At any given point during the year, there are many Cross-Cultural Solutions volunteers serving in-country, and still others preparing to go in-country. What better way to understand the CCS Experience than by following the thoughts of those experiencing it? These blogs are written exclusively by the volunteers themselves, and we’ve compiled a number of them here so you can read entries from all over the web in one place. Choose a volunteer blog to read below.
Volunteer Blog: iPenny | My spring break service learning trip to Morocco
May 09, 2012
At the volunteering placement, Ardinny and I interacted with around 30 kids of 3-5-year olds. It was truly amazing to see how little kids can learn English so fast even we both couldn’t speak their languages. I miss the 3-year-olds the most ~>.<~ They are just too cute for life!! I wish I could spend more time with them, cuddling and singing.
Volunteer Blog: My Insight Abroad « Verge Magazine
May 09, 2012
I worked with Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS) in their Insight Abroad program where we stayed for one week in Lima, Peru while volunteering in a small village just outside of the city. We stayed in a wonderful neighborhood about 15 minutes from the city’s center so it was really easy for us to get around. All the volunteers stayed in the same house, where the CCS staff where there to make meals for you, make your beds and provide a welcoming environment for you to come home to. The staff was so amazing, especially the program coordinator Kique, who was the most inspiring person I had ever met.
My All-Too Brief Time in Marrakesh « Tami Clayton
May 09, 2012
Despite the interest we both had in seeing Marrakesh, my daughter and I departed Rabat and the Cross-Cultural Solutions program feeling a little down. (You can read more about our volunteer week in Rabat with CCS here, here, here, and here.) Our time with CCS was incredible and fantastic. I highly recommend the program overall and can’t say enough positive things about it. I felt like I was finally getting that study abroad experience (minus the exams and papers) I so craved but never did when I was in college.
Volunteer Week in Morocco with Cross-Cultural Solutions: Part 3 « Tami Clayton
April 19, 2012
During the week that we spent with Cross-Cultural Solutions, our mornings were spent volunteering at the children’s hospital (which you can read more about here) and our afternoons were left open to either participate in the cultural activities that CCS offered to its volunteers or to do whatever we wanted to on our own. Given the wealth of things to do and see in Rabat, we opted for a mix of the two.
touch of love, guatemala city « the way i see it
April 16, 2012
in november 2009 neha and i went on another cross-cultural solution’s one week insight volunteer program, this time, to guatemala city. why guatemala? we both fell in love with the cultural and food of south america during our prior trip to peru and thought central america can’t be that far off, well that, and it was a spur of a moment decision and the only opening left which did not require a 24 hour flight.
besos y abrazos, lima peru « the way i see it
April 16, 2012
in april 2008 neha and i volunteered for one week with cross-cultural solutions in lima in the district of villa el salvador. forty-five percent of peru’s population lives in poverty or in extreme poverty. in 1971 two hundred families from rural areas, including the highlands, attempted to take residence in central lima and when the government resisted thousands of other families came in to support. the government did not want a bloody battle so they gave them land, basically an enormous sand dune, on the outskirts of lima and promised them basic needs such as electricity, water and sewage. today it is a very organized community therefore allowing to standout amongst other poverty-stricken communities.
Volunteer Week in Morocco with Cross-Cultural Solutions: Part 2 « Tami Clayton
April 06, 2012
After a big lunch and hearing all of the fun stories about the race, my daughter and I, along with the four others in our week-long, Insight Abroad program – Chris, Liz, Kristina, and Nicole, participated in an orientation meeting with Mohamed, the Country Director, and Abdellah, the Program Coordinator. Each of us had already received our volunteer assignments prior to leaving the States so Mohamed and Abdellah provided us with some basic information about what each of our sites would require of us.
Volunteer Week in Morocco with Cross-Cultural Solutions, Part 1 « Tami Clayton
April 02, 2012
Our train was late arriving into Rabat so we hurriedly left the station to grab a taxi. This was my first attempt at procuring one all on my own since Josephine had arranged all transportation for us in Fez. With a little help from a friendly train station attendant (who helped stop the cab driver from ripping us off), we made it to the CCS Home Base easily and quickly. I had been told by my friend that the CCS home base in Rabat was very nice, but his descriptions really didn’t do it justice. Warm, welcoming, and wonderful (for you alliteration lovers out there) – that’s how I would describe it.
