Six Months Since Siedlce... Feels Like Yesterday!

With spring right around the corner, I realize it has already been many months - nearly half a year, in fact - since my service in Poland. While many days and weeks have passed, I think about my experience often - most often the wonderful people of the region.

The staff at the manor house could not have been more welcoming, and the teachers and school administrators were so grateful for our English instruction that we felt bound to succeed! And then there were the students... These bright individuals were the reason we went to volunteer and surely the reason so many volunteers return time and time again. Their determination to learn and maximize their educational potential is awe inspiring!!

Please join me in viewing a few photos below, as I reflect on a wonderful and memorable time in my life:











Thank you for sharing in my reflection, and please feel free to contact us at anytime if you might be interested in volunteering in Poland in 2011!!

Sincerely,

Stephanie Peterson
Global Volunteers Marketing & Communications Manager

Repeat Poland Volunteer Featured in Community Magazine!

Volunteer Judy of Woodbury, Minnesota was recently featured in her community's magazine, highlighting her several Global Volunteers service program including two in Poland!

Click here to read the entire article, or read below to learn more about her experiences!

Woodbury Magazine Article

Retired science teacher Judy T. of Woodbury decided to try a volunteer trip in 1997 for the opportunity to travel, use her teaching skills and do something worthwhile. Trepka has taken six two-week trips, serving in Greece, Romania, Spain, Hungary and Poland (twice). “In Crete, Greece I helped restaurant and hotel workers with conversational English skills, and in Iasi, Romania and Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary I taught English to students,” Judy says. “On my two trips to Poland, I helped business professionals improve their English skills as well as a retired University of Warsaw professor recovering from a stroke who had lost his English speaking skills. I worked with him for two weeks, 5-6 hours a day, and by the end he could speak English again. The Polish students told me ‘It’s a miracle, and his Polish is better too!’”

Judy traveled with Global Volunteers, a St. Paul-based organization supporting more than 100 host communities through year-round volunteer service, including caring for at-risk children, teaching conversational English skills, assisting local health education efforts and completing a wide array of local projects including painting, landscaping, building playgrounds and improving public works. “As is often the case with these programs, you get more than you give,” says Judy. “And you’ll learn more about a country and its people than you will as a casual tourist. You’re expected to put in at least a 40-hour volunteer week, but the weekends are free for exploring lovely out-of-the-way places that organized tours never get to.”

Some highlights for Judy: seeing local World War II statues throughout Crete’s small villages, and enjoying paella at a restaurant in Rota, Spain in late November, “a magical time when every business and institution brought out unique, exquisitely beautiful nativity scenes,” she says. But her true highlights were the cultural, human experiences gained through volunteering.

“In Hungary, the students would immediately rise and remain standing when I until I told them they could sit down; I had never experienced that as a teacher before,” says Judy. “The food in Reymontowka, Poland was cooked with fresh produce plus milk and meat from the three-generation farm next door. I’ve never had a drink I enjoyed more than the fresh black current nectar served at breakfast.”

Poland Volunteer featured in AP Article!!

Poland volunteer Rob Kendig was recently featured in an AP article entitled, 'Retirement-age volunteers mix altruism with travel' (by Dave Carpenter). We are thrilled to have Rob featured and sharing a bit about his wonderful experience with the entire nation!!

Here is a taste of the article:

"Rob Kendig, 66, of Denver, characterizes his recent three-week experience in Siedlce, Poland, as an unpaid working vacation. He taught conversational English to two classes of middle-school students every afternoon and loved every minute of it.

The retired dentist spent $2,600 on the Global Volunteers program plus another $1,100 for airfare. He considered the expenditure something of a philanthropic gift. But he also wanted to explore teaching as a possible second career, so he found it gratifying on multiple levels.

'The Polish children were adorable and appreciative,' he says. 'Best of all, there was real work to do and the job was clear-cut.'

About 30 percent of the group's 2,000-plus volunteers a year are over 60, according to Michele Gran, who co-founded Global Volunteers in 1984. Several who participated in the early years are now returning with their adult children and grandchildren, she says.

The oldest volunteer, age 92, spent two weeks teaching English in Ghana last year and is considering going to the Cook Islands with the group in 2011."


Click on the following link to see Rob's photo, quotes, and read the whole article!!

http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/2011/01/retirement-age-volunteers-mix-altruism-travel

Thank you, Rob (below, far right), for your assistance in garnering greater interest in our Poland program!!

Vote for Global Volunteers!

From November 15 - November 21 the Star Tribune newspaper is holding a contest entitled 'Full Page Project' amongst MN non-profits and the winner will receive a free full page ad in the Sunday paper!

Please vote for us this week ~ you can vote once per hour!

Here is the link where you can register and then vote for Global Volunteers (please copy and paste the link):
http://startribune.upickem.net/engine/Registration.aspx?contestid=22815

We would also encourage you to pass this link along to your family and friends, and post it on your personal Facebbok page or blog. Let us know if you have any questions, and remember voting has begun!

