Namaste

After four years of indescribable travels all around the world, my summer trips have unfortunately come to an end. Leaving Nepal was especially difficult because not only did it signify the end of an amazing trip but also parting with the organization that has had such a profound impact on my life. Children’s Global Alliance has been truly one of the most influential things in my life and something that I will always cherish and never forget.

My first trip with Children’s Global Alliance seems so long ago, seeing where I am now compared to where I was then. Going into that trip I wasn’t in the best place and lacked a lot of self-confidence, and struggled with all the other things most early teens do, but, going halfway around the world and seeing how other people lived changed everything. It opened my eyes to new experiences and challenged me in ways nothing else ever has. When you really lose yourself in the service of others, you end up also finding out more about yourself than you would ever imagine and it makes who you are and who you want to be become something clear and attainable. The impact Children’s Global Alliance has had on me can’t be put into words. The overwhelming sense of respect and admiration I have for Lisa Marie and all the other chaperones, goes far be on what I can articulate. I went on these trips to help other people and to teach but, I ended up coming back having learned more than I could have ever taught. Not only did I learn about myself, but also other cultures and how other people live. Seeing the poverty in the countries I went to really made me think about how fortunate I am and gave me a new perspective on my life. Suddenly things that seemed so problematic before seemed minuscule in the big picture and I learned what really truly matters anywhere you go, love. These trips gave me a huge sense of global awareness and ignited a passion within me to travel and truly lose myself in the service of others. After the first trip I was totally hooked and knew it was something I wanted to continue doing for the rest of my life. And I knew Children’s Global Alliance would have a huge part in continuing my service and travels.

Now looking back on all my trips I am filled with nothing but an overwhelming sense of fulfillment and happiness for what I have accomplished, personally and globally with Children’s Global Alliance. I have families in Cambodia, Nicaragua, Tanzania, and Nepal. Each one will always hold an extremely special place in my heart, for each one has had an intangible effect on my life.

Blog #2

            We have always done some kind of manual labor on every trip with CGA, but it has always been building something, helping repair something, or even cleaning. This trip is different. Here we are taking people’s houses down from top to bottom. Due to the impact of the earthquakes, some of the homes were damaged, but not destroyed, yet deemed un-livable so they now have to demolish them. Because it’s not our house, we can’t truly understand how difficult it must be to have to destroy your own home. It’s still difficult and makes us really think about how fortunate we are. Their livelihood, memories they’ve made, and hard work they’ve put into creating a place to call home, has to come down. Every once in a while you stop to think how sad what you’re doing actually is. To take down someone’s home and think about the fact that they will have to rebuild their home, and stay in extremely undesirable conditions until they do so, is heartbreaking.

            On Saturday we went to a local family’s home, close to where we are staying, to help them begin taking down their homes. In a few hours we managed to remove an entire floor. From the bricks making up the walls to the wood making up the floors everything came down in a huge process of dust, sweat and hard work. Even though it is extremely sad taking down someone’s home it still is satisfying knowing you helped in some way. The sweat, aches and blisters are more than worth it when you get the honest thanks from the families.

            When school started again on Sunday, I was assigned to Class 5 which is equivalent to around fifth grade. It was challenging because as newcomers you haven’t earned respect yet and you have to work for it. Kids see some volunteers come in and out of their school all the time and for the most part they take pictures, teach one class and call it “volunteering.’ So it’s no surprise why respect isn’t just given, but the challenge is worth it when you do finally get through to them. Giving the kids a little extra attention and showing them that you are truly there to help, definitely gets through to them. Whether it’s at home or in the school these kids usually don’t get the kind of attention they deserve. So coming here and giving them 100% of your attention and effort really goes a long way and you can see their smiles get a little brighter every day. Slowly you can see the kids start to listen just a little more and stay a little quieter which gives you hope for the days to come, which turned out to be exactly what we needed.

            On Sunday night we reviewed our days as a group and gave each other tips for teaching. Kevin and I were going to Class 3 on Monday which Ava and Nicole were in on Sunday. We were told Class 3 had been the most challenging class and they were extremely hard to control and to keep their attention. Kevin and I were nervous, but came up with a point system to keep the kids focused. We divided the room into three tables and told them whoever paid attention the best, raised their hands quietly, and showed the most participation would get a sticker each time they did something well. At the end of the day the table with the most stickers would win a prize. This ended up being exactly what the class needed. On Monday, Kevin and I had a complete breakthrough with the class and were able to go through the day with very minimal amount of problems. The kids were great and hardly ever needed reprimanding; they listened and participated. The sticker game was perfect and kept the kids’ attention all day. It was truly amazing because you’d seen your ideas really come to life and directly affect the kids’ learning in a positive way. Having your hard work pay off like that is one of the most fulfilling feelings but knowing that you really did impact the kids learning and affect them for days and years to come is what’s truly amazing.

