Casa de las Nubes, Guanajuato

"They were completely and totally engaged in the activities we had planned, and even the most resistant troublemakers had turned around to be enthusiastic participants. There is so much human capital to be found within these kids - so much intelligence, so much imagination, so much kindness, so much enthusiasm and creativity - and it would be such a terrible waste should it all be lost due to lack of opportunity. I have talked to the other volunteers - these kids, with their smiles, and their hard work, their generosity with their love - breathe life into us."

Centro de Esperanza A.C., Oaxaca

"We really enjoyed the opportunity and had fun in session with the kids. Global Citizenship is a challenging but important concept for kids that have barely left their town."

Gaila and Tad, Do Good As You Go Traveler

entreamigos, Nayarit

"Along the west coast of Mexico, Do Good as You Go (DGYG) has established a collaboration with an organization that is making a great impact with the youth and members of the community of San Francisco (San Pancho), Nayarit with their community center. The location is amazing. One of their principal interests is the support for education of youth and children in a fun and lively manner as well as for the local staff of the center so that they can contribute to the change in their homes and communities. For overlanders, backpackers and fly-in/fly-out travelers alike, this location is an easy and ideal choice."

Cloudhead, Salta, Argentina

"All our projects relate in some way to Art, Education and Technology. We create art and media projects with the short term goal of creating a safe space for our students to create and express themselves. Our long term goal is to help our students develop marketable job skills, including English language.

We bring in donated resources such as computers and cameras to use in at risk communities so our students then have the opportunity to learn photography, video and computer skills. They learn digital editing as well as how to better express themselves artistically as they create media projects."

La casa del Tejido, San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala

"Come and learn about the Tz’utujil Mayan culture, how we are conserving our old traditions, and the work we are doing in this community in San Juan la Laguna on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.

The project is locally organized in order to give the families opportunities to sustain themselves through the work they sell in their fair trade store. The objective is to promote the work of the families and to improve their livelihoods by sustaining our local economy."

Community Spanish School, San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala

"Situated on the shores of Lago de Atitlan, this cooperative offers individualized language lessons (along with a beautiful view) from their private, palm­ covered classrooms. Professional, adaptable and highly­ skilled, the certified instructors, all with several years of experience, implore a variety of techniques to keep students of varying fluency interested and engaged.

Additionally, with free nightly activities and optional homestays, the school acts as a gateway to the community and to increased cultural awareness.With fair wages paid to the instructors, students can feel as though study with Community Spanish School is time and money well­spent during their stay in San Pedro."

Honduras Child Alliance, El Porvenir, Honduras

“Juan and I had the pleasure of visiting the Honduras Child Alliance in El Porvenir. Overall, it was a great opportunity to meet the volunteers, to see the community through their eyes, and vice­versa. All the volunteers expressed satisfaction with their work and felt rewarded and supported. In turn, the community seemed welcoming and appreciative of the volunteers.”

Stephanie Do Good As You Go Traveler

Mi Cafecito Tours, San Miguel de Sarapiquí, Alajuela, Costa Rica

“The overall effect is powerful. You see resources carefully used, ingenuity and adaptation. A beautiful natural setting where people make a living in cooperation with land and weather. The lunch of fresh tilapia from the ponds onsite is amazing, take the walk all the way through the grounds to the waterfall. The tour is about the coffee, but it offers a cultural window.”

Visitor Review (Trip Advisor)

Samrakshak Samuha Nepal (SASANE), Kathmandu, Nepal

"The organization was founded by Nepali survivors of human trafficking to combat the exploitation and enslavement of Nepali women and girls. Operated by survivors themselves, they work to provide legal counseling, paralegal and media training, educational scholarships, and crucial support to survivors and women trapped in sexual exploitation. Any woman or girl who is a survivors of human trafficking and gender­based violence, is provided with the needed counseling and legal aid and also ensured employment through its paralegal training program and Sisterhood of Survivors.."

Osoam Community Center, Cardamon Mountains, Cambodia

"With civilization and big industry quickly exploiting the jungle resources all the while encroaching on the people of Cardamon Mountains its very clear the community of Osoam has gone through some drastic changes over the past few years. Lim is a leader who takes action helping both his community and his family by keeping everyone involved."

The Rain Tree Foundation, Chiang Mai, Thailand

"Working with the hill tribes near the Thai­Laos border, their aim is to help people through education, appropriate technology and self­help projects, and to improve the living standards for those in the communities. We work in rural areas with various types of projects, majorly children projects, with a practical and grass root orientation."

The Mustard Seed Project, Mombasa, Kenya

"Dedicated to building a school in a Mombasa slum. Providing education and a feeding programme for poor children. Adult education, business training and microfinance. We aim to help the people out of poverty by giving them the confidence, education and skills to solve their own problems."

Green Is Easy Ghana Foundation, Accra, Ghana

"We create awareness and seed solutions to both local and global environmental issues. Through education and other models, we presently teach children on biodiversity, thus equipping them with tools in order to understand the importance of natural resources and protection of the environment, thereby simultaneously providing a skills set ­ ultimately creating Green Leaders."

ECF Children's Foundation, Adiss Ababa, Ethiopia

"I spent one of the most interesting times in my trip at the ECF village: amazing children with lot of power and fantasy. The school is wonderful ... and the people are beautiful. We did a great job. It was hard to leave them."

Husam Chadat, Volunteer

Rural Tourism Network Project, Siaya, Kenya

"A National Tourism Association with Interests in promoting Tourism in the Rural Areas in Kenya, that designs and develops rural village­based tourism strategies and products by effectively and sustainably transforming them into tourism offerings. This is done through exploitation of existing untapped tourism potential in village assets (with a focus on quality standard) to create employment and incomes for the rural communities."

Kuunika Foundation, Blantyre, Malawi

"We continued with the gardens and then the day arrived that the first bed was ready and we started the planted. It was a pleasing moment for all of us. We planted eggplants, red onions and okra. These are things that we decided on although Kuunika now has a lot of other seeds like carrots, tomatoes, rape, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, beetroot, watermelon, peas, spinach which still needs to go into the ground as soon as the beds are ready."

Larry and Sharon Currin

Sustainable Rural Community Development Organization, Nsanje, Malawi

"We strive to design projects in total open­mindedness, community participation for external ideas and suggestions. The importance of local ownership is felt throughout all stages of preparation and implementation where we make sure that people understand that the projects and their benefits are theirs. We constantly strive for gender equality both externally and internally with an optimistic commitment to our ideals, we never give up or stop believing in our principles."

Aluwani Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa

"Watching the intensity of the students taking the photographs and then seeing the sheer delight of them in print. Also, To my surprise 6 parents showed up for class the last day to see their children receive their certificates of completion from the Muskoka Foundation. Everyone was so proud and excited. I was telling them what a great job they had done and finally to "follow your heart and follow your dreams"...lots of clapping and I told them I'd miss them and I loved them all. One boy pipes up and says "We love you more"...Brought tears to my eyes... They were a wonderful bunch of kids...An experience I'll never forget." Eliza Massey