Author: Cosmic Volunteers

Fare Compare

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We just found a really useful airfare website that breaks down costs based on the week and months of the year. It’s called Fare Compare.

FareCompare does not sell tickets. But after you find the flight you want, you can book your ticket directly with an airline or travel agency. This information is provided free of charge for non-commercial purposes.

Sample fares for April 2007: 

New York (JFK) to Accra on American Airlines: $1094 USD

Los Angeles to Ho Chi Minh on Malaysian Airlines: $680 USD

Los Angeles to Quito (Ecuador) on Continental Airlines: $522 USD

Mike Reeder Volunteers in India

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Mike Reeder, a secondary-school teacher from Minnesota, joined our volunteer program for orphans and street children in Mumbai, India in the summer of 2006.

Mike recently sent us some thoughtful comments and photos about the experience:

Was our Volunteering Handbook for India helpful in preparing for the journey?

The guide was extremely useful and very detailed. It gave a thorough insight to what I could expect when I arrived. The “miscellaneous tips and information” section was very practical information to include. A section I thought was unique but a great idea to include was the “recommended reading” section. The last page with its closing thoughts I enjoyed reading several times.

Did you find the local Project Coordinator to be helpful?

She was extremely helpful, and I would add helpful to the point of being indispensable. I appreciated her checking in with me to see how I was doing and if there were things I needed.

How was the experience of living with a host family?

I thought it provided a genuine way to experience Indian life and culture. They were helpful in showing me parts of the neighborhood and where I could get things I needed.

Were you able to do any sightseeing on your recent trip? 

Whitewater rafting at Karjat; flying to Delhi and then taking a train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and other monuments there.

Has volunteering abroad changed you in any way? Would you volunteer again?

This is the third time I have volunteered abroad. Each time brings new experiences and new things I learn about myself as I push myself beyond my typical comfort zone. I absolutely would do it again.

Mike Reeder India Volunteer Waterfall

Mike Reeder India Volunteer Peace

Mike Reeder India Volunteer Group

Mike Reeder India Volunteer Smiles

Mike Reeder India Volunteer Mumbai

Mike Reeder India Volunteer Children

Mike Reeder India Volunteer Games

China No.1 Spot for Americans

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The U.S.-based staff of Lonely Planet has named their top three hotspots. The No. 1 choice was China, cited for its varied topography, interesting culture, affordability and emergence as a high-profile world power. According to Chinese statistics, there were 1.56 million travelers to China from the US in 2005, up 1.9 percent from 2004. The US is the fourth biggest source of tourists to China.

Kristine Deuvall Volunteers in Ghana

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Hello!!!

We have made a safe return from Africa. I had an amazing experience and would love to go back sometime in the near future. I experienced more of a culture shock coming home than I did when entering Ghana.

The people living in Ghana are truly some of the most amazing people I have ever met. My Coordinator Elvis especially was an excellent host. I will miss him a great deal. He showed us around and provided emotional support when needed – which was very comforting, considering meeting the children for the first time was very emotional for me.

I enjoyed living with a host family. Both families we stayed with were supportive and friendly. With both families we ate well. It only took a couple days to learn that you do not share your hard boiled egg in Ghana. Again – both families were very accommodating and took good care of us.

Elvis was able to be our tour guide. We saw Cape Coast (which is simply amazing) and the Volta Region (Ho Hoe) – which was probably my favorite place. The town that sat on the side of the mountain in Ho Hoe was breathtaking. We hiked back to Wli Falls which was just sublime. The people that reside in Ho Hoe are true survivors, as they thrive in their primitive community.

I pay so much respect to all those who live in Ghana. They are the hardest working people I have ever met. I have never seen so many smiles from people that have to work so hard for everything they have. We take so much for granted here in the US.

It was difficult to see how many children are sent to work rather than going to school. I felt horrible when I was not in a position to buy whatever the children were selling (i.e. pure water, tooth paste, fried plantains…). It was also difficult to see families sleeping on the streets and people with disabilities having no adaptive equipment.

This trip definitely changed me in so many ways and I expect it to continue doing so as I reflect on this experience. My perspective and outlook on life is much broader now. I view my community on a much larger scale and realize that we have it rather good here in the US. I am not proud to be an American but I feel fortunate to have access to resources and have many accommodations readily available.

I feel as though I have only scratched the surface- but I definitely want to go back to Ghana someday – I fell in love with the people, country, and most of all the culture.

Thank you for all that you guys and gals did to make this dream of mine a reality. When I return to Ghana I will be arranging my visit through Cosmic Volunteers, will highly recommended your services to friends and family who are interested in volunteering in the future.

Truly, Kristine

Kristine Deuvall (USA)
Orphanage and HIV/AIDS Volunteer in Ghana

Kristine’s Album:

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Anna Ford Health Care Internship in Kenya

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Anna Ford recently spent three weeks working in our program health care internship Kenya.

