About Global Peace Exchange
Global Peace Exchange (GPE) is a non-profit student-run international development organization founded in 2006 at Florida State University which establishes relationships with non-governmental organizations in developing countries to allow students the opportunity to work on sustainable development projects on a grassroots level.
To learn more about GPE and our other initiatives, please check out the GPE website. You can also like our Facebook page and join our Facebook group to become more involved. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to be added to the e-mail list!
To learn more about GPE and our other initiatives, please check out the GPE website. You can also like our Facebook page and join our Facebook group to become more involved. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to be added to the e-mail list!
Global Peace Exchange at a Glance
7 Countries GPE has partnered with:
Ghana, Guatemala, Thailand, India, 5 continual summers in Rwanda, and going on 2 consecutive years this summer in Uganda and Nepal.
85 students sent abroad on community-based development projects since 2006.
30 local seamstresses graduated our 2011 Women’s Empowerment project in India.
28 Cooperative members graduated our 2011 vocational skills training program in Rwanda, with 14 currently employed.
Ghana, Guatemala, Thailand, India, 5 continual summers in Rwanda, and going on 2 consecutive years this summer in Uganda and Nepal.
85 students sent abroad on community-based development projects since 2006.
30 local seamstresses graduated our 2011 Women’s Empowerment project in India.
28 Cooperative members graduated our 2011 vocational skills training program in Rwanda, with 14 currently employed.
Service GPE aims to provide FSU students with greater insight into the process of non-profit management, grassroots project development, and sustainability. Since GPE is a student-run organization, a substantial amount of the team’s time must be committed to the planning, funding, and subsequent implementation of the community-based development projects abroad. Communicating at least weekly with the partner abroad, GPE ensures the project is based on our partner’s priority needs, and that it is feasible within GPE’s defined scope. This is acknowledging that GPE’s teams of students offer a limited skill set and budget, and we recognize and focus on what we are most capable of providing to each project. Although perhaps limiting in some aspects, this does in fact maximize GPE’s ability to make a difference in the projects undertaken and encourages students to think outside of the box, and understand more of the reality of most grassroots development work: making a lot out of a little. GPE also strives to provide affordable options for student volunteers, as we understand the financial constraints of paying for a university education as well as travel abroad, and firmly believe that all students ought to have this option available to them if they so wish. Due to this, we offer a portion of our funding in the form stipends for students that they may use towards cutting the costs of airfare and living expenses. GPE housing arrangements are modest in order to keep costs as low as possible for students, and facilitate a sense of cultural immersion in the community.
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Sustainability GPE strives for sustainability in every aspect of the projects we undertake, and as an organization holistically. It is only through continued student commitment and participation that we are able to grow, learn, and improve our projects each year. Through partnering with local organizations abroad and communicating directly the capacity of our funding, student skill set, and length of our stay (2-3 months), we mutually determine a feasible project that may best meet a priority need.
GPE will therefore only engage in a project where we outline with our partner a specific project of their choice that is achievable within our scope and able to maintain accountability and continued sustainability. In order to achieve our standards of quality, a project must be sustainable, in that our partner organization is entirely capable of not only continuing the initiative but also ensuring that it thrives long after our team has departed. Additionally, monitoring and evaluation takes place throughout the following months as we continue communication with our community partners and develop the blueprints for future projects the following summer. |
Education GPE hopes to act as an avenue through which students gain a critical understanding of nonprofit management, international development, and community partnership. Through globalization, we recognize that people all over the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, our lives and aspirations becoming further interwoven. The educational focus GPE takes provides an opportunity for experiential learning in the field of development, where critical understanding is all but necessary. It allows students to explore various social issues and apply theories and concepts learned in the classroom to a real-life context. With students as the future decision-makers and actors in our society, it is vital that they recognize this connection and approach both issues and solutions with the kind of knowledge that can only come from experience, from hearing it from the local experts. Thus, we hope through our volunteer’s engagement, we foster open-mindedness, critical thinking, compassion, and a greater understanding of their role in approaching solutions to inequality everywhere.
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Our Partner Organizations, and thus our projects, generally incorporate one of more of these development-related themes:
Sustainable Income Generation
Women’s Empowerment
Youth Empowerment
Public Health and Access to Health Services
Environmental Education and Sustainability
Community Organizing/Local Participation
Human Development (English and vocational skills training)
Educational Equity & Access to Technology
Sustainable Income Generation
Women’s Empowerment
Youth Empowerment
Public Health and Access to Health Services
Environmental Education and Sustainability
Community Organizing/Local Participation
Human Development (English and vocational skills training)
Educational Equity & Access to Technology
About Clinic Nepal
Located in Meghauli and Daldale in the Chitwan district of southern Nepal, Clinic Nepal is a non-profit organization founded in 1997 by Hari Bhandary who possessed a vision for rural southern Nepal to have access to education, healthcare, and clean water and sanitary facilities. Since its creation, Clinic Nepal has established a Friendship Health Clinic, Friendship Scout Troop, Asha Kokiran Children's Hostel, and three kindergartens. Clinic Nepal has also facilitated the sponsorship of over 150 students in both academic and vocational capacities, the installation of clean water pumps and sanitary latrines, and recurring travel health camps. Clinic Nepal has many sponsors, volunteers, interns, and other friends from all around the world to thank for its success. Hari's Story, a short documentary on the history of Clinic Nepal, is available streaming on Youtube along with other videos of current events.
Please visit the Clinic Nepal website and like the Clinic Nepal Facebook page to learn more about and stay updated about Clinic Nepal!
Please visit the Clinic Nepal website and like the Clinic Nepal Facebook page to learn more about and stay updated about Clinic Nepal!