            On Monday and Tuesday, Kevin and I taught primarily all the classes. Monday was Class Three and Tuesday was Class Four, but you could tell that throughout the school a certain kind of respect was beginning to appear and a level of trust was being earned. There is still a long way to go but the future is hopeful and each day gets better and better even if sometimes it is two steps forward and one step back. Helping not only the kids but also the teachers has been really cool to see; the teaching methods are so different here from how they are in America, both positively and negatively. Introducing new methods and seeing them really click with kids is very satisfying knowing what you do will stick with them forever.

            After each school day (which ends at 4) we go to our driver, Puniram’s, house to help dismantle from 5:00-7:00pm. It gets exhausting teaching and then going to do more work but being in such close relation to Puniram makes it even more fulfilling and personal because you can tell how much it really helps him and how much he appreciates it. Over the past 3 days we have successfully taken down 2 floors and gotten the house ready to survive monsoon season. The ground floor has to be left for the monsoon season but today it rained for the first time and knowing that we got it done before the big rain provides a huge sense of accomplishment.

            Helping in the school and with local houses is unlike anything I’ve ever done. It gives me an extra sense of accomplishment because I know not only that I’m helping in the school but also with local families and being able to physically see the improvements I have directly helped to make is incredible. Being a little more tired, my feet hurting, blisters on my hands and overall exhaustion is 100x more worth it when I know what I am doing is changing and helping the lives around me.

The Beginning

Blog #1: The Beginning

            After the two earthquakes, it seemed like this trip would definitely not be happening. Looking through the news articles of how devastated Nepal was and hearing things like there’s a lack of resources, there are dead bodies all over, there is rubble and trash everywhere, air pollution and smog is worse than ever and that Nepal had been deemed a place “un-travelable” unless you were the Red Cross or some other large relief organization doesn’t make it seem like a great place to be. But after getting here and seeing it, all expectations were shattered. It was inevitable to not think of huge piles of rubble and buildings destroyed everywhere and people in the streets when you hear there’s been two huge earthquakes with a sequence of reoccurring aftershocks. But what the news has said and what you may think is not what it really is. People want help and they are happy to see volunteers here. In the airport native Nepalese people asked what we were doing and when we told them they responded with nothing but gratitude and love. “Thank you so much, we need you. Our country needs your help, thank you, thank you, thank you.” Nothing but love and support for what we are doing here, which drives you to put that much more effort into everything you do. People here have not lost hope within themselves or their country but need people here supporting them, showing them that their hope has been worth it and people aren’t forgetting about Nepal. Where we are staying is in the midst of a large historical site called Darbar Square which usually has tourists swarming around but there is no one here but us because the buildings are too damaged. The only building with no damage is the one we are staying in which almost makes you feel guilty for having no sense of fear about where you are staying when the people here are too afraid to go up farther than ground level and don’t want to enter the buildings for fear of the damage succumbing and causing the buildings to collapse. In most of the buildings only the top floors are destroyed which means people have to come in and take the buildings down from the top to the bottom and then rebuild but they can’t start that process until after monsoon season which ends around August or September so until then the buildings have to remain as they are which leaves an eerie feeling all around and doesn’t allow people to move on. But the hope they still have is inspiring.

            Today, Friday the 5^th, was our first day at the school which always gives you jitters and leaves you with mixed emotions of fear, excitement, joy and nerves. Before going to the school the principal, Keshab, came to our guest house to give us an orientation before going to teach in the school. It was really inspiring to hear what he had to say and made me want to put 110% of my effort into everything we did at the school. But what he said was also not what I was expecting, he was much more open and accepting than I thought and kept reiterating how important individuality and independence are. He would say things like “No child is a bad child but, everybody just has their own learning styles.” And encouraged us to figure out those learning styles and develop 1 on 1 connections with the students. He wants all of his students to be mentally and financially independent and encourages the use of critical thinking to develop those skills. Another thing that really stood out to me and resonated with me was his idea that there is no wrong answer and that as long as the child is thinking and trying, then there is some truth to their answer. He went through several teaching methods with us like; being professional because the kids watch your every move and look up to you, being prepared with lesson plans, the importance of body language, tone and eye contact, being positive and smiling, 1 on 1 connections, and being a friend to the students but also a leader. All of these things gave me the confidence I needed and helped shake off the first day nerves of teaching. What he said validated everything we are here to do and made you want to give teaching everything you have because no matter how little or how big, your impact is remembered and does make a difference.

