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00:00:01
Kimberly Haley-Coleman
31 Plays10 days ago
Join Alasadir as he sits down with Kimberly Haley-Coleman, founder and CEO of GlobeAware, a nonprofit 501 (c) (3), develops short-term volunteer programs in international environments that encourage people to immerse themselves in a unique way of giving back.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Outdoorsy Educator Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Outdoorsy Educator Podcast, where stories become lessons and every journey has something to teach us. Every week I sit down with people from all walks of life to hear their adventures, explore their experiences, and uncover the insights that have shaped them along the way.
00:00:21
Speaker
Whether it's from the outdoors, the classroom, or any other path, each conversation offers a fresh perspective on learning, growth, and what it means to truly connect with the world and the people around us.
Immersive Experiences with Kimberly Haley Coleman
00:00:40
Speaker
And on this week's episode of the Outdoorsy Educator podcast, we have the founder and executive director of GlobalWare.com, Kimberly Haley Coleman. Kimberly, how are you today? I'm doing great, Alistair. Thank you so much for having me on your show. No, and thank you for joining me. Why you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?
00:01:00
Speaker
You know, ah well, i'm I'm a mom and a community member and all sorts of of different roles like that. But yeah one of the main reasons I think I'm here today to talk to you is one of my primary work positions. And that's been my work with GlobalWare, which is 501c3 I've been running for about 26 years. wow And we do these really immersive experiences all over the world, these one-week short-term experiences that really connect people to humanity in a non-traditional travel way. and They're all very, very different. So we're working alongside single mobs in Guatemala to install concrete floors. We are assembling and distributing wheelchairs for landmine victims in Cambodia. All of our projects are very different and really designed to help people connect to humanity in a way that may be difficult to do in your day-to-day, work-a-day office environment.
00:02:06
Speaker
I love that. I've got friends and family members who, when they go traveling around the world, wherever it may be, they they do, and I love this, they look for opportunities to give back to the place that they're visiting. But you've created a structure around that idea that I think is just phenomenal. Where did this idea come from? Where was it born?
00:02:27
Speaker
Well, you know, so Really, the it was necessity. um I just found that you know if you're a busy working American, it's really hard to give in a meaningful way abroad because of the amount of time it takes for someone to oversee you that nobody wants to take someone off of whatever they normally do to supervise a short-term volunteer.
00:02:54
Speaker
And that that just makes it really hard. So, ah and it's one of the reasons, i mean, people pay to experience our programs because we have our staff that has everything all set up and our bilingual people there to make sure the materials are ready to go and that we've got foremen and all that in place. So it it was, I had been traveling for completely separate work and finding myself in international locations with free time and I'd already done all the touristy stuff. So I wanted to try and find
00:03:26
Speaker
a ah meaningful way of using that free time. And that is when I came across this big challenge that um giving back seems like it would be easy, but um doing it in a way that was efficient and productive, which is definitely something um a North American and often a Western European perspective will expect is that efficiency and productivity are important.
00:03:54
Speaker
often foremost in our minds, even if we don't think they are. And it's one of the and one of the actual challenges, honestly, in terms of getting work done, just because a lot of the communities where we work, that's not necessarily their guiding principle in terms of how they go about their lives. So...
00:04:12
Speaker
It's very interesting. You have touched on my first thought when I was thinking about what questions I would like to ask this morning was, I think we can often have a perspective, especially in the West, of what is needed.
00:04:23
Speaker
And I'm sure sometimes that's true and sometimes is accurate. But how do you partner with local communities so the projects you are involved in are actually driven by the needs and not the assumptions that we might have of what they need?
How GlobalWare Projects are Driven by Local Needs
00:04:36
Speaker
Well, Alistair, you actually hit just right on it. It's though the way we do that is we really it's by listening and having our ah our local coordination staff leads everything and works there from that community leading the project, leading it the way the locals want things done.
