"Spring into Service" in Portugal!!

“Spring into Service” with Global Volunteers to receive a special limited discount offer for our March and April teams!

Four or more volunteers who apply by January 31 for any of these 28 teams in 16 countries will receive a discount of $200 off our standard service program fee, per volunteer, for one-, two- or three-week international programs or $100 off our standard service program fee, per volunteer, for USA programs. No other discounts apply.

Please encourage others to volunteer in our five fundamental project areas: education (especially promotion of girls education), labor and community infrastructure, health care, child care, and food and nutrition.

Call us at 800-487-1074 for details and we'll assist you every step of the way. Our worldwide host communities can’t wait to welcome you!!

Check out this link for more details & service program dates: http://globalvolunteer.org/special/springspecial.asp

Portugal Service Program Dates, March & April Teams:
30-Apr-11 to 14-May-11

Please Vote for Global Volunteers in the Full Page Project Contest!

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.

Fall 2010 ~ A Few Photos from our latest Volunteer Team

The Countdown is Sadly Underway...

Wednesday, 6 October 2010

Thought for the day: “Tomorrow is today, kid.” Graffiti on Rua dos Enfantes

Wednesday, the morning after our memorable celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Portuguese Republic at Escola Santa Maria. Thank you notes were written in both English and Portuguese by Ann 2 and delivered to our host, Joao Fernandes, by AB.
Suddenly we all realized that our time in Beja was coming to a close. Maps in hand, we began to scurry throughout town, visiting museums and churches, many in place before Jamestown and Plymouth! Sun and blue skies continue to favor our exploration.

Brian and Tutu recalled a story of a broken ceramic spoon holder that Pam had told us. They pursued and then presented a replacement spoon holder to her, clearly heralding Beja and handsomely wrapped from our appreciative team.

Announcements continued:
Thursday evening we were invited to dinner at the library hosted by our Portuguese teachers.

Friday, Barbara, our hotel keeper, is hosting a dinner for us here at 8:30pm.

Saturday morning schedule: Our final Beja breakfast will be at 6:45am, with luggage in the lobby for a 7:15am departure by cab. We will go by bus to Lisbon, provided by the railroad company and be dropped off at the familiar Oriente RR Station.

Just as we were gaining confidence in our roles as a volunteer, the countdown was sadly underway. Café Sagres raised the bar with delectable chocolate mousse and crème brulee.

Carol

"Portugese maps are not quite precise."

Friday, October 1

Quote for the day: “Portuguese maps are not quite precise.” Fellow lost wanderer in Evora.

Breakfast and lunch have settled into a familiar pattern which no longer bears repeating. Once again, Pam improved on dinner (how can it continue to get better!!) salmon, potatoes, a great soup followed by delectable ice cream.

Tutu and Ann 2. are working in a school that Carlos labels a recycling school. It is one of the tech schools for tourism and environmentalism. Carol and Babs play against each other: Midwest north (MN) vs southeast (FL) which resulted in great interaction, generating questions. They have found the school could use sports teams. Leonard was playing sports charades and found himself demonstrating wrestling with a young Ukranian.

We find a number of students from different countries. Romanians seem to be in many classes. Brenda P. and Ann encountered two Romanians in one class; one was a good student. In one class Bryan and Ann found Spanish, German, Romanian, and Dutch students.

Brenda C.’s back has improved enough to walk to school. Brenda P and Ann toured museums with one of their teachers.

There will be 7 going to Evora on Saturday; 7 on Sunday to several small towns in a van provided by the municipality. Kudos to Carol and Pam for arranging those excursions.

AB

Talents are noted and utilized !!!

Wednesday, 29 September 2010

Thought for the day: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” Helen Keller

Our day began early as the bell rings at 8:15 for most of the classes at which we are assisting. Our large, delicious breakfast is available at 7:00am each day. All 12 of us are quite happy with our assignments.

