Posted by Randy LeGrant on Fri, Mar 20, 2009
Fridays are fraught with a dose of reality. If I get a bill I want to dispute, it comes too late on Friday to do much about it. If I plan a family outing, it rains. My dog always gets sick on a Friday and I have the call the emergency number for the vet and that costs $50 more.
So this Friday, Sue Ann Young (yes, I'm using her last name) sent GeoVisions a link to her Smilebox. I've never heard of Smilebox. Turns out it's an Internet scrapbook of sorts. So anyway, I clicked on Sue Ann's link. She's a member of the Conversation Corps. In France. She's living with a family and tutoring Adeline and Emile in conversational English. Sue Ann is volunteering 15 hours a week to this family in France so the two girls can improve their English. For that she gets free room and board. In Séné. Pretty much on the coast. Stunning.
Well here...you be the judge. Here is the link to Sue Ann's Smilebox. Here's what you do:
1. Click the link and let Smilebox load in your browser.
2. Move the Slow to Fast button to S L O W.
3. Press Play.
If it isn't Friday when you read this and try it...go for it.
If it IS Friday, go ahead and do it anyway. It isn't like you're going to dispute the slides.
If you like what Sue Ann is doing and if you like how she's communicating her trip you can let her know by leaving her a message. I did. I liked it. Not my message. Sue Ann's Smilebox. It actually did make me smile.
I'm a real sucker for stuff like this. I'd like you to encourage Sue Ann. Leave her a message and wish her well. Encourage her to post more photos. Let her know you are proud that she's taking this huge step to travel abroad, live for 2 months with people she's never met, and tutor two young ladies in conversational English.
I did. Even on this Friday. Here is the message I left for Sue Ann:
Dear Sue Ann,
I could not be more proud at this moment. What a great way to begin your Conversation Corps assignment. I was fine until I saw the photo of Adeline and Emilie. It hit me right then what Conversaton Corps members like you bring to a family and to the lives of those you touch and help. I was just so proud to be a part of the program. And when I got to the slide of "How could you not want to paint the red sails?" I just sat back and thought...I have the coolest job in the world. Quite literally.
This happens each day in 15 countries, Sue Ann. I guess I take it for granted. I won't today. Thank you so much for sharing this with us and your talents with the world.
Safe travels,
Randy LeGrant
Executive Director
GeoVisions
Posted by Randy LeGrant on Mon, Mar 16, 2009
A week from now I fly to Vienna for a week. I've been to Salzburg and Innsbruck but never Vienna. There are meetings I plan to attend on today's economy and our industry as well as sessions on new trends and issues inside Voluntourism. I'm also going to be meeting with 19 of our partners and member offices who are coming to Vienna. It's always a great time when all of us are together. We never seem to do it enough.
A first for me, I plan to Blog each day and do some live Tweets while I'm there. Hopefully I'll be able to upload some photos and video. I've never traveled as a blogger or tweeter before, so I'm a little worried that it will take more time than I think and will cramp my style.
Vienna is the city of Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss, Brahms, Mahler and Schönberg. It is also the city of grand imperial palaces with baroque interiors, museums flanking magnificent squares and, above all, the Hofburg – where the Habsburg rulers lived and loved.
I just learned that 50% of the city space is parkland. The Danube on one side, the Vienna Woods on the other with an historical center I plan to investigate after our meetings on Saturday. It should be a great trip.
Randy
Posted by Randy LeGrant on Sun, Mar 01, 2009
Conversation Corps-Egypt is here. Magnificent monuments are everywhere. The pointed perfection of the Pyramids of Abu Sir, soaring minarets of Cairo's skyline, and majestic tombs and temples of Luxor are just a few of the wonders that generations of visitors have admired during their city sojourns, jaunts up and down the Nile and expeditions through spectacularly stark desert landscapes. Awaiting you are families who want to learn or improve their English.
Conversation Corps-China has arrived. A journey through this colossus of a country is a mesmerizing encounter with the most populous and perhaps most culturally idiosyncratic nation on earth. Families are looking for native English speakers to tutor them in English in return for free room and board.
Remember that the
Conversation Corps is a volunteer program, whereby you volunteer to tutor a family up to 15 hours each week to teach or improve their English. In return, volunteer tutors receive free room and board. Conversation Corps tutors usually have days and weekends free to immerse themselves into the culture of their host country.
Conversation Corps tutors must be native English speakers.Conversation Corps-China includes airport transportation, 2 nights in a 3-star Beijing Hotel at the start of the program for a formal orientation and a 1/2 day tour. Transport to the family is also included as well as meals and accommodation during orientation.
Interested in a more traditional volunteer program? Think Cambodia. The
medical volunteer projects located in the Northern Cambodian countryside involve working with local and international NGOs. The renovations of several medical outpost/heath centers in these remote areas is done in cooperation with the provincial public health department. In addition, volunteers may work on the follow up of a project initiated by the international development NGO, Malteser, replenishing medical aid kits in over 60 village communities. For participants with a professional medical training, it will be possible to assist local medical staff in the Health centers or to organize first aid refreshers training for villagers.
Find out more about this amazing project in Northern Cambodia and apply now to have the most amazing experience of a lifetime.
Email us for more information. Remember, at GeoVisions you can apply for free. We take no form of payment until you have been confirmed.
The GeoVisions Global Work and Service Team