Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday

American culture. Love it or hate it, it's a thing. Across the USA we celebrated Thanksgiving last week with friends, family and loved ones. Often times we connect with people we haven't seen for a while and hopefully let stresses and conflicts lie dormant. 

Then the madness begins. Even before the turkey is out of the oven, stores are screaming for sales. With the holidays fast approaching, it has become an American tradition to grab deals on things you need and want for a bargain. Some love the rush of the sales, some detest it. And each year it keeps growing. These days make me think of the guests around the holiday dinner table. First, Black Friday is your loud, outrageous, energetic aunt. Cyber Monday your geeky cousin that knows all about the latest and greatest gadgets out this year. And then there's us. We are Giving Tuesday, your globally minded sister, getting out there to change the world. She's got a heart of gold, and pennies in her pocket. Would you like to see a couple of pictures from the last trip to Belize? 

This morning we were reminded by a dear friend that sometimes our work as a grassroots small business has a quiet voice. 

He wrote,

"I've been getting emails all day from big dumb nonprofits who do things I don't care about (mostly climbing-related), and it got me thinking about the most beautiful and inspiring women I know who are doing the coolest things without asking for anyone's recognition of their amazing work.

Can you point me in the direction of a donation page?"

Wow, we are blushing. And the answer is YES! 

Global Service Partnerships has a foundation that allows supporters to put their money where their heart is. 
Donations are gladly accepted on the Our Foundation page of the website. You can find it under the "Get Involved" tab.

We are truly grateful for our supporters and friends. We aren't always the loudest about our work, but we aren't afraid to ask when prompted. Like mom always used to say, "If you don't ask, you'll never know." I'm pretty sure I heard that around the dinner table.

Donations gladly accepted any day of the week, 

including Tuesdays. 

The Book of Life

It is widely accepted that international travel is valuable. At the turn of the 5th century, St Augustine of Hippo is quoted to have said, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

We embrace educational travel on all levels. Additionally, Global Service Partnerships voyages are one of a kind. While we are committed to the value of promoting the mind opening experiences that international travel brings, we believe in taking it a step further. We create sustainable partnerships, and return to the same communities while maintaining sensitivity to uplift and not become an overbearing presence in the villages where we work.

Listening to and working directly with local educators, principals and village leaders is our approach to curriculum planning and how we implement our program. Our participants get to immerse themselves in local culture and delve deeper than those visiting the country for its natural beauty and gorgeous ocean reef. The best of both worlds.

We hope you will join us on a voyage to Belize in 2017. Check out the “get involved” tab on our website for details. Let’s take in as much of the book of life as we can!

Ethical Service, By Lauren D'Agostino

Meet Lauren, GSP Mentor 2015-2016
Thoughts on our program, and how we are getting international service right!

 The world of international volunteering is deeply fulfilling but also fraught with ethical dilemmas. To go to another country with little knowledge about that place and assuming that the privilege of being American is enough of a qualification to affect real change is a mentality that can lead to service work that, at best, doesn’t hurt the community it serves. To have the opportunity and means to travel is a gift. Wanting to use that gift in a way that you believe is beneficial to others is spectacular. But just because you want to do something good doesn’t absolve you of responsibility. In order to understand this responsibility, one must first understand the fact that their ability to travel is in fact a form of power. If you direct your economic and cultural influence towards a organization dedicated to changing conditions in the country you are traveling to, you are supporting that organization and its effects.

This is an example of a place founded by a Belizean educator and supported by many foreign volunteers.
A great partnership. 

In a group of 20 volunteers, few, if any, are well versed in the nuances of Belizean culture. It would be very difficult to run a volunteer program where intimate cultural understanding was a prerequisite for participation. But without cultural understanding, how do we actually help a community? If our group were to come to a school and tell students what their community needs, it creates a power dynamic. We -the members of a wealthy and influential nation- have come to fix things for them. But what if the community feels things don’t need to be fixed? What if what we as Americans see as a problem is actually inconsequential?
Before I left for Belize this summer, I seriously considered the implications of my participation, but I felt that the curriculum for this summer’s camp was one that dealt gracefully with my ethical frustrations with international work. GSP focuses mainly on reinforcing skills needed to pass educational entrance exams and standardized tests. This summer, the curriculum focused on reinforcing those skills through empowerment activities.

Students at St Matthew's Government School Summer Day Camp, July 2016

By running a program where Belizean students are encouraged to explore their power to affect change in their communities, we are imparting one crucial fact on them-they hold the power to affect change. Our summer camp was developed because teachers expressed a need for more one on one time with students. Because they have so many children in their classrooms, many teachers felt that their students would benefit from more personal interactions with the people leading their classrooms. One on one time with students creates a space to understand each student educationally and personally. We talked about different learning styles and challenged students to self reflection through art, music and story writing. It was painful at times, and in two weeks, our students did not all transform into self-confident community leaders. But paired with GSP’s long term model, an empowerment based curriculum has the potential to impart the only thing that matters in the struggle for a safer and kinder world-that those who know their community are the ones who know what it best for it. I can honestly say that I was proud to be part of a group that understood that our power comes not from the fact we have free time or an interest in doing good, but that we have the opportunity to be tools for making others powerful.

Join the Crew!

Since 2012, GSP has curated more than excellent educational travel. Our programs are packed with exploration of cultures, global citizenship, and oneself. We connect people and facilitate long lasting impact and personal development. It’s all about the people we work with day in and day out. Inspired by our proximity to the Caribbean Sea, we adopted the titles of a maritime crew.

Voyagers, Isa & Nikos leading at St Joseph's School

Introducing the Global Service Partnership Voyage Crew

Quartermasters - Creative. Proactive. Global Leaders.
Adult leaders who recruit participants, promote, and attend GSP Voyages in a leadership role.  

Mates - Driven. Committed. Experienced.
Returning voyagers of any age. Participants that have traveled with us on a previous trip and “know the ropes”.

Voyagers - Curious. Adventurous. Motivated.
First time program participants of any age.

Voyage Master - Emily Williams, Director of Education and Youth Leadership

The Captain - Kelli Soll, Founder and Director of GSP

We are enrolling for 2017 programs now,
and beginning to chart out the 2018 calendar.

Join our crew, plan a voyage, make it happen!
Click here for 2017 Voyage Registration.

The Crew - 2016 August Leadership Team