Our Story
"I wanted us to create something that's short term, but still meaningful."Steve Rosenthal, Executive Director & Founder, Cross-Cultural Solutions
In 1994, Steve Rosenthal took the money he had saved as an engineer at AT&T and bought a one-way ticket to Nepal. Having spent all of his life in North America, he wanted to see the world and come to a greater understanding of people in other cultures. After traveling throughout Nepal, he continued on to visit India, Thailand, Indonesia, Uganda, Egypt, Kenya, Jordan, and Israel. He met hundreds of people and began to learn of their lives, their struggles and their successes.
In this year of fascinating and fulfilling travels, one week stood out from the rest. While in Kenya, he got in touch with an old friend who was volunteering with the Peace Corps. Together, they traveled to a small village in the Turkana region. His friend had been working in the village where the community was in the process of building a medical clinic. For little more than a week, Steve lived and worked in the village. He helped build the clinic and became friends with many of the children for whom it was being made. After leaving the village, he continued to travel, but something about the village in Kenya stayed in his mind.
Returning Home
When he returned home to the United States, Steve told friends about the places he had visited and the scope of his travels. The more he told, the more he realized the true value of his time in Kenya. It was as if, for one week, he was no longer just a tourist, but rather an inhabitant of the small village. The sense of accomplishment that came along with not only learning, but working on a project with social impact, helped him feel at home there. For the villagers, the benefits were obvious; more hands meant the clinic would be built more quickly, while for Steve, the rewards didn't become clear until his return to the U.S.
In Kenya, Steve had the unique opportunity usually only available to people who have committed years to volunteering. The more he thought about his time in Kenya, the more he wondered if it was possible to organize this type of experience for others. He knew that creating an organization capable of providing this kind of experience would take more than just one person. Although it was Kenya that originally inspired him, there was a vibrant community of grass-roots organizations in India that he believed would be open to his ideas.
Getting Set Up
After only a few months back in the U.S., Steve left for Delhi.
There, he brought together a number of local development experts who were capable of finding the areas in
which volunteers would be the most helpful. Some talked about the need for better schools,
while others talked about health care. Among the most enthusiastic of the group was long-time
community organizer, Bela Singh. Bela's work with mentally
challenged children in India had brought her in touch with hundreds of volunteers and dozens of communities for
which volunteers were needed. Together the two decided to create Project India.
Project India (which was soon re-named Cross-Cultural Solutions) provided a framework in which volunteers from around the world could take part in ongoing work within local communities in Delhi. One of the primary goals of the organization was to follow the lead of local organizers and provide them a helping hand without imposing outside ideas. At the heart of their philosophy was a respect for these communities. This meant creating a Cross-Cultural Solutions Experience in which volunteers could integrate smoothly into the lives of local community residents who live and work there year-round. Project India's focus would be the facilitation of meaningful, sustainable community development that is locally designed and driven, while providing a safe and comfortable environment in which volunteers could get to know the country.
They began by setting up a Home-Base for the volunteers that would be appropriate for the cultural norms of the country. They recruited local staff that could guide volunteers through Indian life and give them greater access to the cultural resources available, and partner organizations interested in accommodating short-term volunteers. Before long, everything was in place and Steve returned to the U.S. to begin the second stage of the project, recruiting volunteers.
Launching the Program
At first it was slow, but Steve and Bela pushed forward, knowing that people would eventually recognize the true value of a locally driven volunteer program. After nearly a year in which only a few volunteers were sent, word began to get out. Those who had gone were amazed at the depth of such a short experience, and began to tell friends. With the success stories of each new volunteer, it became clear that this unique approach to volunteering was filling a valuable niche. By 1997, only three years after Steve had left on his initial trip to Nepal, programs in India were filling up with volunteers.
As interest in short-term volunteering grew, the organization grew with it. Steve began his search for a second location, and with Besa Amenuvor, a Ghanian community leader, they created a second program in Ghana. There they partnered with organizations working on sustainable community development projects. With the success of this program came the realization that the Cross-Cultural Solutions' approach was one capable of crossing many borders, and a third program was opened in Peru. Soon there were multiple programs, each locally run, which allowed Cross-Cultural Solutions an even greater opportunity to build on its mission of bringing people together to work and learn, fostering cultural understanding.
Today
Today, more than 15,000 volunteers have participated in Cross-Cultural Solutions programs around the world, and each volunteer has had the opportunity to work closely with local people and experience volunteering in a new way. They have become part of a movement of volunteers who work and learn together, benefiting local communities through their efforts and gaining a new perspective of the world as well as a new-found knowledge of another country. For Steven Rosenthal, it has been the opportunity to give others a chance to experience what he experienced in Kenya.
©2007 Cross-Cultural Solutions. All Rights Reserved.
