I will take you on a journey of climate action, joy, tears, and development through Italy. It was the 1st of June 2021 when I decided that I will go on a volunteering project with AIESEC in Torino. I decided that I want to be part of the change. Bringing my...
Global Volunteer
Your exchange packing list
As the summer vacation is approaching, so are many volunteering projects and internships. But what to pack on such a new exciting experience? Even if you have been abroad many times and are an expert in packing, there are sure to be moments when you miss a thing or two. To help you have the best preparation for your project, or any other vacation, we made a special AIESEC exchange packing list!
My AIESEC volunteering project in Italy
In January 2020 I participated in an AIESEC Project on environment and sustainability in Castellana Grotte, Italy. I was lucky to stay six weeks in one of the most beautiful small villages I have been to. My work was about teaching the kids in the local Highschool on the UN SDGs and sustainability. My fellow AIESEC students were so kind to pick me up in Bari. They made sure I was safe and showed me how to travel to my destination.
How an ambition to bridge the gap has led to 14 years of exchange to the Arab world
Let’s go back in time to when the Nour Project was set up. These were the years after 9/11 and the death of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh. The founders of the Nour Project noticed that tensions between the Western world and Arab world were growing.
Una experiencia para nunca olvidar
Starting my journey in Colombia At the start of July 2019, my sister and I took the big leap to pack our bags and visit our family in Colombia. During this time I was still deciding on doing a volunteering job for AIESEC. It was my luck to have my sister as my AIESEC...
Exchange in Sri Lanka
My time in Sri Lanka The most incredible and heart-warming experience I had this summer, was working at a school in Sri Lanka. The school specializes in teaching children with autism and down syndrome. An exceptional aspect to mention about the school, is that the...
Why Should You Volunteer?
Volunteering seems a waste of time and effort without gaining anything in return to some people, are you one of them? It’s okay if you are, because in this blog we will explain to you why you should consider doing volunteer work and how it will be beneficial to you...
My Experience in Ghana
In the summer of 2019 I participated in the Medicine Project, organised by AIESEC. I got the chance to go to Ghana for 6 weeks to experience the culture and work at the hospital there. Before I left I was already in contact with people from AIESEC in Ghana. They...
Proyectarte in Colombia – Memories for life
I strongly believe it is an intense and enriching experience that everyone should have at least once in life! My AIESEC story in Colombia started at the end of September 2019. I decided to apply to a project only a few weeks before leaving and everything went very...
Never forget to love
From the Netherlands to Greece – after 4 hours flight plus 3,5 hours by bus I arrived at my destination: Patras! The third biggest city in Greece, located in the north-west. It was smaller than I expected, but with very beautiful sea and mountain views. In the late...
Exchange Standards – what are they?
Exchange Standards - what are they? By Jesler van Houdt What are the exchange standards? The AIESEC exchange standards are 16 promises from us to you. They describe what you can expect from us once you decide to go abroad with AIESEC. Why does AIESEC have exchange...
Visiting the children of the Aspiration Fund, Vietnam
The children see that there are people who care about them and support them. Arriving in Que Phong, Nghe An, Vietnam During my volunteering project in Vietnam, I had the opportunity to visit a village where 20 orphans from Aspiration Fund live. Aspiration Fund is...
My top 8 tips for volunteering with AIESEC
In the months January/February I participated in the “We Speak”-project volunteering with AIESEC in Bogotá, Colombia. I taught women from the “Casa de Igualdad” (house of equality) English in the hope for them to become more self-confident and make them stand out from...
Where will I live while I’m abroad?
One of the benefits of volunteering abroad with AIESEC is that you don’t have to worry about your accommodation once you’re abroad. All AIESEC projects provide, and sometimes even cover, a place for you to stay. But what will this place look like? In general, there...
Am I qualified to go abroad with AIESEC?
Yes, more likely than not, you are! Anyone interested in having a cross-cultural exchange with AIESEC is younger than 30 years and can finance the experience can go abroad with AIESEC! Cross-cultural exchange AIESEC believes in promoting peace and fulfilment of...
My 6½ weeks volunteering in Moshi, Tanzania
AIESEC Kilimanjaro, Women Empowerment My idea of volunteering abroad arose a few days before New Year’s Eve, when I was listing up my resolutions. One of them was to make the most of my long long summer holidays. So, when I went back to uni in January, the first...
What happens when I sign up on aiesec.nl?
What happens when I sign up on aiesec.nl? Signing up can sound like a big commitment, right? In the case of aiesec.nl, it isn’t. But what happens when you sign up? And why should you do it? Let’s have a look at it step by step, and you’ll see that signing up to AIESEC...
