After 16 years we decided this week to change the logo for Cosmic Volunteers a bit.
That’s the new logo above. It looks kind of the same as the old one, but there are some changes:
The new slogan is: “service trips abroad since 2001”.
The old slogan was: “it’s a big universe. go see it.”.
We also capitalized the “C” and the “V” in Cosmic Volunteers.
The logo modification was done by logo_design66 in Pakistan for $5 via the site www.fiverr.com.
Here is a 3-D version:
The Ministry of Social Affairs in Cambodia has just announced that children under the age of three will no longer be accommodated in residential care centres by the end of next year.
Cambodia also announced that the building of new orphanages will be banned.
That last announcement is especially hopeful.
But it’s not the first time a country has made such a promise but did not keep it:
In 2004 Romania government officials promised that by 2007 all its orphanages (which then housed about 35,000 children) would be closed down. But in 2010 there were still over 19,000 at orphanages in Romania.
We at Cosmic Volunteers no longer send volunteers to orphanages.
Why?
Over the years, many international organizations including UNICEF have uncovered the often horrible treatment of children in orphanages. Also they estimate that 80 to 90 percent of children in orphanages have at least one living parent.
The good news:
There are many organizations and individuals who are helping to reunite children with their biological families. And for true orphans, to find caring families who will adopt them.
One such organization is Hope and Homes for Children in the UK.
Hope and Homes for Children works alongside governments and civil society organisations in over 30 countries to dismantle orphanage-based care systems.
As Halya Postliuk, their Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, writes [emphasis mine]:
“[In Ukraine] orphans make up only 9% of all the children confined to orphanages…The remaining children are placed in institutions at their parents’ requests as a result of poverty…because this is the only way they can access education, health and rehabilitation services for their children. Our research also demonstrated that not a single family of a child placed in an institution because of poor living conditions received adequate social support.”
Another NGO, called Next Generation Nepal (NGN), works alongside the Nepali government to rescue children from abusive orphanages and bring them to a transit home. The transit homes provide shelter, protection, health care and education, until the team at Next Generation Nepal can find the child’s parents and reunite them with their family.
Founded in 2006 by Conor Grennan, NGN has linked hundreds of trafficked children in its care to their home communities in Nepal through a careful process of reconnection and reunification.
Conor wrote a best-selling book Little Princes that describes his work with NGN.
As always, we at Cosmic Volunteers will continue monitoring important aspects of voluntourism for you, especially as it relates to the people we try to help through our volunteer programs abroad.
The Lady Buddha Statue in Danang is the tallest Buddha statue in Vietnam and well worth the effort to visit.
The statue is located in the coastal city of Danag. Participants of our volunteering programs in Vietnam always tell us how much they love visiting Danang overall.
Located at the Linh Ung Pagoda on the Son Tra Peninsula in Danang, the Lady Buddha Statue is 220 feet tall (67 meters) — equivalent to a 30-story building.
Danang is the third largest city in Vietnam and one of its major port cities. Located on the coast of the South China Sea, Danang is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam
Here are some photos of the Lady Buddha Statue taken by one of our volunteers in Vietnam:
The Cerro de la Cruz is one of the must-see attractions in Antigua, Guatemala.
La Cruz (“The Cross”) is in an elevated park cut into a hill on the north side of Antigua.
I visited La Cruz a couple of days ago as I was finishing my trip here to host our volunteers in Guatemala.
My photos are at the end of this post.
I still love visiting La Cruz every time I am in Antigua. The place never gets old!
At La Cruz you can see the entire town of Antigua and get an unobstructed view of Volcan Agua.
Go on a clear day for the best possible viewing. It is best to go early morning, say by 8 am, before the clouds roll in and cover things up.
Although it difficult to get lost in Antigua — because of its small size and perpendicular street layout — La Cruz can also serve as a good landmark for newbies to the town.
La Cruz has had a bad reputation for years with robberies and assaults of tourists.
But the city has mostly ended the daytime dangers by having police patrol La Cruz from 8am to 4pm daily.
To reach the top of La Cruz, you must walk about 300 steps. Many of the “steps” are long and flat, so it is not too tough of a journey.
How to Reach La Cruz
Facts About Cerro de la Cruz
One of the most exciting excursions our volunteers do when volunteering in Guatemala is hiking Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala.
The entire Pacaya Volcano experience is a “half-day” excursion, usually lasting from 8am to 2pm door-to-door from the city of Antigua (where many of our volunteers live and work).
Most people who volunteer in Guatemala get the chance to hike the volcano — whether they are building houses or volunteering at an orphanage.
Hiking Pacaya Volcano is an incredibly rewarding experience but also very challenging physically.
