Ten years ago, travel guidebook writer Thomas Kohnstamm, co-author of a dozen Lonely Planet guides to Latin America and the Caribbean, admitted that he worked on a book for Colombia though he didn’t visit the country. Continue Reading →
Category: Books
The Ultimate Guide for Homeward Bound Travelers
Native Foreigner has an ebook called “The Ultimate Guide for Homeward Bound Travelers“.
Native Foreigner says, “This comprehensive booklet includes information on steps you should take immediately upon your return home as well as provides advice for ways you can go abroad in the future.”
We also advise our volunteers on returning home from volunteering abroad, but The Ultimate Guide for Homeward Bound Travelers is more thorough.
This ebook includes the following:
- Advice from Clinical Psychologist Dr. Stephanie Law on how to cope with reverse culture shock
- Tips and Tidbits from other travelers on making the adjustment easier
- Career advice from a Fortune 500 Human Resources Executive Vice President, Tom Traub, on how to promote international experiences during the job hunt
- In-depth advice on future international opportunities, including teaching and volunteering abroad
- Links to helpful articles and websites
Ants Among Elephants
“Ants Among Elephants” is the memoir of an Indian woman, born a so-called untouchable, who is a New York City subway conductor. NPR’s Stacey Vanek Smith spoke with author Sujatha Gidla last week:
Song of the Open Road by Walt Whitman
This verse from Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of the Open Road” is relevant to all thoughtful travelers, including those volunteering abroad:
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently,but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space,
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.
I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness.
All seems beautiful to me,
I can repeat over to men and women You have done such good to me I would do the same to you,
I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.
Book on Ghana Orphanage Trip
Our volunteers Teresa and Andrew Allen have written a book about their experiences volunteering at an orphanage in Cape Coast, Ghana in in 2009.
The couple volunteered at the Children Of Hope Orphanage in Asebu, Ghana.
Here are some text excerpts from their book:
You are invited to Asebu, Ghana, and the humble home of 17 happy, smiley, and bouncy Children of Hope.
Running to meet us is little Olivia. Her welcome gifts to us are her smile, laughter, kindness, and love of learning.
The Children of Hope are proud to introduce us to their goats. These lucky goats couldn’t have better caretakers — or friends — than the Children of Hope.
Twice a day, the Children of Hope collect fresh water for meals and baths. Their home does not have electricity or running water, so the children walk a mile to and from the water source, carrying buckets on their heads.
Two kind women care for the Children of Hope, day and night. And on Sundays, they
spend many hours making the children’s favorite food: fu fu! Fu fu is a traditional Ghanaian dish made from pounded cassava root and is served with a savory stew.
Nine Hills to Nambonkaha
Sarah Erdman was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ivory Coast for two years (1998-2000).
Her book about the experience, Nine Hills to Nambonkaha, is a engrossing account of her time as “…an educated Western woman living in a tiny, traditional, West African village on the cusp of change.”
This book is a must-read for anyone thinking of volunteering in Ghana, West Africa, or Africa in general.
Sarah started out with maternal and child health for local villagers. But by the end of her stay she focused on birth control and AIDS prevention.
I read it when it came out in 2003, after my first trip to West Africa. I was in Ghana for about one week visiting villages like the ones described by Sarah.
Ghana, which shares a border with Ivory Coast, seems to have many of the same healthcare problems, culture, and lives of the people as that country.