00:04:56
Speaker
um using the materials that they want done. um So it really kind of starts and ends with that. It's got to be um locally driven. You know, our volunteers, we aren't heroes or saviors. We're slower at everything than all the locals are. So first and foremost, it really becomes a learning experience for our participants. You know, they're not expected to know how to do anything or speak any particular language. They are there um
00:05:27
Speaker
learning all of it. And because our locals are there leading, um it's really what helps ensure that it's something that's going to make sense for that community. That said, I mean, there are projects that aren't necessarily a good fit for our organization. You know, we don't do, um ah we're we're not Dodgers Without Borders. We're not operating on people. Right, right. We're operating heavy equipment and machinery. We're not putting people on high ladders and we're not in war-torn zones, things like that. So while the communities that we're working alongside often have a lot less materially than we do, they are very safe, stable environments with whom we've had very long-term relationships so that they know what to expect from us. and And it's also very much a component of soft power, you know, a way for local communities to see the people who come as more than just a tourist or a dollar sign, somebody who actually wants to care and connect to the community and get to know them and understand them and see their lives, understand the real beauties and the real challenges of where they live.
00:06:41
Speaker
Absolutely. um I find that fascinating. What kind of work you've touched on a little bit, but what sort of projects do you do? Because as you said, obviously, you're not flying a team of medical doctors down there to do cataract surgery. What sort of projects do you engage in?
00:06:56
Speaker
So they are so different from community to community. And in some cases we might be, and get like when I mentioned the um concrete floors in the homes of single moms, yes um you know, it's in a community not far from the ruins of Tikal,
00:07:13
Speaker
Where a lot of girls really aren't allowed to go to middle school and beyond because the middle schools are far from home and mothers often worry that their kids walking unprotected might come back pregnant and pregnant. And so there's a perpetuated cycle there with um ah girls who just don't have much education and become ah teen mothers themselves and live in whatever they can build with whatever refuse they've found. And so... putting in more substantial homes for them and ah gardens so that they have a way of having nutritional food. and think of Anyway, so every project, you know, in Cusco, Peru, not far from Machu Picchu, yeah we've been doing all sorts of projects that benefit the after COVID when the private schools and church related schools mostly went out of business. Everything was closed for two years and it put tremendous pressure on the few public schools that are there. And so we added a bunch of classrooms and pitototos, which are sort of like greenhouses to grow their food. We've been putting in wheelchair ramps and athletic facilities. ah You know, every country comes with such different conditions, but we're really trying to focus on whatever basics are helping people sustain themselves. So whether it's helping them provide food or housing or access to medical care, and even though we don't provide direct medical care, we do have occasional vision and dental clinics and we have volunteers come with those skills. Right.
00:08:54
Speaker
So really it it varies country to country and in some places like Costa Rica, where the material need isn't as great as it is in other places because they have socialized healthcare care and medicine. So instead we're working on building their community centers and emergency relief housing and um areas where people can sell their local extra produce, things like that. So really does vary a lot. And it's our coordinator's job to work with the local communities to identify those
Participant Demographics and Leadership
00:09:28
Speaker
projects. And then they'll put them through our criteria, you know making sure they're safe and meaningful and interesting and so forth.
00:09:35
Speaker
That's wonderful. What kind of people come to you saying we'd like to be a part of this? is um mean My guess is it's people from all walks of life. But what what do you see? but what Who gets in touch with you?