            At the school Kevin and I were assigned to class 4 which had math class first. All of the things they are learning make sense and are things students in the U.S. learn but the teaching method is extremely different which makes it more challenging and makes teaching that much more scary because you never know if the way you are teaching is the way they should be learning. We helped the teacher grade homework and classwork and he asked me to do a few of the classwork problems on the board to help the students understand better. At first I did the problem how I usually would and got blank stares from the students, a laugh from the teacher, and a head shake from Kev. I probably turned red from embarrassment and being so nervous but, I did the problem again the way they were learning it and felt a huge sense of accomplishment seeing the kids’ eyes show that “ah-ha” moment. We followed the math teacher around for the rest of the morning from class 4 to class 3 to class 6 which eventually led to lunch time. The same was true for class 3 & 6 as was in class 4, the same concept as the U.S.  but different teaching methods. This makes it a little bit more challenging but not impossible. Kevin and I brainstormed fun games we could do with the kids to get them up and out of their seats and excited about what they were learning. At lunch it was really cool to talk with everyone about what they had noticed and what they thought and telling funny stories from the morning classes. After lunch, Kevin and I went back to class 4 and helped teach computer class which initially consisted of copying down notes out of the book but Kevin and I made it more interactive by taking notes on the board and talking through it with the class which you could see really changed their moods and got us into the swing of teaching again. The rest of the afternoon (2 classes) no teachers showed up but one of the classes was drawing so the kids just had to draw and relax which gave us a really good opportunity to talk and get to know the kids better. Learning the names is definitely not easy, but it’s fun trying to say them and watching the kids laugh at you because you totally butchered but eventually they help you and you slowly begin to learn the names. The next class we played about 4 different games with the kids and just got them up and moving around which changed their moods and they became more spirited and happy just by having a little fun in the classroom. The day ended with all smiles and happy faces which leaves you feeling extremely accomplished and proud that you just had to do with putting a smile on their faces. It makes you excited to go back the next day and continue to make new connections, fail a few times, learn new things, and make an honest impact on the people around you.  

Living On One Dollar Documentary

1. After viewing this documentary, identify what you discovered to be most profound and give your reasoning why.

I found that despite the lack of money and financial security the families love for each other and the sense of community in Pena Blanca to be most profound. These people have to choose between educating and feeding their children while here our choices are where we want to go to school and what we want to eat. Education is taken for granted here and treated as more of a norm than a privilege. Despite of these hard choices you can still see the love within the families there. They have to put their children to work just to get by yet, they still have this amazing love for each other. Not only within the families but within the community they’ve built a support system to help each other live better lives. It always amazes me that within these impoverished communities they have nothing yet, are so willing to give to help someone else. The lack of unselfishness shown in Pena Blanca but also seen in Tanzania, Cambodia and Nicaragua has never ceased to amaze me- how people with so little, give so much.

2. Would you be able to survive in these conditions? Why or why not?

Personally, I think that I would be able to survive like Zach and Chris did for 2 months or 3 months, but not permanently. That being said, I have even more respect for the people of Pena Blanca that have no choice but live that way. It would be immensely eye-opening to live on a dollar a day as an experiment as Chris and Zach did. No matter how submerged you become in helping the people while you’re there you still get to go back to the hotel and have dinner every night and breakfast every morning but to completely understand you have to live exactly as they do, on one dollar a day.

  

3. What do you believe would be the most challenging part of living in poverty?

The most challenging part of living in poverty would be having to choose between the things that are necessary to survive and things that may be important. For example, many families in Pena Blanca have to choose between feeding their children and sending them to school. For people like Rosa, school was something she dreamed of but in order to survive wasn’t an option. Having to put your child to work over going to school just to barely get by would be extremely hard and something that unfortunately, many people living in poverty have to do. I think this would be most challenging because in your heart you would know your child should be going to school but it just isn’t an option if you want to survive. Most of the people have to chose survival over their dreams which would be incredibly hard to know that your dreams are so far from reach.

4. Compare and contrast your values with those of the Guatemalans you watched in the documentary.

My values on family would be most similar to the Guatemalans because for me family come before anything else and for the Guatemalans they choose to help their families over becoming educated or not doing things they want in order to do the things they need to survive. Family comes first is the most similar value between myself and the Guatemalans in the documentary. For most of the people in Guatemala going to school is their dream and a privilege to them. I am at fault for taking school for granted and sometimes dreading it rather than appreciating the opportunity I have to be educated and have a shot at achieving my dreams. I’ve learned from the documentary and all my previous service trips that school isn’t always an option and to not take it for granted but rather appreciate it and use it to follow my dreams and take the opportunity a lot of people aren’t even given.

