Worldly Women of Travel: Interview with Margaret Hegg

The latest GIVEjoy interview features Margaret Hegg.  She is a philanthropic adventurer and an incredible, multifaceted person. We had the opportunity to work together recently on a volunteer project with The Fuller Center of Romania.  I’m delighted to share my recent interview with Margaret.

Per October 2025 Interview

What / who first inspired you to travel?

I would say my father started my desire to “see the world”! When I was a kid, my parents took us cross-country by car. Staying en route in cheap motels (my father was as no camper), we drove from home (Pittsburgh, Pa) to Rocky Mountain National Park. A couple of years later, we did the same, this time to the Tetons and to Yellowstone National Park. So we saw the flat Midwest, and the “real west”- Colorado and Wyoming.

I remember when I was in high school, there was a quiz that was to help you discover what you wanted to do with your life. Mine came out that I wanted to travel.

What / where was your most meaningful trip? Where was it and why was it meaningful?

Probably my first trip with Habitat for Humanity Global Village trip to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 2003. We were renovating old Soviet style apartment buildings. We worked with locals and saw where they were living. It was a level of poverty I’d never seen. Lovely, warm, friendly people. I was hooked, and until the pandemic did one such trip/year, going all over the world (Nepal, Thailand, Peru, India, Tajikistan, to name a few).

How have your experiences traveling impacted your perspectives/actions?

Coming home from these trips, I always feel like I have way too much stuff. I also see how easy my life is.

While I was in practice as a medical internist, a colleague invited me to join her and some others to rural western Kenya. They were starting a project to create medical care where there was none. The goal was to make it Kenyan-run, not requiring international volunteers.

We started going to villages, wondering if there would be interest. In fact, hundreds lined up to see a doctor, something they’d never had.  At home I had access to blood testing and x-rays to assist my diagnostic skill.   In rural western Kenya, I had none of those. It was a humbling experience. The closest hospital was an hour’s drive away. And that hospital often had 2 patients in the same bed. And 40% of the population was HIV positive. It was a humbling experience. I stayed 2 weeks and went back for the following 6 years. I learned so much!!

It was a humbling experience…I learned so much!!

What is next on your travel adventure list and why?

Next month I reach my 80th birthday. My travel capability has changed. I’m very glad I’ve gotten to see so much!

Margaret’s journey is such an extraordinary example of the impact and importance of travel.

Photo credits from The Fuller Center of Housing – Romania (September 2025 Build): Chuck Petersen

For more information, check out these links:

Habitat for Humanity Global Village

Rocky Mountain National Park

Yellowstone National Park