00:09:46
Speaker
You know, it's often, even though it is, yes, all walks of life, often there's a person who is the ah leading force or decision maker. It might be the mother of a family or um ah corporate group where someone with their head of corporate social responsibility. Often we get contacted by a group leader, for lack of a better word, that is wanting to bring other people with them. And so, you know, in the case of it could be a grandfather bringing a grandchild, I mean, you know, really, it's interesting because they're not necessarily the traditional groupings with whom people might normally think of traveling, you know, going to Bali where you would go with a significant other, for example. Right. So it all it also means that because of that, the participants often have
00:10:40
Speaker
A large share of them often don't read any of our materials, don't know anything about what they're walking into, kind of just show up blind. And what's perfect about that is that is exactly what we have designed for as somebody who... doesn't know what they're coming into, hasn't known what to to pack or how, you know, what to expect. And the experience itself is very much set up so that it will evolve as part of the experience. All of our structured questions at the beginning of the day and our reflection exercises the end of the day, you know, we're we're putting ourselves in these surroundings often. I mean, so much of it, we're outside working directly with people and and by having these different living conditions, work conditions, different, um seeing different music, food, art, everything is so different. And it really kind of primes our participants to be open um to looking at a living perspective that ah they would have a harder time
00:11:51
Speaker
being quite as open to if they were just, you know watching a movie or reading a book or getting off and on a tourist bus, going to churches and museums. There's such a a rich, ah sensual aspect to this. You know, the the smells are different.
00:12:06
Speaker
Everything is different. So kind of wakes the brain up in a way very quickly that um is very effective That's it's so interesting. Right. I often think about when I travel somewhere, it's the smells. You can't replicate the the smells of the food cooking on the side of the street, things like that. So it's very interesting you bring that up. um A lot of people, I'm sure, feel that the pull to do something meaningful, especially when they see on the news some a tragedy or hear report or something.
00:12:40
Speaker
But they're probably, i imagine a lot of the people that maybe come to you have a degree of hesitation. What fears do you sometimes see and how do you as a as a group help people move past those?
Addressing Fears: Language and Safety Concerns
00:12:51
Speaker
yeah There are two main fears that I think we confront a lot. The first one is people worrying about you know speaking a language, you know, right how they can get by. You know, our our coordination staff is bilingual and with our volunteers the whole time. So once they've done one of our programs, once they realize that, you know, they really don't have to worry about that. But the other one is particularly for people who haven't perhaps traveled much outside of the Western world who worry about what risks
00:13:25
Speaker
might be inherent in traveling outside of, you know, Orlando. Right. Worrying about, am I going to be kidnapped? Am I going to be served monkey eyeballs to eat? Are there going to be guerrilla soldiers out there everywhere I go? you know So just trying to understand what risks are there, worrying about people who think that they might be confronted by various insects and diseases just by stepping outside of their known world. And So when it comes to those fears, if somebody isn't willing to really look into our our materials and look at State Department um risk assessments, then it's an uphill battle for somebody who's not willing to kind of look into that unless somebody else has said, hey, this is what we're doing. Just have faith in me. Let's do it. Because we we pay for all the insurance you need to pay for and we don't put ourselves in. While you can't eliminate all risk, I mean, somebody could step on a nail anywhere in the world or not look where they're going as they're crossing the street, that kind of thing. But we only operate in places where the the risks are increased.
00:14:40
Speaker
this' as low as we can possibly make them. And usually the the risk of any sort of bodily harm, particularly in terms of violence, is much lower in all of our program locations than it might be in a city in the Western world. That said, because in a lot of our program locations, there is less material wealth and resources, you know, there's realism that you You don't want to, I mean, it would be this way anywhere in the U S as well. You even expensive cell phones sitting out, um, unattended there, there can be opportunistic crime. Um, so I would say those are the the two areas where people worry about risk and how many years and, um, worry that they're not going to be able to contribute in a meaningful way. And, you know, really, um
00:15:35
Speaker
The interesting thing about that is it's what happens when you're working alongside someone and showing them that they matter to you, that what happens from that is different than what happens if you just wrote a check to them to, you know, have somebody else put in that concrete floor. You know, you're showing somebody that they matter,
00:15:59
Speaker
by being present and in this world of AI and zooms and electronic everything, we can lose sight of what happens for that in person, put yourself in nature, put yourself next to human beings. what What is the magic?
00:16:15
Speaker
And so people who worry about that, it's hard to communicate in a quick elevator speech what that's worth, the value that. Absolutely. And obviously this value is something that you don't just talk the talk. You're you're walking this walk. So I'd love to to go back to how the Globaware came to be and perhaps a moment or experience that made you personally believe that volunteer travel could really change lives. Where did Globaware, where did this idea come from?
