Volunteer and Teach Abroad

Of Braille and Independence: Teaching English in Yemen

As a graduate student, Carla Valpeoz accepted a volunteer position teaching English to blind students in Yemen as part of her six-month practicum. Carla is legally blind and uses a cane for mobility.

No Ordinary Vacation

Kasenya, a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, took a 4-month trip with her family in Southeast Asia. No ordinary vacation, the family volunteered at local orphanages, schools, and organizations in order to experience aspects of travel not typically accessible to tourists.

Featured Person: Fredericka Banks

Meet Fredericka, an active volunteer whose "travel bug" led her to teach in an orphanage in Thailand. Fredericka has a vision impairment and uses a cane.

Featured Person: Mallory Watts

Meet Mallory, a Masters student in Deaf Education who spent a summer in Mexico teaching deaf children.

Featured Person: Michelle Wang

During a service learning exchange in the U.S., Michelle Wang observed people with disabilities participating in a range of life activities. Michelle is a student from China who has a physical disability.

Reflections on an International Career Teaching English

Roy Burkholder, a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language, has taken 19 trips to Asia in the course of his career. He has been living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for many years and shares his experiences and strategies for enjoying the journey abroad.

Keeping House in Nepal: The Right to Equal Discrimination

As a disabled person, Megan Smith loved being expected to do the same work as the Nepalese women in her village. As a feminist, she wished that didn’t mean laundry. Reprinted with permission from New Mobility, February 2011.

In Search of a Different Career Path: My Education in the United States

An encounter with a Peace Corps volunteer convinced Francis, a young Deaf man from Zambia, that international exchange was a possibility for him too.

Adding India to the Geography of Life Experiences

Gilman scholarship recipient, Christena Weatherspoon, who has a learning and social anxiety disability, represented multiple kinds of American diversity while studying in India.

Painting with the Colors Given

Joe Chen is a person with a physical disability from China who volunteered at an American summer camp for children with disabilities.

Fulbright Fellow Achieves Professional Goal in Italy

Debra Cole, a woman who is Deaf, shared her passion for linguistics with students in Italy on a Fulbright fellowship. Read more in the New York Times article.

Have Cane, Will Travel? Halfway Around the World!

Amy Mason, an American woman who is blind and uses a cane and Braille for access, shares three highlights from her life in Kenya during a Christian mission trip.

Featured Person: Daniel Erchick

Daniel Erchick, an American graduate of Rice University who uses a prosthesis, earned a scholarship to support his volunteer work in Sierra Leone. Dan worked in a clinic in the West African nation, building and fitting prostheses for people with disabilities, and also established relationships in his community through his work with local schools and Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs).

Fighting the Good Fight

As a graduate of the University of Michigan, Nicholas Hoekstra taught English for two years in Japan through the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program. Nick, who is blind, describes how he addressed his own pre-travel concerns, the tactics he used to assert his independence while abroad, and the moves required to spar with a Judo sensei.

Graduate Student Recognized for Work with Disabled Communities Abroad

Dan Erchick, an American graduate of Rice University who uses a prosthesis, received the Linda Faye Williams Prize in Social Justice, which rewarded his contribution and commitment to projects that economically empower people with disabilities in developing countries. Read the full article, "Rice Alum Takes a Stand" (Rice News, May 2010), to learn about his role as an advocate for disabled communities in Haiti and Sierra Leone, and how these communities' perception of Dan differed from his self-identity.

Working Together: Deaf Education and the Fulbright Program (Italy and USA)

Opportunities abound for Americans and Italians desiring to research issues affecting Deaf citizens.

The Art of English - Teaching in Ukraine

Zachary Battles volunteered in Ukraine for two weeks. Zachary was also a participant in Mobility International USA's Costa Rica Leadership, Diversity and Disability Rights Exchange Program. A year later he was one of only 32 American students to receive the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for international study. A double major in computer science and mathematics as an undergraduate, he pursued a D.Phil at Oxford University.

Opening My Eyes To the World: Volunteer Teaching (Japan)

Leticia Arellano learned about her Japanese volunteer opportunity through her alma mater, Gallaudet University, and also from the World Federation of the Deaf.

Integrating Perspectives in International Development Projects (Benin)

Tina Singleton, who has a hearing impairment, volunteered with people with disabilities in Benin through the Peace Corps.

Creating Change at Home and Abroad (Russia, Malaysia)

Heather Harker participated in a Russian exchange program through MIUSA and later fulfilled a fellowship in Malaysia while working with other people from the Deaf community.