There has been some reassigning of volunteers to be certain we attain the total hours needed to complete our contract. Additional hours are added at some schools as the week progresses. As the volunteers’ talents are noted, new assignments are given. Bryan, the actor, has been asked to work with the drama class. Babs and Carol were invited to stay and volunteer at a “Catholic Issues” session where current and political events were discussed. They couldn’t believe how closely this correlated to what’s happening in the U.S. One volunteer was approached by a student indicating how disappointed she was that English was not being taught in the 12th grade. Leonard volunteered with six special needs children and was also quite pleased with the professional help he gave to a teacher in a short period of time. Some of us had issues getting our US money converted to Euros. Ann was pleased that she finally was able to complete a transaction for conversion.

We ended our volunteer work with a meeting where Joaquin presented another session in learning to speak Portuguese. He brought a special treat to us in that his niece presented a history of Portugal in very fine English. From this presentation we learned of a must-see museum that has lots of artifacts to continue to tell the story.

Dinner was served family style with salmon-to-die-for and many local dishes that were quite tasty. Six individual desserts were shared by all which just reinforces how well our group can share with each other.

Bonnie

First Day of Teaching in Beja!

Monday, 27 September 2010

Thought for the day: “I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.” Walt Whitman

The day begins with marmalade (a Portuguese word), morning chatter, meeting. Off to library to meet teachers. Leonard and I go to Dom Manuel H.S. with Maria João, get schedule. In first class, we are supposed to talk about teenagers back in the 1950s and teenagers today. Rehearsed some memories over lunch about life in the 50’s—much laughter.

Then Leonard and I went to teach our 2:30 class with Maria João. Each of us spoke briefly about the categories on Senhora Joao’s handout which included entertainment, dreams and anxieties, signs of rebellion, fashions and styles of American teens in the 50’s and early 60’s. Students very polite though, as expected, hesitant to speak English. One boy asked me if I went to Woodstock, (answer: no) another about what women did back then if they didn’t go to college. Teacher made valiant efforts to elicit feedback from students about what they learned and assigned a composition topic for homework that asked them to summarize what Leonard and I said. It would be fun to read them, but we won’t get a chance.

Meeting; language, culture lesson, dinner, bed…

Barbara

I Wish You Each a Lifetime of Dreams...

23 April 2010

Written by Leon

Friday morning arrived filled with sunshine and anticipation of a great last day in our school assignments. Maria and Leon went to the Mario Beiero school to meet with two sixth grade classes and one eigth grade class. We had a fun day with the students singing American folk songs and Maria added a special touch as she led the students in games and fun activities. Rocky and Reita dazzled the students at the Professional School while Kathleen and Joe helped to build a bridge between the seniors and some tenth grade students in Beja.

Our afternoon was taken by last minute shopping, preparation for packing and general relaxation. We look forward to an evening concert at the Biblioteca and dinner later at one of Beja’s finest: Pulo de Lobo.

And now, as we prepare to leave, I would like to leave you with these thoughts: WE all arrived in Portugal and Beja with our dreams of helping to wage peace with another culture through mutual communication, interaction and respect. I truly believe our dreams came true during our two weeks in Beja.

Langston Hughes, one of America’s greatest Black poets wrote a beautiful poem about dreams. It goes:

Hold fast to dreams
for if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
that cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
for when dreams go
Life is a barren field
frozen with snow

So, to each member of this wonderful team, and to our truly outstanding leader, I wish each of you a lifetime of dreams.

Love is the Universal Language

21 April 2010

Written by Maria

Message for the Day: Love is the Universal Language

Today began with my usual walk to school with Ann entertaining me along the way. We were at school for 4.5 hours and one highlight of our day occurred when 2 of our students played a little concert on their recorders for us. The 2nd highlight was at the end of our last class when the students hugged and kissed us goodbye. Ann claims she hadn’t kissed that much since her courting days but I suspect she is just being modest. Unfortunately for Ann there would be no ice cream since the little shop in the school was closed!

After class, the majority of us went to Vidiguera where we visited a Vasco da Gama school museum, an olive oil factory and a winery. Our day concluded with an incredible feast at our local hotspot Luis da Rocha which we enjoyed in the company of Barbara and Hugo our gracious hosts.