The Origin of GlobalWare and Its Impact
00:16:44
Speaker
So I had been i was working for a space services company where we put people's ashes into space. and Goodness. not Yeah, it's not ah a lot of US citizens. There are some, but it's primarily Brazilians, German, Japanese who are more interested in that. my My educational background had been very internationally focused as well. And so I was...
00:17:12
Speaker
working for that company and stationed over the weekend. And I had already done a lot of tourism, traditional tourism related activities and finding myself over the weekend going, well, just wanted to do something else with my time and going around asking, seeing if I could find an organization that would let me um serve in a short-term capacity. And it was that uh, dead end that I just kept coming up against, uh, uh, kind of led me to go in, okay, well, if I can't find an organization that's set up to let me do this, I'll just try and do it, um, privately and see who I can find and say, Hey, what kind of help do you need? What can I do?
00:17:56
Speaker
I just want to, um, learn a little bit about your life in a way that isn't at a distance. And that's really what led to it. And, you know, I've had so many experiences that were meaningful and almost always are unexpected. Our volunteers often bring so much to the experience that we weren't anticipating. But one of the You know, I, the first time I gave a wheelchair to a landmine victim, which is usually children who pick up the landmines.
00:18:29
Speaker
I thought it was going to be the connection with the child that really stayed with me, but it was honestly, I'm a mom myself. My kids are out of the house and grown, but looking at another mother,
00:18:41
Speaker
eyeball eyeball and realizing that her vision for the future of her child had shifted and what, how that read on her and me getting to experience that with her and share that moment that, um, I didn't have that in the back of my head when I was doing it. It was just a, you know, a consequence, um, that I got to experience that, um, to see that kind of hope.
00:19:09
Speaker
That's just, I mean, obviously it's it's tragic and and something that we wish didn't happen with these landmines. But it's even out of something so terrible, something beautiful, a little something can come out of that. And I was going to ask you about your most meaningful experiences. I'm going to imagine that must be fairly top of the list. I have so many. Yes. more recently in the Philippines where one of the families that was serving with us had come across a family where a baby had just been born that had this really terrible blood-related disease, and they just decided to pay for all of the treatment for that baby who's been
00:19:48
Speaker
quite healthy since. and that wasn't even on GlobalWare's radar. I mean, this is where, when we've seen people just in that environment decide to get involved in new and unanticipated ways, it really is interesting just to see people bringing out the best in one another and environments that do that.
00:20:13
Speaker
um And in the most simple way, because again, you know, we are not rocket scientists and we aren't inventing anything. We are not doing large scale projects. We're not building hospitals, you know, or roads. So, um, it's really obviously our volunteers that bring so much. And then our coordinators who are, um,
00:20:37
Speaker
the heroes because they're able to meet both the needs of our, our participants who are so much wanting to be productive and efficient in environments where they're often focused more on humanity and living the life we have right now and appreciating it.
00:20:55
Speaker
And they can that can manifest itself in very different ways and trying to point out to everyone involved what's going on to keep everyone having the most meaningful experience as they can. That's i mean amazing. And obviously, over the last ah decades, you've created this incredible foundation and nonprofit. Where do you see
Corporate Connections and Volunteer Support
00:21:16
Speaker
it going in the future? What do you what your short-term and long-term goals do? I assume you're going to continue to grow, but what does that actually look like for you?
