Global Routes, a tax-exempt non-profit, is a non-governmental, non-sectarian organization committed to strengthening our global community through voluntary work overseas. To this end, we design foreign exchange programs based on community service, bringing people with different world views together. The first Global Routes program, initiated in Kenya in 1986, was the very first community service program of its kind. Through our foreign exchange programs, North American high school and college students extend themselves by living and working with people in small, rural communities throughout the world. Appropriate grassroots community development and homestays in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean are at the core of these experiences. Students work side by side with their host families on projects selected by the community, such as constructing a school, clinic or community center, teaching local children, or reforesting surrounding areas. Experiential learning covers such areas as cultural sensitivity, international development, government, politics, history, language, geology, biology, ecology, and of course, oneself. Students reflect on their own lives and situations as they become immersed in the life of their host community. Whether they teach English in Asia, build a school in Ecuador, or do volunteer work in Thailand - to name a few possibilities - they are actively engaged in expanding their horizons. Personal growth, and, through that, cross-cultural understanding, is inevitable. Our foreign exchange programs for high school students focus on developing the individual student through the experience of working, traveling, and living with a group of peers. Currently, volunteer programs for high school students exist in Belize, China, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Thailand and Vietnam. The college-level teaching internship program focuses on developing the individual’s sense of self-sufficiency. While interns receive support from their in-country director and fellow interns, they spend the majority of each week living somewhat independently in their host villages where they teach in local schools. Currently, we offer volunteer work programs overseas for college and gap-year students in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Kenya, or Thailand. These are an excellent opportunity for those who are interested in volunteer teaching jobs overseas. An intern might teach English in Asia, math in Africa, or science in South America. They might choose to volunteer for summer teaching, or take time off to go in the fall, winter, or spring. Those interested in teaching abroad have no shortage of subjects, semesters, and locations to choose from. more
