Volunteer Posts
Valentine’s Day in Ethiopia
February 15, 2013
Last week, we received a blog post from one of our Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers, Dave Pearce, in Ethiopia. Here’s a snapshot of his trip, in his own words: Thursday, Valentines Day in Lera, Ethiopia (Lera is a small ((mostly Muslim)) community of 15,000, 260 KM south and west of Addis Ababa. 2600 meters above sea level, […]
Love and Respect for the American People
February 15, 2013
Winrock’s F2F staff in Nigeria recently re-visited some of the host organizations that received volunteer support over the last year. These visits are a way for us to see first-hand how the volunteer trainings have impacted each organization. Sometimes the feedback is especially inspiring. The managing director from Ogbuka Green Merchandise, a Nigerian agribusiness that […]
Returning to My Home Country to Help Farmers
February 5, 2013
Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering of North Dakota State University, came to Bangladesh in 2012 as Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer to conduct an assignment on compost preparation using municipal waste. After growing up in Bangladesh and graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering, Dr. Rahman completed his Masters, […]
Guinea Farmer-to-Farmer Team
January 31, 2013
Meet our hardworking, gregarious Farmer-to-Farmer staff in Guinea! Each of these staff play an important role in ensuring that our F2F Guinea program is successful and that our volunteers are safe, well supported, and happy during their time in country. Below, they each share their thoughts on why they think the Farmer-to-Farmer program is important […]
Helping People Feed Themselves
January 2, 2013
Happy New Year! We loved volunteer Joe Sullivan’s statement below. Let’s start the new year inspired! “I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment and others like it. It was for this reason, helping people feed themselves with fish, that I went to graduate school at Auburn University in fisheries and allied aquacultures many years ago. When I […]
A Forester in Liberia
December 27, 2012
Before In preparing for my third Winrock International trip (in 2007 I traveled to Banda Ache, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan), I read other volunteers’ blogs from around the world, watched YouTube videos about the perpetrators of Liberia’s recent civil war atrocities and the 2012 conviction proceedings of former president Charles Taylor for aiding and abetting war […]
True Cross-Culture Warmth
December 20, 2012
Ed Levi just returned from a trip to Ethiopia, where he completed his Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer assignment working with two different beekeeping organizations. The trainees are eager to start putting his recommendations into place and to see their beekeeping activities flourish as a result. Reflecting on his trip, Ed says: I always gain from meeting new […]
Increased Passion to Make a Difference
December 13, 2012
“This assignment brought me to my first trip in Nigeria and my first trip to the African continent. The impact is huge personally and professionally. My hosts were very nice and friendly people. They have shown sincere appreciation of my technical assistance as a significant contribution to the improvement of their feed production business. I […]
Celebrating International Volunteer Day
December 5, 2012
It’s International Volunteer Day! Today we send extra thanks and appreciation to the nearly 2,500 Winrock volunteers who have given their time and expertise over the years. Demetria Arvanitis, Winrock’s Managing Director of Volunteer Technical Assistance, published a blog last week in the Huffington Post, highlighting how volunteers can change lives (including their own)! Check […]
Powerful Words of Appreciation
November 21, 2012
“Neither the light of the sun nor the light of the moon is as bright as the light of knowledge brought to this village today by Tiborko Sanogo!” –A powerful statement made by Yaya Kone, Wuyanion Cooperative member, at the end of a six-day training on sustainable sheep farming in Lofine, Mali. Yaya was one […]