Meet a DWC volunteer!
Student team leaders share their story.
An International Volunteer Experience brings a positive, personal impact to its participants. Many of our volunteers call it a life changing experience.
For students, it offers a chance to get a real life experience early on in their lives and careers. Some student volunteers find a new sense of purpose or direction. Volunteer trips also help develop new skills, like communication, team work, and leadership, that are invaluable when entering the workforce or applying to post-secondary institutions.
"I would highly recommend a Developing World Connections volunteer experience as I believe it to be a valuable, grounding experience when one is exposed to issues of poverty worldwide...The experience puts faces and relationships on issues that are otherwise distant in the media and academics." - Steve Peat
Steve has volunteered with DWC three times and has gone to Peru, Rwanda, and Swaziland. He is currently working as a mental health worker at the Portland Health Society in Vancouver's impoverished Downtown Eastside while completing his Masters of Public Health at Simon Fraser University.
"These experiences changed fundamental aspects of my life philosophy and undoubtedly shaped my goals for the future...No formal education could substitute the experiential learning that goes on during DWC's projects." - Devon Rasmussen
Devon has gone on three trips with DWC, once as a participant and twice as a student team leader. He is currently a medical student at the University of British Columbia. He volunteers at the Canadian Network for International Surgery and hopes to use his medical skills to help promote global health.
"When hopeful employers or universities see on a resume that you have participated in a DWC experience, they notice that you have taken the time to experience the world beyond your textbooks and university library." - Jennifer Farquharson
Jennifer went on her first trip with DWC in 2007 to Cambodia and also been to Rwanda. She has studied international development at the University of Victoria and is currently living in Hong Kong.
"I have absolutely no doubt that I wouldn't be where I was today if not for the personal, academic, and professional development that I have achieved through my involvement with Developing World Connections." - Will Plowright
Will has led trips to Swaziland, Peru, and Haiti. He is presently completing a University of British Columbia doctorate in political science and has done research on child soldiers in Central Africa.
"Developing World Connections provided me with extraordinary opportunities to grow and expand my skills and leadership. I was constantly challenged and always given the space to push further." - Michiah Prull
Michiah is a DWC team leader who has been on trips to Swaziland, Peru, Haiti, Kenya, and Nepal. He works for the David Suzuki Foundation and has been voted a Top 25 Environmentalist Under 25. He also worked on USA President Obama's 2008 and 2012 election campaigns.