5. How will you apply what you learned from this documentary into your own service trip?

I can take what I’ve learned from this documentary and use it to better sympathize with the people we help and what they go through. It inspires me to put even more effort into helping at the schools because it is a privilege for those kids and they are so honored to be there that they deserve 110% of my efforts to help them learn. The documentary gave me some insight as to what it’s like to live below the poverty line and that can be applied to my service trip by giving me a better understanding of what exactly it means to live below the poverty line and put that much more effort into putting some light and love into the people we help.

Goodbyes- 7/25

Our last day started out similar to all the other days, but something felt different. The kids all knew we were leaving, and it was sad to think that in about five hours we’d be saying goodbye to the kids with whom we’ve made such strong bonds. We were going to see Class VI and VII later at the dance, but we still had to say goodbye to everyone else at one.

            When lunchtime finally did come around, everyone was hugging and getting goodbye notes; you could feel the love in the air. I had to say goodbye to Class I, which was really hard. It was the first class and first students I ever connected with. I got a note from one of the little girls who spelt my name “Eijei”, and it had a little picture with it. Receiving these notes makes you feel special and like everything you have done and the connection you created was worth it. I told them all goodbye and that I loved them so much, but that I would never forget them. We got in the car, unrolled the windows, and waved goodbye to all the smiling faces.

            After leaving LOAMO, we went back to the guesthouse to prepare for the dance. We had to cut fruit, make bread, and decorate cupcakes while the five other students went to Massai Camp to set up. The dance started at 4:30 and the prep-group arrived at 3:00. On the wall, we spelt out the word “LOVE” in huge lettering made with cut out hearts that had each of the kids’ names on them. We had pizza, peanuts, popcorn, oranges, fruit salad, and fairy bread. We wanted the kids to be stuffed full when they left. The only thing we needed were the kids.

            When they arrived, they all got out of the buses with new outfits on and the school uniforms gone. The girls had dresses on and the boys had on nice button-ups and new shoes. It was absolutely adorable. Everyone went inside and, after about five minutes of talking, the dancing began. The way they can dance so naturally and effortlessly yet make it look so good made us mazungus look awful. But, I have never had more fun at a dance than with all of them. It was hot and everyone was sweating like crazy, but no one cared. Everyone was laughing and smiling and dancing, and it made me so happy to see every single one of the kids laughing and dancing their hearts out.

            When 6:30 rolled around we all went outside. Nicodemus, the headmaster, gave a small speech before introducing the manager/founder, Loserian. He gave a speech on how thankful he was and then afterwards, he had all ten volunteer students line up. Ten students from LOAMO came up and each one presented us with two flowers and a bracelet. Their generosity is so inspiring. They make little to no money, and yet they take the time to get us ten bracelets and twenty roses. After, Teacher Lillian came up and led everyone in a short prayer for thanks and safe travels to us all. When the prayer came to end, Lillian pulled me aside and thanked me for a letter I had given her earlier. As I hugged her, she started to cry in my arms and told me she would pray to God that someday we would meet again. She is an inspiring woman and I will be praying that we can meet again, too. The goodbyes with the kids started and I instantly felt an aching in my heart that felt familiar to something I have only felt two other times in my life – leaving Nicaragua and Cambodia. To have one of my favorite girls come and hug me and cry while I held her in my arms was absolutely heartbreaking. Holding their hands while the buses pulled away and hearing them yell my name and say goodbye was hands down one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. You see them go and you feel a piece of yourself going with them.

            My experience here in Tanzania was absolutely incredible. We came to teach, but I learned so much more than I could’ve ever taught. LOAMO school and every staff member and student will always be in my heart, and always be apart of me. They taught me to be kinder, more generous, open, and caring, but most importantly they taught me to love one another unconditionally, and for that I am forever grateful.

Last days- 7/23, 7/24

              Yesterday was our last day teaching at LOAMO. We will still be going to the school on Thursday and Friday, but because they are doing exams, we can’t teach. It’s sad to think about leaving so soon, but I know that what we’ve done won’t be forgotten.