Thank you for your support.

Soon we will be just a memory...

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2010

OUR FINAL DAY

Friday morning brought us together for our traditional breakfast before we embarked on our last day of classes. Everyone had a look of bittersweet anticipation. We are ready to go home, but we already miss our students, fellow volunteers, and the kind people of Poland. The experiences and memories we have will continue to increase our fondness of Poland as time goes on.

My heart ached as I entered each of my four classes at Spoleczna knowing this would be the last day with the kids I have come to love. The students, “my kids,” presented parties, gifts and speeches to relay their appreciation. Little do they realize that I am the one who is grateful to have been part of their lives.

At 6 p.m. we met for an abundant supper with the teachers and principals from the area schools. The Vice Govenor of Siedlce was present, as well as Dorota’s handsome husband, Chris, who joined us even though he had a cold.

The evening ended with Darlene, Rob, Pat and Ralph rallying for one last card game. I think the card sharks will miss each other and will all have some tall tales to tell in the future.

Soon we will be just a memory to the people and students of Poland. We have done what we were called to do. We have planted our seeds in the minds and hearts of the Polish people and they, in turn, have returned the gesture. We were given an opportunity to make a difference and I think we did.

Written by: Vickie Henige (Michigan)

Twentieth Anniversary of Global Volunteers in Poland!

Dear Volunteers,

Our partnership started together with the democratic changes in Poland. After many years of studying Russian we needed to have a well qualified English speaking Polish cadre that could lead us into the European Union and NATO.

For all these years, you have offered us the most unique form of volunteering; you have worked with us, shared your skills and time and covered all of your expenses. We would like to thank you so much for all of your help from the bottom of our hearts!

But teaching English is not everything; most importantly you have offered your friendships, openness, unselfishness and your hearts to us. Helping those in need is a very special value nowadays. Bending over another human being and showing him care and assistance is the most precious characteristic, especially in the present world. It is you, our dear friends, that dedicate your time and efforts serving the ones who wish to broaden their horizons.

We were with you on September 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks took place in the USA and you sent us your condolences when the President of Poland was killed in the plane crash in Smolensk.

We know each other, we understand each other and thanks to these contacts there is a special bond between us. We think of each other in difficult moments and share happy times with our friends.... I think this is the biggest accomplishment of our twenty years of partnership.

The volunteers have become a permanent part of our local landscape, we no longer think of them as guest but it seems that they have been with us forever.

Our time spent together is not only English classes but also long lasting friendships, exchanging letters, overcoming barriers, mutual friendships and visits!

Thank you so much again! You will remain in our memories and our hearts forever! We will never forget what you have done for us and our children with no self interest! We hope we will see each other in Poland again!

Fragments of speech offered by Zygmunt Wielogorski, Governor of Siedlce county on October 10, 2010.

A First for Jim... Hot Milk Soup!!

October 14, 2010

We started the day with our usual Polish breakfast, but this one was totally different from what I ever experienced before. For breakfast we had hot milk soup! It was a hot soup made with milk which also contained noodles in the recipe. In my previous four years in Poland, this was a first.

After breakfast, Dorota asked her usual questions. Who’s going where? Who’s coming back when? Who needs a box lunch? If Dorota should ever decide to leave her position as Program Manager in Poland, she would have little problem securing a position as a concierge at a five star hotel in Poland.

After breakfast, we all proceeded to our respective teaching assignments, mine being at Spoleczna along with Mike, Vicki, and Dr. Michael. The traffic going to Spoleczna was unusually light today because it was Teacher’s Day and many schools did not have classes. We arrived at our school in record time, and were 15 minutes early for class, which was record time. Because it was Teacher’s Day today, many of the teachers received gifts of flowers, candy and other goodies from our students.

After completion of our formal classes, we had lunch and then prepared for our next day’s teaching assignments, while some of us continued our day with tutoring assignments at Reymontowka. Later that afternoon, two local wood carvers arrived exhibiting their amazing wood carvings. They were available for viewing, and three of the volunteers purchased some of the carvings to take back to the U.S.

Before dinner, a group of us went down to the bar for some fellowship and refreshments. Well, who was down in the bar conducting classes? I bet you’d never guess! You guessed it, it was non-other than old Ralph who was conducting his classes in the bar. It’s little wonder that Ralph looks forward to his afternoon classes at Reymontowka :)

After a quick beer and some welcome fellowship, it was time for dinner again. While having dinner, I was struck with a twinge of sadness because very soon many of my fellow volunteers would be departing for home on the weekend. I fought back my sadness with the happy thought that I’d still be around for another week with the remaining eight volunteers to continue to enjoy each other, our students, and the wonderful Polish people and their culture.

Written by: JIM PODRAZA