Feb 03
Voluntourism, as discussed in a previous blog, To Go Or Not To Go, provides a unique impact and scope compared to traditional donations. The second part of the series seeks to uncover the road of donations as compared to voluntourism in terms of reaching the destination, community impact, and the values of overhead. The analysis …
Jan 21
The United Nations is currently developing comprehensive assessments of the impact of social capital in communities and purports that volunteerism is the heart of social capital. As such, it is significant for volunteers and those creating volunteer opportunities to be mindful of the approaches and opportunities being created. To create bridging social capital requires a …
Sep 20
With the advent of global media and an increasingly connected world, the average citizen is drastically more informed and aware than yesteryear’s counterpart. This media saturation combined with man’s natural tendency to travel has produced a budding practice coined voluntourism, where socially conscious travelers are able to incorporate humanistic ambitions with new and exciting experiences …
Sep 20
Some people might wonder why I am writing a blog post about the South Thailand Insurgency. It is well known that this Islamic insurgency took place in 2004 and had experienced its peak in 2007. It may seem like an outdated conflict that had dissipated throughout the years, but it is in fact still an …
Aug 19
I’m sure most of you have heard of the island of Madagascar, particularly since the release of the Madagascar animated films, and know that the country is home to numerous animal species that cannot be found anywhere else on earth. 10,000 of the islands 12,000 plant species, for example, are endemic, as are half of the …
Jul 31
I don’t want to live like this. I don’t want to live in fear. I don’t want to live in fear of every person who comes to the door. The plumber, the electrician, the cable guy. The mailman, the FedEx driver who comes to drop off a package on the front steps. The new neighbor …
Jul 29
I spent the last month studying abroad, I have realized how differently Western Cultures actually think from each other. I’ve spent the last month traveling around Denmark and England, and have really come to realize how different the countries are from the United States. My class in Denmark focused on sustainable food efforts. This means …
Jul 10
You’ve probably heard about it. Then again, maybe not. Despite the fact that the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team has won three straight Olympic gold medals, and was runner-up in the 2011 World Cup, women’s soccer is still struggling to receive the attention and respect it deserves in both the mainstream U.S. sports media and …
Jun 14
Lao PDR has one of the highest growth rates in Southeast Asia with 6% increase every year in the last decade. Even the level of poverty has been declining. However, the country is still one of the least developed in Southeast Asia and the level of poverty is still largely apparent in this economy. Laos …
Jun 04
“First, I think girls’ education may be the single most cost-effective kind of aid work. It’s cheap, it opens minds, it gives girls new career opportunities and ways to generate cash, it leads them to have fewer children and invest more in those children, and it tends to bring women from the shadows into the …