00:21:24
Speaker
well Well, it's interesting. yeah We also have Canadian charity status as well, but yeah because we're a five and one c three we're a non-profit, we're not really, you know, having more flags on a map is really immaterial to us. One of the ways we've seen the industry and the space and our organization morph and change is our connection to corporations. Ah, right. Because many corporations, you know, years ago, they might have a charitable arm where they had one specific organization they supported. It might be United Way or something like that, or they would have a giving day or a day where everybody goes in. And now so many organizations, so many companies will allow their employees to pick what they want to support. It might be because they've got, you know, contribution matching up to
00:22:19
Speaker
$1,500, or but they let them have volunteer paid days off if they're willing to volunteer, or they will have employee retreats, you know, that are meant to be um obviously bonding, but also experiences that help them feel um grateful for the life they have, but also that get a little bit of perspective in terms of what's important in life. So I feel like in the last 10 to 15 years, we've seen a real increase in that in our connection to other organizations and companies seeing a role, an easy way for them to provide this to their staff by just saying, hey, if you want to go on this kind of thing, we'll do the contribution matching up to whatever level, which often pays for the whole experience.
00:23:13
Speaker
That's just fantastic. I'm so glad that more corporations are are seeing the benefit to their to their staff, to their people and investing that way. That's a wonderful thing. Yeah. It's it's interesting because it's a win-win-win that we had never foreseen, but it's, you know, from a company's perspective, if they're looking for good PR, this isn't bad PR.
00:23:33
Speaker
It's something that's a non-taxable benefit to the employee and it obviously benefits the communities where we're serving. So, um, it really uh again that's been something that was not something we were seeing coming i'd be fascinated to you know put talk to some of the the corporate people who've been on these trips because you kind of mentioned it a little bit but i wonder if sometimes there's there's employees who are maybe having a you midlife crisis or thinking about a career change and going on these kinds of trips again this wouldn't be the purpose at all but a byproduct might be you know what, I've got a wonderful life and I'm going to double down on what I'm doing. And again, it's a win, win, win across the board um with that kind of thing. That'd be, I'd never thought about it from that perspective yeah before. Well, and you know, people will see things like people who are bringing kids, for example, who, uh, the kind of kid who might take a 30 minute shower. And then when they go and we're on location, even though our accommodations have running water, electricity, all of that stuff, many of the communities where we're working don't. And so we are often pumping water to mix concrete. And, you know, once a teenager has pumped some water and carried a bucket of water and seeing people being bathed in that same water and having to boil it to drink it, on their own relationship and appreciation for something is simple. as running water can change very quickly. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. i think, I think it's really good for all of us to have those moments where you, cause we do take things for granted. I know if I, if I hit the switch on the wall, the light's going to come on. Right. And then when it doesn't, yeah you suddenly go, you know, you realize how grateful you are for these things when, when it does happen. Right?
00:25:22
Speaker
Absolutely. Something I did want to ask you was through your journey with GlobalWare, how your definition of success might have changed if indeed it has and and what you, how you frame success for GlobalWare.
Defining Success in Volunteering
00:25:36
Speaker
So a couple of ways, I'd say that, um You know, one is when our communities continue to open us back with smiles and open arms, you know, and um let us be involved in their lives, letting us join their family celebrations, their dancing, their singing, hearing their kids sing their national anthems, you know, being invited in um tells us that we're on the right path. And the other you know,
00:26:08
Speaker
volunteers continuing to So, once one of our volunteers goes on a program, they're going to be back. I mean, we've just seen it over and over. And they usually go to a different country and a different culture each time. Even if they went into it with trepidation. Even if they went into it because somebody else it was somebody else's idea.
00:26:27
Speaker
And so, those are two key things that tell us we're... on the right path in terms of success. What we don't do as much as people saying, well, how many concrete floors did you do this month?
00:26:39
Speaker
Well, for us, it's a matter of how many volunteers we have. We know how long it takes. We know how we can do it, how many days we can do them very quickly. That's the other thing is our projects are all meant to be completed short term. They're very short projects.
00:26:53
Speaker
So we are less spreadsheet focused than a lot of people when it comes to our our success metrics. I love that. And I'm not surprised just hearing and reading about your, that just fits in beautifully. And I love it. Something I do always asks about ask my guests is if there's been a book that has been particularly impactful or meaningful on your life. I'm sure there's been many, but if I ask you about a book, is there any that that springs to mind?
