Our Story

Where it all began

VIA began in 1963 when then Dean of Freshman Men at Stanford University, Dwight Clark, organized a summer volunteer project with Stanford students serving refugees in Hong Kong.

The summer reshaped many of these students’ personal and professional goals. They so valued the benefits of their cross-cultural experience that they recruited others for similar projects.

In 1966, these programs were incorporated under the name “Volunteers in Asia” as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization.

1963: VIA’s first volunteers

23 Stanford freshmen, spend a summer in Hong Kong, serving Chinese refugees

"Every young man had a very important ethical question facing him. Those who were conscientious objectors had the obligation to put in two years of service. So rather suddenly , VIA had all of these thoughtful young men knocking at our door"

"My Hong Kong experience had a lasting impact, one aspect being the discovery of humor that transcends all cultural boundaries and really facilitates the establishment of constructive rapport with families."

1965-1968: VIA offers alternative service during Vietnam War

As US military involvement in Vietnam escalates, VIA offers two-year posts as alternative service for conscientious objectors. VIA sends first volunteers to Macau (‘64), Vietnam (‘66), Philippines (’67), Japan (‘67) and Indonesia (‘68).

"The experience in Vietnam gave me perspective on the third world…it reinforced my sense that I wanted to have a life that would make a progressive difference, although not necessarily in a political sense"

"The VIA summer program in Vietnam was an opportunity to really go down there and see what was going on…to get a first hand perspective on the people...a level of experience that was different…something a little more personal."

"We had been a summer program and two years sounded rather daunting but this was something that we were excited about doing and so VIA quickly grew. Our staff was still really small. And this in a time when the fastest time we could have to our volunteers was airmail."

1970-1976: VIA expands to Taiwan and South Asia

VIA enters Taiwan (‘70) and remains in Taiwan for nearly 24 years. VIA also sends volunteers to Bangladesh (‘73), two years after seceding from Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, staying for a few years.

"In 1971, I took a six month post in Indonesia when we were working with the national family planning movement there. I had a wondrous time and I learned a great deal. I lived with a local family and we remained close for many many years."

Able to substitute volunteer work for military service, John spent two years as a mechanic instructor with CARE relief operations in Bangladesh. It didn't take long for him to find out that he was not cut out to be a mechanic. "I basically destroyed their fleet, and I left on their last remaining Jeep,”

1975-1976: Trans-Cultural Study Guide and Appropriate Technology Project

VIA enters the publishing business (‘75) with the Trans-Cultural Study Guide. Former volunteers start the Appropriate Technology Project (‘76) to increase access to beneficial village-level technologies.

The Trans-Cultural Study Guide was published as a compilation of experiences of VIA volunteers that outlines issues and questions that guide the reader through an in-depth, self-directed study of a new culture. The framework includes, among other topics, education, politics, economics, social customs, gender, religion, and art.

Ken Darrow was teaching in Central Java and was interested in technology at the village level. Every weekend he would bicycle out to nearby villages and look at technology they were using. He got the idea that what was a technological problem in one village had been solved in another and some way was needed to bring all those answers from around the world to one place to learn best practices.

1977: VIA launches Trans-Pacific Exchange

VIA launches American Language & Culture (ALC) at Stanford for students from Japan, which grew to include students from mainland China, Macau, Korea, and Taiwan.

In 1977 two universities in Japan, Keio and Waseda, asked us to plan for them a summer English language and American society program at the Stanford campus in California. We had never really thought of doing it but our board was really excited because it gave VIA a two way flow. We were not just sending Americans to Asia but this would give us a chance to send Asians here to America.

"My ALC experience has opened up the way I see the world. It taught me that 90% of the stereotypes I had of my peers were wrong. The way to truly learn about another culture is not through reading books. You have to interact - learn language, and learn how to think in the mindset of the local people. Only then can you develop empathy and understanding for other viewpoints and perspectives"

1980s: VIA sends volunteers to mainland China

VIA starts sending volunteers to mainland China (‘80), quickly expanding to many provinces, while continuing its volunteer activities in Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

“I feel privileged to have lived through a moment in China when opening and development was just beginning after the Cultural Revolution. Walks and picnics with students in the botanical garden; viewing peonies by moonlight near the West Lake; conversation with a young man and his father by the Yellow River in Lanzhou; 3-day hard sleeper train ride to Xinjiang”

"I was invited into a community center for young industrial workers who had migrated to southern Taiwan. I taught English, completed project reports, and grew to appreciate the wisdom and resourcefulness of the community leaders."

