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When you volunteer as part of your vacation, your trip takes on a whole new meaning. Voluntourism is a unique opportunity to contribute to the place you’re visiting while learning about and creating an individual connection with its inhabitants and environment – that’s why we call voluntourists "Change Ambassadors." This page is a chance for all Change Ambassadors to write about your experience and tell fellow travelers about the kind of impact voluntourism can have and what you learned along the way. Thank you for taking the time to share your story!
In order to provide some form of exercise for the residents, each day we would take a rubber ball about the size of a volleyball and play ball with the residents in the courtyard, first on the women's side and then on the men's side. Some of them were actually quite good, except for the fact that they kept hitting the ball on the roof and then someone would have to go and retrieve it. We would al...
Dawn L. (Elk River, Minnesota, United States)
I wanted to bring lasting change to the world, but was forever changed by Africa. The horrific and ongoing genocide in Darfur inspired my trip halfway across the world and my desire to make a change. In the presence of ongoing hate, discrimination, destruction, and poverty, I found that our world can be a warm, caring, and extraordinary place. For four weeks, the people of Bagamoyo, Tanzania welco...
Jennifer D. (Oregon, United States)
Tanzanians must be the most welcoming people in the world. People see us on the streets, and go out of their way to say "Karibu sana," welcoming us to their country. I arrived at the house at midnight, with three other volunteers I met at the airport. Mama Fatuma and the house staff was waiting up for us. They told us this would be our home, and encouraged us to live with them and each other a...
Holly (Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
I visted Costa Rica with my Twin 13 year old sons. I had the most amazing experience. Bringing my sons along was the best decision I have ever made. For the first week we volunteered at the local school and for the second week we worked at the orphanage. I was skeptical at first only because I have never been outside of the United States. My sons were excited. I had been hearing so much abou...
Kendra C. (Raleigh, United States)
"Peru is not exactly a land of milk, honey, and tranquility. But the people of Ayacucho have had more than their share of its misfortune. In spite of recent interest and investment, the trend persists. Ayacucho, and its highland neighbors Huancavelica and Apurimac, are still the nation’s poorest departments…” -New Internationalist Issue 321- March 2000 Elevated nine thousand feet in the Andes, ...
Jeff D. (Baltimore, Maryland, United States)