               I was talking with a group of my girls from Class VII and they were asking me tons of questions about my life, my family, and America. They wanted to know so much and I had so much fun answering their questions and talking with them. I really connected with them and we were all laughing and joking around. Then, someone asked when we were leaving. I told them we were leaving on Sunday, but that Friday would be the last day I’d see them. Their faces all turned from big smiles to frowns and disappointment, and they told me that they would miss me so much and to never forget them. In an effort to lift their spirits, I quickly responded that another group would be coming on Tuesday. One of the girls I am closest with looked at me and said, “It won’t be the same, though.” This really hit home for me because I have always been on the first trip in Cambodia and Nicaragua, so I’ve had the excuse “another group is coming” to try and ease the pain for them. But, after hearing that from her, it hit me that each thing we do is individual, and no other person can have the exact same impact. What this group has done here can’t be compared to what the next group will do.

            I’ve never been good at goodbyes and each time hurts. You’d think that going on two previous trips, I would’ve learned some trick to handle goodbyes, but it never gets easier. Each place I go, I leave a piece of myself behind. The connections you make are irreplaceable and some of the strongest I’ve ever made.
            Today, we arrived at LOAMO just before the first van of kids arrived and I saw one of my favorite teachers from Class 1, Madame Lillian. I told her how much I missed her class and her in particular. She was so kind to me and always welcomed me to teach and help her. She opened not only her classroom to me but also her heart. She said that she would miss me very much when we left. But then, she started to tell me how much she and the whole staff appreciated what we were doing. She said that the school had never had people as kind and helpful as us come to help the school. She said we had inspired the whole school and that we would always be welcomed back as family. She gave me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek and asked for my contact information so we could keep in touch. Each day I am more and more surprised at just how amazing the teachers and students at LOAMO are. It was a true honor to work here. I think we all ended up learning more than we could’ve ever taught them.

Community- 7/21, 7/22

            In my earlier blogs, I talked about how challenging it was to get up in front of the six year olds in Class 1. Well, I had no idea what challenging was until I tried to teach the 13 year olds in Class 7 this week. Because it’s a new week, we were all assigned to new classrooms. Class 7 is learning things that I learned in my freshman and sophomore years of high school. They are, by far, the smartest kids I’ve ever worked with. In Class 7 the students don’t just give you their immediate respect and love, you have to earn it; you have to make them want you to be there. You always have to be on your A-game, always energetic and constantly coming up with things to get them excited to learn and pay attention. The teachers switch classrooms after every subject, which makes it much harder to get to know them. They are also much more serious. I didn’t know I could get my heart to beat as fast as it did on my first day walking into the classroom. I taught math and helped with geography, but  the majority of the day I just walked around the class and tried to keep them on task, or I graded papers. It is much harder to earn the teachers’ trust, and it doesn’t come easily. But by the end of the day, I had gotten to know some of the students and had fun playing games and talking with them. Coming into this experience we were told how challenging it would be to teach. We were all expecting to be challenged, but what we weren’t told, was the amazing feeling you get once you have pushed yourself beyond what you thought you were capable of doing.

            On day 2 of being in Class 7, I got to teach science and geography, and we also played some review games with them. One of the teachers didn’t show up for 2 periods (which is 80 minutes), so we wrote stories, played a few games, and read more stories aloud. There is a lot of review going on because they have exams on Thursday and Friday, so there were plenty of review games and study groups going on. LOAMO is ranked as the 15^th best school in the town of Arusha, and they want to be ranked 5^th, so the pressure is on for the students and teachers. Class 7 was such a huge transition for me and I struggled on day 1, but by day 2 I felt comfortable teaching and getting to know the teachers and students.

            Yesterday, Sophia, Keelin, Gitte, Krissy, and I went on a home visit. We went to Madame Juliette’s mother’s house. There were two boys – one was 14 and the other 12, and they had a little girl who was 3 years old. They live with their grandmother because their mother ran away when they were young, about 10 years ago. The father has been jobless since 2007 and when we met him, he seemed a little out of it or lost. Later, Kelvin explained that the reason could be because he had fallen into a bad life of drug and alcohol abuse. The part of town that we went to was not the best, and Kelvin said that falling into that pattern would’ve been easy to do. Madame Juliette helps support the kids, her mother, and her brother on her very small teacher’s salary. She has a husband and a child of her own, yet still supports her mom and brother. It is a true testament to the kind of person she is and her story inspired us all.

             The sense of community here is astounding. In America, the majority of the time, someone would expect money or help or something in return for helping with their family. But here, there is no such thing as a loan; you give and you don’t ask for anything in return. In some ways, it is a good thing, and in others it is not. Her brother may be leaning on his family too much, and they would never be able to make him work or make him pay them back. But, on the plus side, everyone helps each other and it is like one huge community. The amount of compassion and care here is truly inspiring to us all.