This article is a contribution to a week-long blog carnival on USAID’s John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program. From July 14-18, F2F program partners and American volunteers are sharing their knowledge and experience of providing technical assistance to farmers, farm groups, agribusinesses, service providers, and other agriculture sector institutions in developing and transitional countries. This blog carnival aims to capture and share this program experience. You can find all contributions on Agrilinks.

We loved volunteer Joe Sullivan’s statement below. Let’s start the day inspired! (more…)

Todays post is written by Demetria Arvanitis, Director of Winrock’s Volunteer Technical Assistance Team: (more…)

This week, in honor of International Volunteer Day, we asked some of our volunteers to reflect on the value of volunteering abroad. Today’s blog comes from Kenton Ayers, who has completed five assignments with Winrock’s USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer programs in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.

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To continue last week’s reflection of thanks, Winrock is participating in Giving Tuesday –which starts tomorrow. Everyone can participate in a few ways:

• Donate your time as a volunteer. You will gain as much –if not more– than you give! Current opportunities are posted at www.winrock.org/volunteer
• Make a donation to one of Winrock’s projects via the YouthSpark campaign. Our Room to Learn project in South Sudan (http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/room-to-learn-south-sudan/) is eligible for matching funds from Microsoft for donations made beginning at noon on Giving Tuesday.
• Help others find meaningful ways to give back. Share information about volunteer or donation opportunities with your friends, family, and colleagues. And share our blog so others can be inspired by volunteers’ work around the world!

Along with Giving Tuesday, this week marks International Volunteer Day (Thursday, December 5)! Stay tuned for a series of blogs in the upcoming days, featuring stories from our volunteers on the joys and benefits of international volunteerism.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

In honor of this week’s Thanksgiving holiday, Winrock’s Director of Volunteer Technical Assistance, Demetria Arvanitis, shares her thoughts on the spirit of volunteerism and many reasons to give thanks. (more…)