Globe Aware: Adventures in Service
Globe Aware , a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, develops short-term volunteer programs in international environments that encourage people to immerse themselves in a unique way of giving back.
Every activity in which we engage is intended to accomplish one of two things: (1) promote cultural awareness and (2) promote sustainability. For Globe Aware, the concept of cultural awareness means to recognize and appreciate the real beauties and real challenges of a culture, but not to change it. The concept of sustainability is to help others stand on their own to feet; to teach skills rather than reliance.
Chosen projects meet several key criteria: safe, culturally interesting, genuinely beneficial to a needy community, and involve significant interaction with the host community. Volunteers help to empower the host communities in creating renewable, sustainable programs. While Globe Aware's financial assistance benefits the community economically, it is actually the involvement and collaboration between the volunteers and community that is the greatest mutual benefit. Simultaneously Globe Aware organizes several optional cultural excursions throughout every program, designed to highlight local culture in a way the typical tourist can rarely experience. The organization has no political or religious affiliation.
Globe Aware currently offers eighteen programs in fifteen different countries: Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Jamaica, Romania, Nepal, India, Ghana, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Globe Aware is currently working on setting up programs in Tanzania, Russia, and Bolivia.