So, what have I learned on this trip to Beja? Well:

- Kathleen pretends to be sweet and demure but she is really a cougar with an extensive knowledge of many things. She is so smart
- Rocky is a human garbage can with an incredible, intelligent curiosity about the world
- Leon is a lover of foursomes…in golf, with a kind and gentle spirit and who has great compassion and takes extra time with troubled children
- Ann is greedy when it comes to ice cream and chocolate but has been my biggest cheerleader and constantly makes all of us laugh by entertaining us with her crazy antics
- Reita is a friendly librarian who likes to “do the Dewey” but underneath it all is incredibly strong, brave and courageous woman. And,
- Joe is unflappable both as a leader and, he has turned out to be a very thoughtful and funny team leader who works very hard to ensure that we have a wonderful experience here in Beja.

As for me, I’ve discovered that:
- I am braver and stronger than I ever imagined
- Heartbreak and disappointment are best gotten over by giving of yourself to others
- There is still, despite much negativity in this world, many kind, thoughtful and generous people.

A Great Start to a Wonderful Journey!

14 April 2010

Written by Maria

Message for the Day: Life isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey.


Today started off very rushed as I quickly tried to get ready for school. Ann and I headed out to the middle school and fortunately found our way quite easily, getting home however was a different story. We had a variety of students at different levels and had a great experience. During one of our break, we explored the Beja Castle and tried to imagine what it would’ve been like to live there. We then returned to the school to watch some students practice the dance they will perform at a celebration next month.

The kids were shy at first, looking at Ann and I as we watched them, but it was so fun to see them slowly warm up. After school, Joaquim took us on a walking tour which ended with a torrential downpour but while our clothes were soaked, our spirits were definitely not dampened as we made our way to Salada de Fruitas, an Italian restaurant. We indulged ourselves in banana pizza, pasta and of course red wine.

As I reflect on our time here thus far, I think about the days that led up to this trip. When I first made plans to join Global Volunteers in Portugal, I was excited at the prospect of challenging myself to travel alone and to teach, as I dread any sort of public speaking. But a few days before I left Maryland, I was filled with fear, anxiety and apprehension. Questions such as “What if no one likes me?” “What if I get lonely?” and “What if I am awful at teaching?” were pervasive and my excitement began to fade.

Fast forward to 5 days later and those thoughts and fears no longer exist. It has been a true joy getting to know this motley crew, all of us with different backgrounds and personalities yet bonded by our eagerness to learn about and explore Portugal and share our knowledge of English with our students. We’ve laughed at our attempts to speak the language, we’ve explored and gotten lost in the town, we’ve shared stories about ourselves and our teaching experiences and we’ve enjoyed delicious food and wine every day.

It has been a great start to a wonderful experience.

It Was Destiny

11 April 2010

Written by Joe Testa

Message of the Day: "Do not overlook tiny good actions, thinking they are of no benefit; even tiny drops of water, in the end, will fill a large vessel." - Anonymous

I truly believe that it was destiny that Beja and Global Volunteers discovered one another. After all, legend has Beja recognized as a peace center dating back to the Romans and Global Volunteers is all about promoting peace through mutual understanding – a “perfect match.”

Today was about coming together as a team, learning about our mission here and the beginning of formulating many new friendships.

It began with a scenic, peaceful journey through the countryside of Portugal. Along the way we discovered orchards of cork and olive trees, grape vineyards and beautiful storks nesting on the poles above.

We arrived and quickly settled into our new home for the next two weeks – Residencial Bejense.

After lunch we gathered for orientation. We discussed the dos and don’ts to remain safe and healthy, reviewed the Global Volunteers manual and what to expect in our new culture. The group settled on six team goals to focus on. We concluded by agreeing on 12 characteristics that are essential for us to become a cohesive and effective team.

Dinner at the Tem Avondo; a favorite of previous teams, ended the arduous but productive day. We dined on a feast of traditional foods accompanied by local wines.

So what have I discovered about this eclectic group in one short day? I learned that one volunteer is honored to be on anyone’s list for whatever reason. That another volunteer is oblivious to the traditional greeting and is going right for the lips. That one has differences with a neighbor over what is considered a political statement and the other assumes is “trash.”

That still another who admits to be shy about kissing when greeting someone demonstrated no inhibitions jumping into the arms of a gentleman that she had met on a previous trip. She claims that she was pushed but I surmise that it was voluntary and spontaneous.

My intuition tells me that this group, although small in numbers will accomplish much and make a real difference.