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Through the Years: 1989-1993
Global Volunteers’ experienced and committed Board of Directors set out to demonstrate how true “people-to-people” initiatives in micro- economic and human development can succeed through a private, apolitical, nonsectarian organization. We chose our host partners thoughtfully, and prepared our volunteers carefully. We requested projects that could be directed by local leaders, evaluated frequently, and sustained over the long term. Meanwhile, media coverage and personal referrals helped to broaden our outreach, and encourage mainstream acceptance of international volunteer service. Since it would be fully one decade before the term “volunteer vacation” was coined, in 1984, the idea of volunteering on vacation was still considered a “fringe” concept. By 1989, however, the curiosity of cultural adventurers and the rise of the internet led more and more volunteers to our service programs. This growing synergy enabled us to extend our service opportunities into Indonesia, Poland, at home in the U.S.A., and laid the foundation for rapid expansion the following four years. Additionally, Global Volunteers proposed “service opportunities” to Elderhostel, and became the internationally renowned organization’s first volunteer partner. “Elderhostelers” joined Global Volunteer’s Indonesia service programs first in 1993, and later added Poland, China, Italy and Greece to their itineraries.
Our Philosophy of Service defined short-term volunteer service programs from the start, and guided our evolving development efforts throughout the first five years. By fully honoring local people’s wisdom and vision for self-determination, our early work in Jamaica, Guatemala, Tanzania and Mexico led to greater understanding of and appreciation for the potential of cross-cultural partnerships, as well as the intricacies of international assistance. As we continued to invest in host communities’ long-range development projects, we strengthened our response to local needs as they arose…moving from strictly labor and infrastructure projects to teaching English conversational skills and childcare.
Program Highlights:
1989
Exploratory teams visited India, Western Samoa, Indonesia and the Philippines
1989
Ongoing service programs focusing on community infrastructure were established in India and Indonesia.
1989
Seventeen teams and 163 volunteers were sent to five countries this year.
1990
An exploratory team led by Co-founder Bud Philbrook visited Poland. Rural Solidarity, the agrarian counterpart to Lech Walensa’s Worker Solidarity, invited Global Volunteers to send teams to the rural communities to teach conversational English. This new project venture was a major advancement in Global Volunteers’ service partnerships. Within two years, English teaching projects were likewise requested in Indonesia, Mexico and Tanzania. Today, at the invitation of local host organizations, Global Volunteers assists both young and adult students learn English in 17 countries.
1990
Thirty-one teams and 308 volunteers were sent to eight countries in 1990.
1991
1991: The first ongoing USA service program was established in the rural Mississippi Delta town of Jonestown, MS where volunteers worked with local people on construction, education and health care projects.
1991
A new service partnership was initiated on the South Pacific island of Tonga where volunteers assisted a nonprofit social service agency. Seven teams and 65 volunteers served here until the program was discontinued in 1993.
1991
46 teams and 358 volunteers were sent to nine countries in 1991.
1992
1992: Shortly after the putsch, an exploratory team visited several cities in Russia. A partnership was formed to provide volunteers to teach conversational English to children and adults in Tver.
1992
The Znanie Society invited Global Volunteers to establish the Free Enterprise Institute, which taught the basics of free market economies to managers of newly privatized enterprises in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
1992
The first volunteer team was sent to Costa Rica to assist the Santa Elena High School with preservation and restoration of a portion of the Monteverde Cloud Forest.
1992
51 teams and 451 volunteers were sent to 10 countries in 1992.
1993
69 teams and 790 volunteers served in 11 countries in 1993.