Does going abroad with AIESEC really change you?
Does going abroad with AIESEC really change you? That’s a question which is hard to answer because not only every exchange but also every person is different. Depending on why you want to go abroad (volunteering, internships...), and your expectations, you will have...
Plastic is the new black
Order a drink on the streets in Solo (officially named Surakarta) and you will get a plastic cup with a plastic lid, a straw for easy drinking, a plastic bag to protect the cup and one small plastic bag for easy take away. Take a look around and check where you can...
Volunteer? 3 reasons not to volunteer abroad
Last summer I went to Georgia to volunteer in a project hosted by AIESEC. It’s been a very interesting journey with many ups, but certainly many downs too. . Volunteering abroad is not for everybody. It’s a challenging endeavour and through this post, I would like to...
Discovering my purpose in Egypt
Overall, AIESEC is a fantastic way to step outside your comfort zone. Especially through truly submerging yourself into a whole new, completely different way of life. This is what I did in Egypt! Preparation This year, as the buzz of summer break came ever closer, I...
How I feel in love with Brazil as a volunteer
Volunteer in Brazil – Smart Project in Florianopolis Introduction Brazil – Florianopolis, 7th of July 11pm. After my 10-hour flight from Lisbon to Brasilia, a clumsy request for a subway sandwich in the little Portuguese I learned 5 minutes earlier, and another 2-hour...
Feminism and Islam
Feminism and Islam – a combination that seems to boil from tension. I know how difficult this topic can be: I am a Pakistani girl, grew up in Germany and live in the Netherlands. To analyze this topic, I went to Morocco for 6 weeks to interview people. In the last few...
Living the organisation’s goals to its fullest as a volunteer
A brief story of my experience as a volunteer for AIESEC in Mendoza, Argentina this summer. And how the work of the local committee there provides an encouraging example to all of us Welcoming Culture “Our place is open to anyone that is seeking refuge in our city and...
A message to our generation
This post was written by Laura Bergshoef. Laura went on a volunteering project powered by AIESEC in the Netherlands. We offer international volunteering projects and professional internships with the aim of developing leadership in youth. If you want to read about...
Looking behind the façade in Brazil
Even though I could only spend six weeks in Brazil, I am sure I made a difference in their lives. And they made a difference in mine. I came to Brazil after my first year of university and a lot of enthusiasm to leave my marks in another country far away from Europe....
What do “I can” and “I can’t”-sayers have in common?
People who say they can't are usually right. That is what these 6 weeks as an Exchange Participant (EP) in iCare were about for me. We arrived as a diverse and not-yet-cohesive group of young graduates and undergraduates. On our first day in YPAC, the school that we...
“An exchange journey of raising awareness.”
Experiencing an international exchange and living abroad always were one of my biggest dreams. However, due to several reasons it never happened during the time that I was a student. When I started working full-time, I noticed that the desire for a longer travel and...
‘’Welcome to Iran, welcome to my country!’’
One summer in Iran, I went excited but also unknowing what to expect. The hosts, the people from AIESEC, people in the streets, in the metro, in parks, everywhere, everyone was so incredibly welcoming, kind, curious and hospitable. I did not expect this and soon I...
Ghana, the smiling country
Approximately 6000 kilometers away from Holland my AIESEC experience started. Because of my gap year I wanted to do something. Not only travelling but also something related to my study. Then I found the Medicine Project, the perfect combination of learning in a...
What is a Mzungu?
Last year I went to Uganda for an internship. My biggest fear was moving into an unknown country and leaving my family and friends behind. I had to prepare myself six months before departure and on that D-day I was like, … ok this is it! I was really curious about the...
Welcome to your new family
It is around midnight, when I am waiting at Barranquilla airport in Colombia for someone to pick me up. Due to poor communication about this pick-up and my malfunctioning brain after an 18hr journey, I feel rather small. Fortunately a man points at his phone...
5 reasons to volunteer in Guatemala
My name is Gwen, and this year I got the opportunity to travel to Guatemala to check out AIESEC’s volunteer projects. I fell in love with the country, its culture, and I was amazed by the enthusiasm and dedication of the local AIESECers to make their country a better...
Moroccans are actually geniuses
Pretty last minute I decided to go to Morocco for the Nour project. Having been to the Middle East before I figured I’d be a perfect candidate. I expected Morocco to be similar to the Middle East, since it has the same religion, language and sort of the same culture....
Get the local vibes
Get the local vibesBy Stijn Vrerik Finally, my trip to South-America has started, with a project in Medellin. Some months before leaving the Netherlands, I tried to learn some Spanish with a self-study course. Unfortunately, at the day of departure, I could probably...