00:27:22
Speaker
Gosh, there are so many books.
00:27:26
Speaker
you know, that it was at three cups of tea. That was a, it was an interesting journey where ah there's even a kid's version of it. You know, I've, I've been reading, there's so many self-help books I've been reading. I'm a big memoir and autobiography person. Oh, me too. And then a book club where we're reading pictures that I feel like I'm on. And then also now podcasts, right? It's amazing. I feel like 10 years ago, I wasn't listening to things as much as I do now. I feel like the bigger challenge is for me to, if I'm doing yoga to not listen to something, Yes. ah Feels like a challenge. But um gosh, and I, you know, one of the formative ones for me when I was back in the 80s was Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Yes. So many books.
00:28:09
Speaker
But so I'm struggling to think of just, what you know, the what's the Eckhart Tolle one now? There's one about yeah that. I feel like it's so important to try and stay present and think about how that is the most important piece. So i so many books.
00:28:24
Speaker
it's the i An episode of this podcast actually came out today and the lady I interviewed brought him up as well. as Somebody particularly impactful on her life. So I love that in a matter of a couple of weeks, yeah Eckhart Tolle has come up yet again. Interesting.
00:28:40
Speaker
The last question I would like to ask you is if you were organizing a volunteer trip and you could bring anyone in the world on the trip with you, this could be somebody dead, alive, famous, not famous, from your own life, a stranger, somebody you just know about, anyone in the world, who would you like to take with you and you get to pick their brains for the whole time that you are on this trip?
00:29:03
Speaker
Gosh, I would love to have ah a group of people. Okay. Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa, who is such a positive force and such an important part of ending apartheid.
00:29:18
Speaker
um I would love, you know, someone like Fidel Castro, who really went through an interesting ah journey Just to hear from him, such a magnetic person, whether you agreed with what he did or didn't. Gosh, there's so many and so many women. Maya Angelou. Yes. Goodness. i So many. i think I'd have a hard time.
00:29:43
Speaker
Picking just a few, but there's a few right there. There's a few right there. We can get a group together and what what powerhouse that would be having those people go.
Connecting with GlobalWare
00:29:52
Speaker
Now, most importantly of all, how can people find you, learn more about GlobalWare and what you do? Thank you for asking. Thank you. Thank you.
00:29:59
Speaker
we are We are everywhere anybody would think to look if they use the words globe aware. And a big mistake people often make is think it's global, but it's globe. I literally did that yesterday. yeah i chosen you yeah So many do. And so we are, you know, we have our own, our podcast about how to prepare for different countries where people might be going, whether or not they're going to globe aware. We have a lot of YouTube content that will show people how to fill out, you know, visa forms for wherever. they're going or what the toilets look like in Northern Thailand or all sorts of content like that.
00:30:35
Speaker
Interviews with our coordinators and of course, all over social media, Instagram, Facebook, all that stuff. Our website, I think even chat GPT does a pretty good job of of responding to information about global war. So we're really everywhere. And we're also quite,
00:30:51
Speaker
unique in that we answer our phones with human beings to answer questions that people have when they say, I cannot decide where to go. um Here's a little bit about my background. Can I chat with somebody about it? And so ah we even have phone numbers that work.
00:31:10
Speaker
Well, if that's not a selling point, I don't know what is. That's massive. Well, yes, so if you're interested in global where, you've heard where to go. This is fantastic. Kimberly Haley Coleman, I cannot thank you enough. This has been such an inspiring conversation.
00:31:26
Speaker
Thank you so much, Alistair. I really appreciate the opportunity to chat with you. Anytime. Thank you.
00:31:35
Speaker
Thank you again to this week's guest and I hope today's episode was as enjoyable for you as it was for me and perhaps even inspired your next adventure. If you did enjoy the show, please be sure to subscribe, leave a review or follow us wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more information at theoutdoorsyeducator.com or follow us on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Until next time, thank you so much for listening to The Outdoorsy Educator Podcast.