Since this time, Palms Australia has met over 1400 requests from our overseas partners in 38 countries in the Pacific, Australia, Africa, Asia and South America. Palms’ volunteers depart with our values – live humbly, love tenderly, walk humbly – and as such often are the last to blow their horns and remind us of the value they have given.
Palms Volunteers have given over $200,000,000 in value to the communities they have served.
This includes:
- educating over 65,000 students and 1,600 teachers
- providing over 120,000 days primary health services, including mentoring local nurses and health administrators
- mentoring over 2,000 in trades and agriculture
- training over 700 staff in administration of local projects and services
While Palms Australia by no means judges our effectiveness on purely economic terms, understanding that the value of this work goes far beyond the numbers above, it is worth considering quantitative measures such as these and using them as a tool for celebrating our history.
This includes acknowledging the elders of Palms, who began the program 50 years ago and provided inspiration and guidance throughout its existence, the returnees who have shared their stories in Australia to inspire and educate, the donors who have helped Palms keep the oily rag smelling so that we can continue to operate; Australian partners who have helped with recruitment, support and sharing wisdom to guide Palms’ direction; and our many overseas partners with whom we’ve worked, who’ve shared their culture and wisdom, who’ve made our volunteers welcome, and who continue the projects before, during and after a volunteer placement.
This section of our website will focus on celebrating the stories of the past 50 years and building support to ensure it can continue into the future.
