Volunteer Impact

"What really makes a difference over time is that people are volunteering in succession. You are a part of that chain, with volunteers before and after you. The better you do your work and the more you put in it, the stronger the chain becomes."

Nadia Savelieva, Founding Director, Russia

CCS volunteers play an important role in the community, and their individual and collective efforts have a positive impact on the people in the communities where we work. In keeping with our approach, we only work with sustainable community initiatives. Volunteers are matched to their immediate needs through our placement process, ensuring that the work is both timely and relevant. CCS in-country staff maintain strong relationships with these partner organizations year-round, and we survey them each year to confirm that our volunteers are furthering their goals and to hear their perspectives.

98% rated the volunteer impact on the population they serve as "Highly Positive" or "Positive"

Primary School, GUATEMALA
Children like to go to school because they have contact with people from different cultures and they understand that learning another language is very valuable.

School for the Deaf & Blind, CHINA
CCS volunteers offer assistance to our school's English education [program]. More importantly, they give us the opportunity to communicate with the outside world.

Home for the Elderly, PERU
CCS volunteers bring a special charm to our program. Knowing that people come from so far away to spend time with [the residents] makes them feel very special, because they have been abandoned by their own families and have been isolated for many years. [The volunteers] have a very positive effect on their self-esteem and their ability to cope with often harsh living conditions.

Community Center for Teen and Adult Education, INDIA
The impact is really positive because it is the English Language which keeps the children as candidates for mainstream educational programs. Every child has benefited by attending these classes with the volunteers.

Primary School, SOUTH AFRICA
The children are very happy! The volunteers have contributed to improving the attendance of the school. The children don't want to miss a day. Parents say their children insist on coming rain or shine. Volunteers have also helped us meet our government's social service evaluation standards.

Primary School, COSTA RICA
The volunteers have a very positive impact because our students, especially the ones with special needs, get direct assistance from the volunteers. The cultural learning that they provide to our students is very important. The students understand that the volunteers are trying to help them learn, which make the students interested in learning.

98% rated the volunteer impact on their organization as"Highly Positive" or "Positive" impact.

Home for the Elderly, PERU
CCS volunteers bring a great sensitivity. Many local people have gotten used to the situations that we face in Peru, but the volunteers make [our staff] feel that we are right by trying to change these situations of injustice, even though Peruvian society condones or accepts them as "normal." This is invaluable.

Daycare Center for Children with Disabilities, CHINA
Our staff see that there are others who care about the education of challenged kids, and this makes them feel confident and positive about their own work.

Home for Children with Disabilities, GUATEMALA
We have few economic resources, and not enough staff to take care of the children. [By] feeding the children and helping in the classroom [volunteers] alleviate the workload and reduces our stress-level.

97% rated the overall impact of CCS volunteers as "Highly Positive" or "Positive."

Orphanage, GHANA
Some of the children in public schools will now visit us to interact with the orphans and learn songs, rhymes, poems, and games that they've learned from the volunteers. To us, this is a huge impact – other children now realize that orphans have something to share, too.... Also, people in the community have begun volunteering to help at the orphanage.
School for Children with Disabilities, PERU
The local authorities and other members of the community are surprised and impressed by the presence of volunteers from abroad. They learn about the value of volunteer work and appreciate more what we are trying to do.

At Cross-Cultural Solutions, we take this work very seriously, and we commit to ensuring that our impact on the community remains positive. Our volunteers rely on us to know that their efforts are valued and appreciated, and they are truly making a contribution. Our partners rely on us to provide hands-on support to achieve their mission. We believe that the communities where we work, and the volunteers that make it all possible, deserve nothing less than our best effort.

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