I learned about Venture 2 Impact after my husband, Ryan, went to Uganda on a volunteer trip three years ago.  He returned with many stories to tell.  It sounded like he had an amazing time being there, helping the community, and learning about a new culture.

Ryan in the front waving

Earlier this year, we learned that Venture 2 Impact is running two volunteer trips.  One to Ecuador (which did not fit our schedule) and one to Indonesia.  Ryan and I were intrigued, we decided to sign up for a volunteering experience in Indonesia. It was a great volunteering experience for me; I learned so much.  I met some amazing people while in Indonesia. People who made a choice to dedicate their time and their money to fly around the world to help the less fortunate.

Students getting ready for art class

Batam, Indonesia was a very interesting place with very friendly people, along with a different culture and habits.  For me, as an artist, the best experience I had on this volunteer trip was the art class I had in a school in Batam. There were 40 children attending the class.  The children did an amazing job using their imagination to create little beautiful art works. We’re excited about this because these will be presented in a future exhibition here in Canada.

Teo teaching the little artists

This volunteer trip came as a motivation for me to bring this amazing Salesforce Team and Venture 2 Impact to my home country, Romania.  While Romania is quite different from Indonesia, it still has a lot of problems that we believe we can positively impact. The volunteer trip in Indonesia helped me to learn how to assess and plan for a volunteer experience. Additionally, it gave me a vision for the volunteer trip to Romania.  It helped me decide that it is for me; I believe in making a difference, and I’ve learned how much I like to volunteer.  I want to keep doing it with people who really care to make a difference, and that is why we chose Venture 2 Impact.