2007-01-17

The Takitumu Conservation Area, Creative Centre and Disability Action team are just a handful of organisations on the island of Rarotonga who will be welcoming the first group of 10 Global Volunteers for the year. Their service program begins this Saturday. It will be their first time to the Cook Islands and for Taiana Torea-Allan it will be the first team she will be overseeing in her new role as the Cook Islands Country Manager.

Taiana takes over the ranks from her sister Anita Craig who has been employed by Global Volunteers since 2003. Besides Taiana there was one other strong candidate from the Cook Islands role and the final choice was made by the Chief Executive Officer of Global Volunteers. Taiana formerly a resident of the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand is excited to return home to be with her parents and take on a role that gives her an opportunity to help her people. “I have always liked the sound of Anita’s job, because you are working to help the local community” she says. Taiana began her training with Global Volunteers on 10 November when she participated in a service program as a volunteer and also learned the Cook Islands service program procedures from Anita. Taiana recently returned from Global Volunteers head office in St Paul, Minnesota, USA where she completed her Team Leader training.

Taiana is looking forward to her first team arriving. “I’m not very nervous, just excited to be putting everything I have learned into practice.”

While Taiana is beginning a new chapter in her life here, Anita will be too, but in America. Although she is saying goodbye to working with Global Volunteers in the Cook Islands, she is returning to America to train for another position with them. Anita’s husband Orlando is an officer in the United States Army and is currently serving as the Executive Officer of the 18th Engineer Company in Iraq. “Being in the military, you can be moving around a lot, so with this new position I will be training for with Global Volunteers, I will have a job working from home, no matter where we will be based in America.” Anita is thankful to Global Volunteers for the opportunity to take on a position like this.

Anita is also excited that soon after she returns to America, she will see Orlando again, as he will be home from Iraq for two weeks of rest and recuperation.

Working with Global Volunteers has been a great experience for Anita and the best possible way for her to learn about her culture, as a person who was not raised here as a child. She has met so many people and has thoroughly enjoyed it. She wishes Taiana all the best and asks the community to work with her and Global Volunteers to strengthen the program. “Global Volunteers is here to help and serve, but it’s most important that we work together,” says Anita.

Global Volunteers, is a non profit organisation based in America that mobilises short-term volunteers on direct community service projects worldwide through volunteer vacations.
Founded by a husband and wife team – Bud Philbrook and Michele Gran – it was done so on the basis that such individual cross cultural experiences are ‘the foundation for peace-building relationships, one person at a time.’ Global Volunteers takes on many types of projects and ensures benefit to the communities the projects serve, by consistently bringing back volunteers time after time.

The new team of volunteers will also be giving their time to the Cook Islands Library and Museum and other projects are yet to be finalised.
Taiana says that the goal she has set for the year is to grow the service programme. She plans to do this through better contact with the community to be aware of the needs out there and to fill those needs.
This year will see between 12 and 14 teams of Global Volunteers coming to the Cook Islands.
Those who would like to have volunteers working for them while they are here, can contact the Cook Islands host Vereara Maeva-Taripo at the CIANGO office. – Tara Carr