During the 2012 NAFSA Conference and Expo, the GoAbroad Team was pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Innovation Awards. As part of a continued effort to recognize the hard work and dedication this year’s nominees, GoAbroad will be sharing individual features of the 2012 GoAbroad Innovation Awards finalists over the coming weeks. This week, we are thrilled to bring you the Innovative New Program, Volunteer Abroad Award finalists!
Please join us in congratulating the following Finalist of the Innovative New Program, Volunteer Abroad Award:
Service for Peace
“The Global PeaceMakers (GPM) Program”
The Global PeaceMakers (GPM) program of Service For Peace challenges the assumptions that the volunteer needs to be foreign, or that poor people need to be served, or that service-learning magically happens as a result of volunteering.
GPM is about genuine empowerment and inspiring a lifelong commitment to global citizenship and engagement. People from around the world are invited to serve side-by-side with volunteers from their host country, neighboring countries, and the immediate community. The foreign and local volunteers work together every day to affect innovative and realistic solutions to local problems as part of long-term community driven development programs. Since 2005, over 700 volunteers have participated in 60 GPM programs internationally in 16 countries in over 30 communities. These programs have served as catalysts to involve over 3,000 volunteers in over 350 local service projects around the world.
Through the close interaction and involvement of international and local volunteers in community driven development projects, the Global PeaceMakers program transforms people’s attitudes toward themselves, toward their fellow citizens and toward their communities.