new blog post on women on their way - voluntourism isn't all about the volunteer

Ten months into The Global Citizen Project, I'm still having "ah hah" moments at every turn.  My recent voluntourism project with Globe Aware in Costa Rica was no exception. Read more about it here in this month's blog post for Wyndham Worldwide's Women on Their Way Jane Air Crew.

media mentions: 944 magazine and the volunteer revolution

Hola! I’m back from nearly a month of volunteering in Costa Rica and Panama. Sadly, I had to cut my go good endeavors short in the latter destination, due to my boyfriend contracting something unexpected in Costa Rica – dengue fever. It’s been a hellish week for him and hard for me to be so far away while he was going through the thick of this nasty virus. Thankfully, I have rockstar friends in Seattle who took excellent care of him until I was able to get home (via planes, cars, taxis, a bus and 60 hours, oh my!).

As soon as I get back in the groove of things, I promise to report back on the volunteer work I did with Globe Aware in Costa Rica via the Travelocity Travel for Good grant I won, as well as in Panama with Global Humanitarian Adventures and Dead Wheat.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some lovely media mentions that made the cyber airwaves this past week:

Big thanks are in order for Isoul Harris and K. Diane Harrington of 944 magazine in Atlanta. I adore the “Around the World” profile/interview they did on me and The Global Citizen Project.
Click here (scroll to page 91).

TGCP also got props twice in Global Humanitarian Adventures’ blog, The Volunteer Revolution. Thank you Robb, Caroline and Lisa at GHA, as well as the beyond wonderful Bliss family at Finca Selah/Dead Wheat for putting  your humanitarian efforts -- and Panama -- at the tip top of  my “must return to volunteer” list.  Also, thanks Jen and Julie, my dear Canadian friends, for coming to volunteer and to Heidi and Graham for rounding out the fun.
Read about TGCP here and here.

While I have you here lovely readers, I also thought I’d share some eye candy from these volunteer trips. Check out some of my photos from Globe Aware here and photos from Panama here. Be warned - there were puppies at Finca Selah. Five 'em to be exact.

february project preview: globe aware in costa rica

In February, I am headed to Costa Rica to volunteer with Globe Aware - The Road Less Traveled Rainforest Village Experience. This volunteer travel program offers a unique opportunity to help a small community next to the Carara Rainforest Reserve improve their well being and create a sustainable future in ecologically important areas. This project was chosen with the Travelocity Travel for Good grant I won via WE tv and Ladies’ Home Journal and I am beyond grateful to be able to bring my boyfriend along for the do good adventures.  He's been extremely patient and supportive of my volunteering efforts over the past eight months and I am excited to be able to share a small part of The Global Citizen Project with him -- especially in one of my favorite Central American countries.

The Carara Rainforest Reserve borders a tiny village where volunteers are immersed. Although the villagers love their natural paradise, they have struggled to make ends meet as much of their farmland was taken over by the national park. They hope to create sustainable community-based tourism, and Globe Aware volunteers will work on community development projects to help them reach this goal.

Projects will vary depending on the number of volunteers, which projects were finished with the prior group, what priorities have changed, weather conditions, which supplies are available, and often the interest and fitness level of the volunteers.

Some completed Carara Rainforest Reserve volunteer work projects:

• Built pedestrian bridges
• Buried and installed new PVC water pipe to bring new clean water source into community
• Painted school
• Built cabinas
• Planted hundreds of trees
• Built book shelves for school
• Built fence around school
• Set up First Aid center
• Made oil lamps to line public road
• Made and installed road signs to community
• Painted communal hall
• Built recycling stations
• Built waste receptacles
• Painted and installed identifying signs in rain forest

To learn more about Globe Aware and its volunteer vacations around the world, click here.

my volunteer style is definitely not a vacation

Lately, a lot of companies have been trying to sell me on outrageously priced volunteer vacations or voluntourism opportunities. Let me be loud and clear: The Global Citizen Project (in its current limited budgetary glory) is in no way a luxe vacation. It does not even remotely resemble how I travel on my own time and dime. So when I get pitched packages that run into the high hundreds of dollars per week and raise a dubious eyebrow, I’m in no way consoled when they come back with, “But we throw in a two day trip to Machu Picchu, a weekly Spanish lesson or four star accommodations.” That’s all sounds mighty swell, but it’s so not what my project is about.

Everyone is entitled to travel and volunteer however their heart (and budget) desires. I tend to be more of a DIY girl, who doesn’t require a whole lot of handholding, nor, do I subscribe to spending lots of dough to do good. Especially when I’ve taken on the task of participating in 12 volunteer projects over the course of a year; it’s just not financially feasible. Besides, I want to work. As hard as I can. If I had copious amounts of cash to burn, would I like to see how the other half gives back? Absolutely. I’ve seen some pretty slick voluntourism catalogs filled with feel good eye-candy and it all looks so very civilized compared to my current volunteering style. Warm water? Hot meals? Six hour work schedules? Oh my! These experiences seem a bit luxury laden for what The Global Citizen Project aims to accomplish, but if I were embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and wanted to tie-in a volunteer component, these trips seem to strike the perfect balance between service, exploration and amenities.

If I win Travelocity’s Travel for Good Program’s $5,000 Voluntourism Grant through WEtv’s WE Do Good Awards Contest, I’d be over-the-moon ecstatic to participate in any one of Travelocity’s official voluntourism partners’ programs: Cross-Cultural Solutions, Earthwatch Institute, Globe Aware, or American Hiking Society. Any one of these programs would be like a Porsche 918 Spyder to my current Pontiac Bonneville shoestring budget projects, plus I could share the voluntourism experience with someone else. (More give back power, yay!)  Even if these programs don't exactly fit my volunteer travel style, it would provide an interesting first-person perspective in the big picture voluntourism puzzle. (I mean, I am trying to convey as many varied volunteer options as possible to my friends, readers and followers, afterall.)  As added bonuses, it would be a huge honor to be featured in a future issue of Ladies' Home Journal magazine and also featured on WEVolunteer.TV. It’s like the holy trinity of voluntourism wish list winnings.

Please vote daily here. Ballots close at 11:59pm on August 31, 2010. It’s quick and easy to vote and you don’t have to fork over your email address or any personal information. Many, many thanks in advance for your continued love and support. And get out there and volunteer - it really doesn't take much to make a difference. Even just a few hours in your own community goes a long way in provinding comfort and making you a hero to someone else. I pinky swear promise.