By Marguerite Hills

Sometimes you plug away at your volunteer tasks and wonder if you are making a real difference. Then every now and then you get a heartwarming affirmation that you do. This happened to me very recently. In early August I interviewed Tegan, a delightful, young member applicant, and I quickly approved her for membership… on to my next task.

It turns out that Tegan quickly hit the road, traveling to the Netherlands where she had her first experience staying with a Servas Host. Apparently, it was a wonderful experience, so she sent me this note:

Hi Marguerite,

We met a few weeks ago when you interviewed my sister Tess and I for Servas. I just wanted to let you know that we met our first Servas host today! She lives a little north of Amsterdam. We had dinner together at her home and discovered that we share a lot of interests - environmentalism, art, meditation, biodynamic farming. She has given us a list of books and documentaries to look up!

It was a lovely evening and exactly the sort of experience I was hoping to have while traveling. I’m very grateful that we were able to meet her through Servas. I wanted to thank you again for helping us through the application process. I’m looking forward to the rest of our Servas stays!

Best, Tegan