"I especially enjoyed my English conversation class. The class of about 30 was made up of students mostly older than I was who had come from around the country to study English. They were a mixture of factory workers, technicians, managers and one army doctor. Fantastic people and I very much enjoyed their camaraderie."

"What I gained was the sense that our world is vast and contains many cultural traditions and approaches to society and answers to the meaning of life … we all spend our lives asking the same questions and recognizing love and kindness in others. That essential humanity is our greatest hope for peace. I was unable to truly realize it myself until my experience as a volunteer in China"

"I look back on my time as one of the most consequential in my life. I was able to learn so much about myself by stepping totally outside my previous experiences. I was able to impact the lives of others through my teaching and the friendships that I formed. And I was able to witness history, as the events of Tiananmen Square and their aftermath reverberated even in the small town where I lived.”

1980s: VIA continues to grow, sharing knowledge and resources

The Appropriate Technology Project publishes Lorena Stoves (‘81), a manual for low-cost wood-conserving cookstoves. Avia Travel (‘85) grows out of in-house travel desk arranging transportation for VIA volunteers. VIA is listed in Becky Buell’s first edition of “Alternatives to Peace Corps” (‘85).

Lorena Stoves has examples from Guatemala, Indonesia, Senegal and the U.S.. The Appropriate Technology Sourcebook led to production in microfiche of an entire library of more than 1,000 appropriate technology books. 1,600 library sets have been distributed to development organizations in 125 countries.

1990s: VIA returns to Vietnam, expands in Southeast Asia

VIA returns to Vietnam (‘90), five years before the normalization of diplomatic relations; starts sending volunteers to Thailand (‘91) and Laos (‘96).

“I love to tell my kids about students who traveled hours to hear me speak in class, who planned elaborate weekend bike trips to show we village life, who risked opening their hearts to a foreigner at a time when being ‘global’ did not increase their job prospects. I tell them about the teachers who truly loved their jobs, who taught me how to joke in Vietnamese and to laugh at my own mistakes”

“My time in Mae Sai were some of the most rewarding, fulfilling and happiest days of my life. My work involved teaching English to stateless youth and adolescents, deejaying a weekly radio show, researching and writing grant proposals, networking and liaising with international donors and partners, and writing articles for the organization’s newsletter and blog. In short, there was never a dull moment!”

“In the advanced class, sometimes we talked about government reform, and other times they told me about the nagas, the spirits that lived in the rivers. They were equally eager to use English skills professionally and to work out lyrics to Stevie Wonder and Natalie Merchant”

1990s: TPE grows; VIA launches Health Care programs

By 1994, Trans-Pacific Exchange programs equals size of the Volunteer Program. VIA launches first Exploring Health Care program(‘96) in collaboration with Tokyo Medical and Tokyo Women’s Medical Universities.

More than 30 Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCSF students each year plan programs for Asian students on a wide variety of social issues including homelessness, socially responsible business, women’s issues, and cross-cultural perspectives on medical ethics. The Treat Cross-Cultural Fellowship (‘91), sends several of the US students to Asia on an intensive study tour.

"VIA started a study program from Japan to southeast Asia in 1991 and once I had retired VIA didn’t have anyone to do that program. I kept that program up and then I added a program to Burma. Those programs are keeping me very busy and giving me a chance to do a lot more talking with people who have been on these programs. It takes me back to my days as dean of men when we were doing a lot of talking about what kind of human being one would like to become."

"We added a program for Japanese medical students to look at medical care, medical education here, which turns out to be very different between the two countries. The education process is very, very different. And education practice…just to cite one case in difference, death in Japan is heart death and death here is brain death. So very, very different answers to end of life choices. We now have two different medical programs every year out of Asia."

“I learned it is important to broaden one’s outlook on life, both as a doctor and a decent human being… Looking back on what I had been doing for the last two years, I feel that my field of interest was largely confined to natural sciences. This may make me a good scientist, but this is not enough to be a decent human being. I need to learn about humanity-related fields and I need to experience a lot of things.”

"My year in Takamatsu, Japan was among the best of my life, it gave me a chance to understand my roots. I also enjoyed being adventurous, independent, and creative in my teaching, and meeting many amazing Japanese friends.”