You essentially need to be fit enough to walk up a hill for 2-3 straight hours.
You will sweat a lot but the air is windy and cool (especially at the top) so you’ll feel a bit clammy at times. Best to dress in layers.
Pacaya Volcano Album on our Facebook page
You can though hire a horse to take you up the volcano. It costs $20-$30 and there are horses and guides stationed throughout the hike.
You can start out on foot to see how you feel, then hire a horse ride if you don’t feel up to hiking.
Pacaya is an active volcano. Its last major eruption was very recent — in 2010, with ash columns up to 1,500 meters high and ash and volcanic debris raining down on Guatemala City and many surrounding small towns.
You probably won’t see any rivers of lava on your hike. But at certain points you can see smoke rising from the ground and feel the lava’s heat on your feet.
In fact at one stop on the hike, our guide gives out marshmallows that you roast using the heat rising from the earth.
The volcano and surrounding area now lie within Pacaya National Park which was created to supervise and protect tourism in the region. The park generates its income from entrance fees from tour groups like ours.
The views at the top of Pacaya Volcano are simply spectacular.
The amazing views include the volcanoes Fuego, Acatenango, and Agua as well as Guatemala City, Antigua, and dozens of villages.
Our host organization for our travelers volunteering in Bangalore India is the Lovedale Foundation.
Cosmic Volunteers’ Director Scott Burke first visited the Lovedale Foundation in Bangalore in 2004 to establish our partnership.
Scott spent several days at the Lovedale Foundation with founder Jeny Verma. She gave Scott and his sister Susan (on her first-ever trip to India) a tour of her children’s home, office and the Bangalore area itself.
The experience easily convinced Scott to start programs here for volunteering in Bangalore India.
Miss Verma has won numerous awards in India for her work humanitarian work including:
The Lovedale Foundation is a not profit organization with a mission to “…unleash the potential of under-served children from stone quarry’s, orphanages, streets and slums since 2001.”
They are a first-class organization doing tremendous work for kids in India.
We hope to continue sending people to our volunteering in Bangalore India program with the Lovedale Foundation for many years to come.
Our travelers have always loved volunteering in Cuzco, Peru. Our volunteer programs in Cusco include teaching English and working at medical clinics.
Today Lucas Peterson, the FRUGAL TRAVELER from the New York Times, recently wrote an article on Cuzco.
The short version? He loved it!
He visited the San Pedro Market, “…a massive covered expanse (it seems slightly larger than a football field) where vendors sell an array of items, like textiles and cuy, or guinea pig.”
He ate too. As he says, “Peruvians are fanatical about their pollo a la brasa — roasted chicken — and there are a number of pollerías where you can try the salty, greasy dish.”
More on Lucas’ experience with the food in Cusco:
“The tapas at Cicciolina, which included Peruvian duck ham with chile, scallops with avocado and a Cuzqueñan salad of corn, cheese and fava beans, can be had à la carte (10 soles each) or as a selection of five (chef’s choice, 30 soles). I enjoyed a salad of local organic lettuce and prawns coated in blue-black quinoa with a maracuyá (passion fruit) vinaigrette (36 soles). Other food options on this end of the spectrum include La Bodega 138, where I had a decent 39-sol Estrella pizza with mushrooms, salami and ham, and a local Peruvian beer for 16 soles.”
Scott Burke at Visitation BVM School
Cosmic Volunteers’ Director Scott Burke made a visit last week to his niece’s 8th grade class at Visitation BVM Catholic School. He talked about his 17 years in the field of international volunteering.
“They were a great group of incredibly attentive and inquisitive students,” said Scott. “Special thanks to teacher Mrs. Poot for the invite and organizing everything. I was very proud to have my parents and a sister come along too.”
The US dollar is the easiest currency to exchange anywhere.
Before leaving home, call your credit card company and bank to let them know you will be traveling abroad. (Many institutions have automatic blocks for security when card are used abroad.)
When arriving in any foreign country for your volunteering abroad program, always exchange your cash for some local currency before leaving the airport and walking out onto the streets.
If you need money from home while volunteering abroad, have your family deposit money directly into your bank account, so that you can withdraw the money locally in cash. (The ATM fees will be considerably less than the fees charged by money-transfer companies like Western Union and Moneygram.)
Split-up your cash, travelers checks, and credit cards in different places (pockets, handbag, money belt), in case of theft or you’re forgetful and misplace any of these items.
Become familiar with calculating currency exchange rates quickly in your head (so you understand better what things cost abroad)
Save a few notes and coins as souvenirs to take home with you to show family and friends.
Volunteer in Nepal where our company started in 2001 and continues to be one of our most popular destinations.