She volunteered at a medical clinic in the Kibera section of Nairobi.

The photos of Kibera really give you an idea of the environmental challenges faced by volunteers doing our health care internship Kenya program. The neighborhoods are usually very poor with trash and lack of infrastructure.

Anna’s volunteer program in Kenya was a break from her normal job as an emergency room nurse in New York City.

Kenya Medical Volunteer Anna Ford

Kenya Medical Volunteer Anna Ford

Kenya Medical Volunteer Anna Ford

Kenya Medical Volunteer Anna Ford

Gap Year Show London

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Cosmic Volunteers rented a booth at the recent Times Gap Year Show in London on Nov 17-18, 2006.

The show is one of the largest travel trade shows in the world. It gives students considering or planning a gap year abroad the opportunity to talk directly with organizations like Cosmic Volunteers for ideas about programs, preparations, support, etc.

The show took place at the London Excel exhibition center which will host several events for the 2012 Olympics.

The concept of the “gap year” is well-established in the UK and Australia, but in America the concept is not nearly as familiar. Gap years typically take place between high school and university, with students spending extended time abroad either working, volunteering, or simply sightseeing. They don’t always last a full year, sometimes only several months.

We do have alot of UK gap year students join Cosmic Volunteers’ program abroad each year. However in the UK we are not nearly as well-known as some other volunteer organizations.

That’s why I felt it was important to come to the 2-day show and get the word out about our programs abroad. In fact I was actually glad to hear visitors come up to our booth and say they had never heard of us. That’s exactly why we went there.

Most visitors wanted to know about the projects we offer, the length of stay, and of course about the cost. Most were surprised (and excited) to hear that the costs of our programs are much less than most other organizations, often by 50% or more.

Gap Year Show Scott Patrick Burke

Gap Year Show Scott Burke

Gap Year Show Buckingham Palace

Gap Year Show Excel London

Gap Year Show Volkswagen Bug

Gap Year Show Sports Venturer

Gap Year Show Your Safe Planet

Gap Year Show Dinosaurs

Nepal Volunteer Programs are Back!

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We are once again accepting participants for our volunteer programs in Nepal. The programs there had been on hold for the past year, due to the political situation in Nepal.

But with the peace agreement signed in recent weeks between the Nepali government and Maoists, we fully expect the country to remain stable and for our volunteers to be warmly welcomed once again by our many Nepali friends.

We have already started signing up participants for our volunteer programs in Nepal for 2007. The programs will be based in the capitol city Kathmandu and will include teaching, orphanages and medical volunteering.

Waverly Dolaman Volunteers in India

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Waverly Dolaman, from Arlington, Virginia, participated in our 28-Day Cultural Tour in Bangalore, India in August 2006. She wrote to us recently about her experience. There is a snippet below.

I had an amazing time on my recent volunteer trip to India. Below please find my responses to the volunteer questionnaire.

Pretrip Guide 
The pre-trip guide was extremely helpful. The most useful part of the guide was the packing list because it covered all of the important things to bring. W

Program Outline
While some of the activities of the program were conducted in a different order than listed on the website, the website outlined the entire program accurately.

Project Coordinator
The local project coordinator was great! She answered all of our questions and conducted a daily morning meeting to go over the activities for the day.

Sightseeing
A large component of the cultural tour included visits to sightseeing sites in South India. The most enjoyable places that I visited were Hampi and Mamallapuram. Hampi had amazing ruins and Mamallapuram was great because I went to the beach and did some shopping.

Do you believe the experience of volunteering abroad changed you in any way? Would you volunteer again? 
Volunteering abroad gave me a greater understanding of India. The conversations and one-on-one interactions that I had with people provided me with firsthand insight that I could not get from any book. I have a great sense of accomplishment after completing my volunteer project and truly believe that the people I helped appreciated my efforts. Finally, volunteering made me extremely grateful for all the gifts that I have been given in life and reminded me of how lucky I am. I would certainly volunteer abroad again with Cosmic Volunteers because it is a great way to gain exposure to another culture while helping those who are less fortune.

Nine Hills to Nambonkaha

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Nine Hills to NambonkahaSarah Erdman was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ivory Coast for two years (1998-2000).

Her book about the experience, Nine Hills to Nambonkaha, is a engrossing account of her time as “…an educated Western woman living in a tiny, traditional, West African village on the cusp of change.”

This book is a must-read for anyone thinking of volunteering in Ghana, West Africa, or Africa in general.

Sarah started out with maternal and child health for local villagers. But by the end of her stay she focused on birth control and AIDS prevention.

I read it when it came out in 2003, after my first trip to West Africa. I was in Ghana for about one week visiting villages like the ones described by Sarah.

Ghana, which shares a border with Ivory Coast, seems to have many of the same healthcare problems, culture, and lives of the people as that country.