What is World Horizons International?

Since 1987 World Horizons established the benchmark for teenage cross-cultural volunteer community service experiences. World Horizons organizes community service trips lasting 2-5 weeks long in locations ranging from North and South America, the South Pacific, Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East, where teens discover new views of their world, and of themselves. We are proud of World Horizons' strong reputation for reliability, safety and competence. Our trips balance service work, cultural immersion, sightseeing, and friendship, giving teenagers experiences of a full range of social diversity.

By attending to the needs of communities around the globe, World Horizons’ volunteers reach new vistas of personal understanding. There are many ways to help: caring for mistreated animals; tutoring children; working with seniors; organizing day camps; teaching sports or crafts; building and painting; planting trees; assisting handicapped adults and children and more.

A World Horizons trip shows how we can each improve our relationships with others around the world. Now, more than ever, people need to reach across barriers of culture, language, and geography. Our trips help you discover lifestyles that are quite different from your own. You'll work, eat, play and just hang out with local community members. You'll learn things that tourists will never know! World Horizons is education at its best. What better way to learn about yourself and the world around you?

And, you'll have plenty of time for exploring with the group. Hike to a mountaintop, visit a volcano, or take part in a local festival. Welcome to "the real world" - not a TV show where producers edit the scenes to manufacture drama, but a real adventure with work that matters and plenty of fun along the way.

Who applies to World Horizons?

World Horizons' travelers come from all around the world, representing different ethnic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. Some travelers want to learn about new cultures or test their language skills, others, to increase their experience before applying for college. All World Horizons travelers share these common desires; a sense of adventure, the urge to help others and to expand their horizons.

You don't need special skills or training. Flexibility is key. Cathie Myers, of Utah's Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, says many volunteers "don't realize they have something to offer. When that realization comes upon them, it changes their world. It lets them know they can make a difference in the world."

If you are between 14-18, up to the challenge of a true cross-cultural experience, and willing to learn, you can make a difference through World Horizons.

"Stuart,
Thank you for your wonderful program. Julie had a fantastic time in Costa Rica. She made good friends in the group and with the local people. Her Spanish is amazing! Her community service work with the group showed her so much about the real lives of the people who live in Palmares. She, and we, are delighted that she found it so easy to live in conditions so different from those at home. She had nothing but fabulous things to say about the leaders, Annie and Karen. She wants to take the family to meet her friends in Costa Rica as soon as possible. We were also touched and impressed by yours and Annie's concerns about Julie's safety and welfare."

Nancy Leopold and Jeff Wagner, Maryland
-- Costa Rica