The Global Volunteers program was founded in the mid-1980s with the goal of helping to build a foundation for peace through mutual understanding. They offer one-, two-, and three-week experiences in Asia, Africa, the Americas, Australia, Europe, and the South Pacific. The volunteers put their energy, skills, and compassion to work in order to benefit others, with the result being a true exchange of ideas, cultures, and understanding. The program is committed to supporting local people in their struggle to become self-reliant, and also serves the volunteers, who learn from their hosts in the process. They advertise that they wage peace and promote justice through an “adventure in service.” They also promise that their volunteers will be reasonably comfortable and safe, but insist that an open-minded attitude is most important—with patience, a spirit of adventure, and a sense of humor thrown in for good measure. I can’t speak from personal experience, but the spiel seems genuine. I say, if you’ve got some spare cash, some vacation days accrued, and you’re not inclined to go on yet another cruise or to party at an all-inclusive beach resort in Cancún, take a crack at this instead. It simply doesn’t fit my bill.
Project Hope sends me a fancy Certificate of Appreciation in grateful recognition of my commitment to the world’s most impoverished people, before I even do anything. The President and CEO presents me with a formal acknowledgement in anticipation of my choosing “to save countless lives” by helping his project “ship vaccines and medical supplies to impoverished communities around the globe, and train people in how to combat disease and improve health.” Hard not to donate once you’ve already received a shiny medal before even doing anything. But they know that.
World Vision sends me a series of mailings with color alerts of increasing import around the world, which are similar to our national security warnings—yellow, orange, red, etc. Scary stuff. My most recent alert is in bright orange and reads, “HIGH ALERT: Over 33 million children are at risk of starvation in Africa. Help now to triple the lifesaving power of your gift.” The words scream at me from the envelope’s cover. Three for the price of one is a dynamite sales pitch.
The next letter is coded in blue and asks for clothes and shoes for freezing children. It promises to multiply the value of my gift thirteen times! And there are pictures. They really get you with the pictures; but again, they know that. One more page gets ripped from the old checkbook.
My husband and I even stumble upon a worthy cause while window-shopping through the local art galleries. One petit new shop displays works all credited to Nelson Mandela. They are intriguing—views from his prison cell, self-portraits . . . rough sketches mostly. We speak to the young female proprietor and to the South African fellow who represents the group that has purportedly finessed the partnership between the art, the man, and the money. Although we leave confused, we aren’t the only ones. An article appears in the local newspaper shortly after, questioning the veracity of the enterprise. Regardless, we leave the gallery with some brochures from a stack at the door. Among them is a largish booklet covered with bright color photographs of happy African children. This one grabs my attention: NELSON MANDELA FOUNDATION, and bears his signature. Nelson Mandela is writing his letter of support as Chief Patron of MaAfrika Tikkun, a foundation that supports various projects in South Africa. The word tikkun jumps out at me. Tikkun is an integral part of the familiar Hebrew phrase, tikkun olam, which means “to heal the world.” In his own words, Mandela describes the project as demonstrating, “ . . . in a practical manner what can be done by limited resources, great commitment and passion . . . Tikkun represents the best of what civil society can offer in partnership with Governments’ considerable efforts.” He concludes his letter by stating, “I would be pleased if Tikkun, through the right levels of support and in particular with monies to assist the payment for its peoples’ skills infrastructure, were to strengthen its efforts to continue its valuable union.” He is “Sincerely” mine, “N R Mandela.” One more check in the coffer. When my husband Joe reads this book, he’ll probably choke. I don’t always tell him how generous we are. But for many years now, at our children’s behest and in their names, we have sent a donation to a worthy cause for each one of the eight nights of the Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah. Compared to the manner in which most families we know indulge their offspring around the holiday season, I’m reasonably certain Joe considers our charitable gifts right-minded.
The Web site, ServiceLeader.org, also provides an “International" link, with a long list of groups attached; all contacted, all researched, all worthy causes, and all deemed a mismatch either by me or by them. And it’s all good. Have a look. We could all do worse in this world.
ServiceLeader.org: International
•All Around the World:
A Collection of International Service-Learning Programs
•Go M.A.D. (Make a Difference)
•International Volunteer Programs Association
•Global Service Corps
•Service Civil International USA Branch
•Students Partnership Worldwide (SPW)
•United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS)
•VolunteerAbroad
•Volunteers in Asia (VIA)
•Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA)
•Yahoo! Directory of International Community Service and Volunteerism Organizations
About a year into my quest, I am still batting sub-zero. Around this time our son, whom following graduation from university, had embarked upon an around-the-world backpacking trip, returns home. We throw him a party. During the festivities, the father of one of his friends asks me what I’ve been up to. This poor guy has no idea what he is getting himself into. I’m certain he intends the inquiry to be just some idle, give-me-someone-to-talk-to, cocktail soirée chitchat. I give him two earfuls.
“Well, Pam, I know some people in Kenya who will be happy to have