The impact of Global Volunteers' in Romania

I have volunteered in Romania twice both teaching conversational English in the high school and nurturing babies in the orphanage. My first trip was part of the second team there. Prior to that, the babies in the orphanage had been confined to their beds 24 hours a day, with time out for only 4 diaper changes, 4 propped bottle feedings and a bath. There was almost no human touch. They were silent and didn't know how to laugh or cry. Two women and a nurse cared for 32 babies and did all the laundry by hand. On my return two years later, the changes were dramatic. Through contributions by Global Volunteers, three more people had been hired and an industrial size washer and dryer had been installed. Because the babies had been nurtured by 22 more teams of volunteers, they were laughing, crying, talking, walking, running, crawling, eating solid food, just like normal babies.
In the high school, I had a group of six students who were eager to learn and oh so smart. One student wrote this about about Americans. "I must admit that before we met you, our image of Americans was a rather cold one: greedy unscrupulous people whose only interest is money. I'm happy to say that you definitely changed that image for us. Thank you for reviving all our expectations, hopes and dreams of living in a better world, beliefs we thought to be so deep inside us that they could never see the light or spread outside our minds." I think that says it all. If you're looking to make a difference, a Global Volunteers experience is for you.