Wat vandaag niet komt, komt morgen
Marokko lijkt geen haast te kennen. Op straat bewegen mensen zich op hun gemakje vooruit. Langzaam, al kletsend met gezelschap gaan ze op weg naar hun bestemming. Vaak komen mensen later op afspraken dan afgesproken. De enkelen die op tijd komen lijken niet...
Gastvrijheid is meer dan een kopje koffie
Hier in Marokko betekent gastvrijheid meer dan het Nederlandse kopje koffie met een plakje ontbijtkoek. Als je bij mensen thuis wordt uitgenodigd krijg je in ieder geval muntthee met 4 suikerklontjes en worden er schaaltjes met eten voor je neergezet. 'Coelie', krijg...
Een groen paspoort
Waar droom je van? Ik vind het altijd super interessant mensen deze vraag te stellen. Ik ben nieuwsgierig naar dromen, en hou er van als mensen iets onverwachts antwoorden. Mensen beginnen te stralen als ze over hun droom vertellen. En als ze niet precies weten wat ze...
Nederlanders zijn toch dik en gelukkig?
'Als mensen eens geen vooroordelen zouden hebben, dan zou de wereld een stukje mooier zijn', zo luidde onze conclusie gisteravond. Het was de conclusie van een gesprek dat ik had met mijn kamergenootje, Oumaima. Een gesprek over vooroordelen, monarchie of republiek en...
The impact of being a volunteer…
Because I’m always eager to give something back to the world, I decided I wanted to do volunteer work in another country. For me this is also the best way to really get to know a country and its culture. People had told me that AIESEC is the perfect organization for...
An experience to never forget!
It’s October 28, 2017. I’m getting off my plane at the airport in Ho Chi Minh City. For the past six weeks I had an amazing time backpacking in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Although I visited beautiful locations and had the time of my life, I felt like I was in a...
“Ik wil mijn broertje terug”
8 december 2017. Het is inmiddels al de laatste week van mijn project in Brazilië. Samen met Antonin en Tiziana heb ik het al vijf weken prima naar m’n zin. Mijn project heet Planet Heroes. Het doel van het project is om kinderen bewust te maken van hun omgeving,...
Healthcare seems like local traffic
When I arrived it was already dark outside, but everything went (surprisingly) smooth; we were picked-up at the airport in Uganda by car and went to the accommodation, all on a quite road with nice African music on the background. By the time I did not know this would...
My first time in Ghana
The moment I walked out of the airport, I was overwhelmed by all the unknown impressions. Everywhere were people looking at us and calling for us. When Luc and I finally found our guide, he simply welcomed us with the text: “Do you already have your money?” Despite...
The best last minute decision I ever took!
It was only 6 days before departure that I booked my flight ticket to Amman, Jordan. The couple of days I had left in the Netherlands were just enough to finish my last tasks as an AIESEC member and to pack my bags. With almost no expectations I got onto the plane to...
How my culture shock turned into an amazing experience
6 weeks ago, when I was still at home, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was excited to go to Indonesia, but also really nervous. First impressions Then I arrived in Malang. I thought I was experiencing cultural differences: the crowded streets with all the...
My AIESEC experience in Malaysia
Boarding the airplane, that would first bring me to Singapore and then to Kuching in Malaysia, I was very much doubting my decision to leave Amsterdam for over 6 weeks to go on an AIESEC experience. I would be missing out on a few of my best friends’ birthdays and...
5 redenen waarom vrijwilligerswerk in het buitenland een onvergetelijke ervaring is
Lesgeven aan kinderen in de Filipijnen, voorlichting geven over ziekten in Indonesië of mensen bewust maken over het milieu in Brazilië. Reizen, tegelijkertijd anderen helpen en jezelf ontwikkelen. De wereld een stukje mooier achter laten. Dat klinkt perfect, toch?...
Experience Story Hanoi
Experience Story: Thu-Yên Pham, Hanoi, Vietnam After my graduation, I wanted to travel through South-East Asia and do some voluntary work in Vietnam. The main reason for seeking voluntary work in Vietnam was that I wanted to learn more about my background. The project...
My Ghana Experience
After finishing my second year in medicine in the Netherlands, I felt like I wanted to experience more somewhere else in the world. I’m very interested in tropical medicine and Ghana was one of the country’s that offered a medical project in a tropical environment. A...
My Volunteer Experience In Indonesia
My grandma was from Indonesia, I really wanted to discover the country on my own. But I didn’t want to be only a tourist. I also wanted to experience how it was to live with local people and give something back to the country by being a volunteer. I choose to go...