Meet Our Newest Team Member, Veena
GV is growing and I am so pleased to announce the addition of a new volunteer on the management side of Grassroots Volunteering. Veena reached out a few months ago and was quick to note …
A Creative, DIY Approach to Volunteering in Nepal
The idea of volunteering in a Buddhist monastery in Nepal came to me as a surprise. I had spent the better part of two years traveling the world, after becoming disenchanted with a career as an …
Sitting Down with NPR to Talk about Social Enterprises
Last month Grassroots Volunteering’s founder, Shannon O’Donnell, sat down with Rachel Martin on NPR’s weekend travel show to talk about the relationship between travel and international volunteering. The segment looks more closely at the idea …
How to Get Started with Independent Volunteering
The dizzying number of options within the volunteering landscape is enough to stall any travel plans, but there is value in slogging through the research and finding a good-match organization for your time and skills. Though …
Volunteering in McLeod Ganj and Finding Peace in Dharamsala
I did not go to India for religious reasons. I did not go to do volunteer work. I did not go expecting to find anything other than historic architecture and scenic views to capture with …
The Art of Giving and Travel
Giving is good for you. It’s a statement many have heard before, but the concrete benefits of giving are one of those more airy concepts difficult to research. Over the past year though, I’ve seen …
Volunteering in a Culturally Sensitive Village in Malaysia
This week’s volunteer story is from Jason; he shares his experience volunteering in Malaysia and navigating the early days on the ground with a new placement. He shared his travel journey in more depth on …
Fighting Apathy, Fighting Poverty
I recently watched a recording of rock legend Bono giving a rousing TED Talk filmed at the 2013 TED conference. The topic, which he framed in the context of a brief ten minute presentation, was …
Rethinking Orphanages
When you talk to your average non-traveler about international volunteering, it’s a given that a few things are going to come to mind: saving the animals! Providing compassionate disaster relief in areas torn asunder by …
Examining Priorities: Climate Change or World Poverty?
Knowing which issues are worth spending time solving is one of the things I find perhaps most daunting about volunteering and development work. There is no agreed upon to-do task list on which global issues we …