ABOUT ME

 

I'm Pippa and in the early summer of 2019, Cuso International selected me for a volunteer placement in Vientiane, Lao PDR. I arrived in Vientiane at the end of September and following a two-week in-country orientation I began teaching EFL at the Institute of Foreign Affairs. In early 2020, we learned that Cuso was ending its volunteer program in Southeast Asia in mid-March. I didn't want to abandon my students halfway through a term so I decided to stay on until the end of the course in late June as an independent self-funded volunteer. 

​And then Covid19 intervened all over the world and suddenly the Laos adventure was over. I returned to Canada where, like everyone else, I waited out the pandemic Finally, in early 2022 I made the decision to start volunteering internationally again and was inspired by the work of the Habibi Center in Athens. And the Greek adventure inspired more change.

 In July 2025, I sold my property and shipped my worldly goods to Heraklion, Crete where I now live. Born in Vancouver, I was educated mostly in Toronto, then lived and worked in Europe for 25 plus years where I raised a family. I'm fluent in English, French and Italian and I'm now learning Greek!