2000s: Volunteers in Asia and Trans-Pacific Exchange become VIA

Volunteers in Asia and Trans-Pacific Exchange unify as VIA to signify continued exploration of new directions. VIA begins hosting leadership exchange and service-learning programs at Stanford (‘05). VIA also begins sending volunteers to Myanmar (‘06) and continues to grow its network of regional partners.

“The Service-Learning Program was one of the most meaningful and happiest months for me. I not only brought back service-related knowledge, but also valuable friendships. Since coming back, I have been involved with a project to increase awareness of South Asian culture among students in Hong Kong using cultural tours that train South Asian youngsters as tour guides.”

"In one of my first classes, we were discussing human rights abuses in the context of the Holocaust. One student wanted to know how their own country could move forward. We talked a little bit about reconciliation and forgiveness, but I knew that I didn’t have the answer. I hope my students can find it."

2010s: VIA develops social innovation programs

VIA launches spring Exploring Social Innovation program (‘10); summer medical & social innovation programs in Silicon Valley (‘12); plans online accelerator.

“These social entrepreneurship programs came up because we were finding some of the brightest, most socially motivated of the students in Asia. They were really interested in knowing what was happening here and we realized that the SF bay area, Stanford and Silicon Valley are a hot bed of so many of these ideas. This could work out to a very productive experience for some of these young people who were thinking in these ways.”

“This program was a gateway to the world of social entrepreneurship: each kernel of wisdom and lasting friendship inspires what I do now in my radio program, Concerned Generation.”

2013: 50 Years of VIA

VIA celebrated 50 years of life-changing cross-cultural exchange!

"When I look back on that first year and now look at us 50 years later, of course everything is utterly changed and none of us could have even dreamed all of the changes that would be taking place, particularly in Asia."

"One of the things that to me is pleasing, is that VIA has adjusted to the times. Adding new countries, volunteers are taking on roles we could never have thought of just a couple years back and now have more young Asians here and getting into topics such as social entrepreneurship, social innovation... Asia is going to continue to change in big, big ways, but I’m really confident that VIA is going to change to."

"I think VIA has found a way to interact with Asia in a respectful and an open-minded way that can inform both the Americans and the Asians who are taking part in that kind of an ongoing dialogue. I think that if world peace if ever going to be found, VIA is just one of a thousand ways to do it."

2020s: VIA continues to innovate

VIA launches online project accelerator (’20) and other virtual programs in response to the pandemic (’21); resumes in-person programs in 2022.

“The accelerator has helped me grow from a social development standpoint as well as personally. I have no direct experience prior but through training, modules, and seminars – we are able to see the importance of a carefully planned social innovation project. It has also helped me grow personally. Seeing other people from other countries (from other teams) work on relevant social issues energizes me to keep pushing for changes in my home country, Philippines.”

“To be a part of the accelerator, I love how we gathered and shared passion and experience from each person. Those storytellings inspired and provoked me to think of how far I’ve been through on this journey and how I’m going to grow up.”

Where it all began

1963: VIA’s first volunteers

1965-1968: VIA offers alternative service during Vietnam War

1970-1976: VIA expands to Taiwan and South Asia

1975-1976: Trans-Cultural Study Guide and Appropriate Technology Project

1977: VIA launches Trans-Pacific Exchange

1980s: VIA sends volunteers to mainland China

1980s: VIA continues to grow, sharing knowledge and resources

1990s: VIA returns to Vietnam, expands in Southeast Asia

1990s: TPE grows; VIA launches Health Care programs

2000s: Volunteers in Asia and Trans-Pacific Exchange become VIA

2010s: VIA develops social innovation programs

2013: 50 Years of VIA

2020s: VIA continues to innovate

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Our Story

Where it all began

1963: VIA’s first volunteers

1965-1968: VIA offers alternative service during Vietnam War

1970-1976: VIA expands to Taiwan and South Asia

1975-1976: Trans-Cultural Study Guide and Appropriate Technology Project

1977: VIA launches Trans-Pacific Exchange

1980s: VIA sends volunteers to mainland China

1980s: VIA continues to grow, sharing knowledge and resources

1990s: VIA returns to Vietnam, expands in Southeast Asia

1990s: TPE grows; VIA launches Health Care programs

2000s: Volunteers in Asia and Trans-Pacific Exchange become VIA

2010s: VIA develops social innovation programs

2013: 50 Years of VIA

2020s: VIA continues to innovate

About Us

Get Involved

Useful info

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