. The massive St. Marys fire remains and flood history are large visual lessons. At the end of the day, we are so anxious to start working, and realize that we too are the recipients of good fortune.

Last Christmas break, I was given the opportunity to volunteer at the Puericultorio (P.P.A.) orphanage in Lima, Peru with Global Volunteers. During my time at P.P.A., I was thoroughly trounced by the orphans on the soccer field and learned, first hand, the challenges of holding the attention of 3rd graders for more than 3 seconds. Perhaps the most humbling aspect of my trip, however, was a realization of the gaping chasm that existed between the vast number of opportunities I had been given that others had not. This realization prompted action to at least partially address the imbalance. In this way, the idea for the Great Transversal of Minnesota was born.

Limited Internet and cable access in Peru provided ample opportunity for undisturbed reflection. My thoughts always led back to my arrival, how it was marred by delay after delay and the intense frustration I felt at being a victim of circumstances completely out of my control. I realized the intense frustration I felt during my trip was something the children of the orphanage live with every day of their lives. No one consulted them about being born in a shantytown with a family unable to care for them, or worse, want them. They didn’t choose to live in a walled compound while other children their age got to enjoy unimaginable freedoms: trips to the zoo, the movies, vacations with their families, and the like. It was then I realized that of everything the children lacked, the most glaring was opportunity. At the same time, I learned of Global Volunteer’s academic sponsorship program. The idea is simple: a sponsor provides money to send a qualified student from P.P.A. to college. Yet even though it costs a mere $500 per year to sponsor an individual, the program was forced to turn away several deserving students in 2008 due to a lack of funds.

My conviction to sponsor the children of P.P.A. in their college education was catalyzed by an anonymous quote read by a fellow volunteer: “Because I have been given much, I too must give.” From this conviction, the idea for the Great Transversal of Minnesota slowly crystallized: I would apply my passion for endurance sports towards raising scholarship funds for the orphans and hence transfer some of my abundant opportunity to the underprivileged orphans of P.P.A.

Being young, idealistic, and impressionable, I kept the idea in the back of my mind. Only months later, when I was brainstorming ways I could raise money for college scholarships for orphans in Lima, Peru, did the idea to use The Great Transversal occur to me. Suddenly everything made so much sense. This crazy little idea, conceived many months ago in the sweltering heat of the Minnesota summer, has finally come to fruition.

On June 6th, I will begin a 400-mile, 7-day trip across Minnesota. Travel from the North Shore of Lake Superior to Rochester will be solely human powered, involving kayaking, swimming, biking, rollerskiing (similar to rollerblading but with ski poles), and running. My goal is to raise $5,000 dollars in sponsorship. All funds will be donated toward college scholarships for the orphans. More route details will be forthcoming, but the adventure will begin with kayaking in Lake Superior and will finish when I run the final 20 miles into Rochester, my hometown.

- Mike Torchia, Peru volunteer and college student http://www.greattransversalofminnesota.blogspot.com/

(If you'd like to contribute to Mike's effort: http://donations.globalvolunteers.org select "fundraising page to view" and click on "Mike Torchia.")

Reaching Out in Uncertain Times

Now more than ever, our host partners are looking to Global Volunteers for the kind of help we have been providing for 25 years. Our volunteers bring the face of kindness and compassion in person, through their hands-on service to organizations worldwide who have invited Global Volunteers into their communities. Yes, these are uncertain times, but we can be certain -- in our uncertainty -- that the people we help know us by our name, they know us by the hope we have left behind, and know us by the Global Volunteers who keep on coming, no matter what. Their children and babies know us by loving arms that hold them, voices that sing to them, eyes that smile at them and hands that applaud the littlest things they have learned today, because of a Global Volunteer.

- Patty Carlson, volunteer coordinator for Global Volunteers

Global Volunteer Rick Koniar in Chennai, India

In Gratitude for the Privilege and Value of Volunteering

As a volunteer to local efforts apart from my role with Global Volunteers, I personally experience the joy and satisfaction of making a difference to local efforts frequently each month. And, I know that were it not for my contribution of skills and energy, many of these pressing needs would go unmet.

I also feel the sincere gratitude of those who benefit directly from my time, and of those who manage the legions who commit to these worthy causes.

I am often awestruck by the trust and responsibility put into my hands as a local volunteer, and it’s at those times I am reminded of what we ask each of our team members on Global Volunteers service programs. You are our hands and heart in Global Volunteers’ host communities. You are the delivery mechanism of the compassion and respect for local people we all feel when we come to work each day. You help us carry out a vision articulated 25 years ago….and to which we’ve recommitted ourselves year after year. It is through your commitment and dedication on the ground that our host partners are able to build on their own community’s vision and realize – over time – the fullness of their potential.

This can all be reduced to clichés in the media, but it’s never overstated or trite to those of us who work in the field of volunteerism, and who experience the value of volunteers’ efforts personally. I have likewise benefitted from the generosity of volunteers reaching out to me through the years, in both formal and informal settings. So as one who has experienced the “trifecta” of volunteerism – recipient, participant and manager – I’m grateful that this grand institution is now receiving the attention and credit that is due.

As I reflect on my own role as a volunteer, I’m humbled by what I’ve gained and learned through the generous invitation to me by others into their lives – sometimes at the most intimate times of need. I never take that privilege lightly. So too, I revere the opportunity we each have as Global Volunteers to share our community partners’ lives – in their schools, their offices, their churches and their homes. When you stop to ponder this amazing international achievement, it’s no wonder the great Winston Churchill remarked: “We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.”

-Michele Gran, Global Volunteers co-founder and CEO