Colin Salisbury, Founder and President of Global Volunteer Network (GVN), is the visionary behind what has become one of the most widely recognized international volunteer service organizations in the world. In 2002, working out of a room at his parent’s house, Colin placed 240 international volunteers in communities in need. In 2008, with a staff of nearly 20, Colin and his team placed almost 2000 volunteers in 20 countries. However, the real journey began in Papua New Guinea in 1988 with the simple act of tossing a stone into Lake Kutubu and making a ripple in the water when Colin was 18 years old. Here is his story:
I left school with only three school certificate subjects and a leaving certificate that said, “Colin is best suited to practical subjects,” so I enrolled in an electronic technician’s course. I finished the course and spent the next three years installing alarms. During this time, I had the opportunity to go to Papua New Guinea on a six week trip volunteering with the Christian Radio Missionary Fellowship. I didn’t know it then but this was to change the course of my life.
When I arrived at the village I was struck by the children and their bloated bellies and rust coloured hair. This was my first experience of real poverty, a glimpse of how two thirds of the world lives.
I remember wandering down to the lake and throwing stones into the water, feeling a deep yearning to help these people and to make a difference − to leave my mark. I wondered what one person could do. I watched the ripples moving out and saw the impact one stone entering the water made. At that point I thought if I could inspire others it would be like the stone’s ripple; one small ripple, leading to a bigger one and a bigger one. A ripple of change. The following years saw me travel from the slums of the Philippines to the Konkomba tribe in Ghana’s north. And whilst my teachers had thought I was better suited to practical work, I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Social Policy and continued on to do my Masters in International Development.
It was while I was in Ghana in 1997, researching my thesis, that the idea for Global Volunteer Network (GVN) was born. What struck me most were the local schools. A class of 100 children would have one teacher and it was clear that many kids were missing out because of this shortage. I knew that long term, trained teachers were needed but could see that in the short term if we provided volunteers to schools, many more children would be able to access education. In Christmas 2001, the GVN website went live. I had formed relationships with three organizations on the internet, with programs in Ghana, Nepal and Ecuador. I wanted to give people the opportunity to experience life in another community and I wanted it to be affordable. To my amazement applications flooded in. In that first year, I placed 240 volunteers.
In 2004, I visited a village in Uganda that had been decimated by AIDS. People between the ages of 20 and 50 had all died and only the elderly and children were left. There was a real need to educate the children. I realized that placing volunteers was only part of the solution and I could see a real need to assist our partners with funding for capital projects and programmes. The idea of setting up a foundation that could raise money was born.
Flying home I felt inspired to do something for those children and compelled to provide for them. Glancing through a magazine, I saw an advertisement to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and raise money to save the rhino. I thought, “We could do that,” but we could build a school in Uganda instead. Back home I found a company who would lead the trek, launched it on the website and 20 people signed up. I was very nervous. I hadn’t done anything like this before. Each trekker raised USD$2000 for the project, so we had USD$40,000 for a new school.
The trek was a fantastic bonding experience. We spent five days climbing Kilimanjaro together. After the trek we flew to Uganda and viewed the plans for the school. A year after conceiving the idea, the school was built. The success of this project prompted me to organize a bigger fundraising trek, so we took a group of 40 to Mount Everest Base Camp to raise funds for an orphanage. Enough money was raised to build the orphanage and start another one.
A trek to Machu Picchu in Peru followed. We arrived in August 2007, just as the Peru earthquake hit. I sent an email to our contact list asking for support. When we got back from the trek, USD$10,000 was in our account, which enables us to fill a truck with supplies and assist people stranded in rural areas. This year, 2009 GVN celebrated 11,500 volunteers. We have 29 projects in 21 countries and are well on our way to having raised one million dollars for the GVN Foundation.
I reflect back to the lake in Papua New Guinea. The ripples cast out by a single stone started my journey which is far from finished; I see this as just the beginning. As a naive 18 year old, I believed I could make a difference, one ripple at a time. Do you? Yes. You have the ability within you to create your own story and embark on a journey to create your own ripples of difference. Of course, your journey will be very different from mine. What you end up doing or creating will be in line with your purpose, and the skills that you have. But what is important is that you choose to make a difference.
Global Volunteer Network has launched the Ripples of Difference e-book to celebrate the thousands of volunteers who have given their love, energy, and time to help communities in need around the world.
The Ripples of Difference book is a collection of unique and powerful stories written by volunteers from around the world. From refugee camps in Africa to orphanages in Asia, readers can learn about how volunteers are touching the lives of others and making a difference – a ripple of difference.
You will read stories about volunteers who have made their own ripples of difference. It is unlikely you will know or have heard of any of these people before. You won’t have seen them in the media making headlines or receiving medals. They are regular people like you and me, but they have all done something magnificent. They have each made a difference in the lives of the people they have come into contact with.
Each story is unique to each volunteer and in some of the stories the impact may seem small. You may ask yourself - with so much need, what is the point? When these thoughts enter your head think back to the ripples on the lake. The more pebbles that touch the water, the more ripples move across the water and leave an impact far beyond the original splash!
The old mindset that ‘the problem is too big’ or ‘what could I possibly do?’ is no longer justifiable. Because these stories are the example and these people are the evidence. Something can be done and one person can change the life of another human being Mahatma Gandhi said “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. This book is a call to action. It is a challenge to all of us to stand up and join the movement to create a sea of change that brings hope to those in need around the world!
You can download your free copy of the Ripples of Difference e-book at http://www.ripplesofdifference.org
Colin Salisbury
GVN Founder and President
