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Car horns screaming, people shouting, buses filled to their max with people on their way to work. A motor bike zips by inches from the side of our bus. It appears like a over crowded developing city resting in a valley between foot hills of the Himalayas. At first thought I wondered how such a…
Yunie is my homestay mom and she is 22 years old. Every day she wakes up at 5:30 to make breakfast, wash some clothes and clean the house. She has to cook for all of the family (me, Elena, her husband, Miltito, Julio, Jocelin, and herself) and the meal is usually rice and beans eggs,…
Detroit impacted me in multiple ways, both in physically and mentally. The biggest way I was impacted was probably, how my appreciation of everything changed. And when I say everything, I mean everything especially the little things in life we don’t notice and perhaps even take for granted. For example, I have the luxury of…
So here we are, day 10, and so much has changed between the first few days in Playa Gigante and now. On our first day when we were assigned homestays, I was given a very limited amount of time to freak out about who and where I was going to be living with for the…
Today we went to the pasture to follow a buffalo hunt. Upon arrival, the young bull buffalo (tatonka) had been shot and field dressed, ready for processing. Before hunting the buffalo, the Lakota ask the buffalo to offer up a young male for the hunt. The grandmother (Unci) buffalo chooses the male, who is then…
We started today early this morning with our typical breakfast of bread, butter, eggs, cheese, assorted teas and papaya juice. After helping to clean up we returned to our room to finish packing up our bags. Once the bags were packed we headed to the Museo Historico Regional where we got to see illustrations of…
For those parents who are a bit worried about their babies being away in a foreign country, fear not, we are thriving in the glorious mountains of Peru in the little village of Munaychay. As we feasted upon a hearty breakfast of rolls with jam and butter and oatmeal with lots of milk, we struck…
We began the afternoon by collecting bundles of wild sage, which was later used in a cleansing ceremony for Lakota youth who had suffered from trauma. After the children were cleansed, and the older men finished their inipi (the rite of purification), we entered the inipi for our own experience. The Unci (elder grandmother) opened…
Yesterday we built tipis for a Lakota children’s camp. We built the first few tipis, and it was fairly simple after understanding the ways to construct one. The tipis have so much symbolism for the Lakota people. The tripod (the foundation of the tipi) represents the morning, evening, and north stars. The remaining seven poles…
On the second day of the horse festival I began to play with the kids from the orphanage. I would run up and down the side of the hill, chasing the children to try to tickle them. After only ten minutes it seemed like we had known each other for quite some time. They would…
Throughout this one day, I feel like the group has accomplished its entire mission here as Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder. We have all creating lasting bonds with the people here, halfway across the world, despite the language barrier, and despite our very different backgrounds. I think I’ve really learned what it means to connect with someone with…
It’s been three days now that we have been here at Koh Preah and although the physical labor is beginning to be strenuous and the work is feeling more like work on our blistered hands and sore backs, the energy of the group remains undeniably positive as we continue to make remarkable progress both on…
Before I get started reflecting on the SStS: Detroit course, I want to take this opportunity to look back at what we, the students and instructors, accomplished. What did we really achieve while we were in Detroit? I know we are asked to talk about this and present these findings to our schools and communities…
I went to Detroit, a big city known for its steep fall into bankruptcy, and being left to oversee their own reconstruction. A city not defined by their population, economy, or diversity, but by the hope that the citizens still have after everything that has happened. That’s pretty unconventional if you ask me. I…
We started the day planning our lens presentations with our partners, but that was not the true highlight of the day. I know, you can barely believe that, but it’s true. The truly great part of the day came when we headed down to Playa Amarilla to meet up with the Jovenes for our final…
The last couple days have been jam packed with different activities centered around creating bonds with the “jovenes”, or youths, of the community. We started by teaching an English lesson for the kids. We put together lesson plans a few days prior and then our two groups taught colors and sports. It’s nice to be…
A long time ago (perhaps a week), in a country far, far away, a group of students was settling into life at Munaychay Children’s Village outside of Urubamba, Peru. Teens and instructors alike were getting used to early mornings, local soups and dishes, and glacial showers. The children of Munaychay and students from the Northern…
Around three o’clock this afternoon, we got back to Kangding and had finished more than 80% of our Tibet course. Up until the moment that we left our guide’s family’s home, I hadn’t really realized that it’s almost time to start heading home. But when we came back to the hotel where we stayed in…
This week was different and I met a lot of awesome people on this trip. I wish that I had more time in New Orleans to help rebuild the wetlands and have more time with the amazing people that were on this trip. This trip has taught me that life is not easy and that…
Greetings from Cambodia! Instead of all meeting for breakfast in the fish shack as usual, today we ate at our home stays and spent most of our last day on Koh Preah with our families. I don’t know about all of the others, but when Catlin and I awoke to find noodles for breakfast instead…
Day one: Logistics Day! Our arrival day was relaxed and exciting as we met our peers and instructors. Through name games and a day of meetings, we grew comfortable with one another. Our first day, we were also introduced to Ethleen Iron Coud Two Dogs, one of the leaders of the Knife Chief Buffalo Nation….
All of the SStS girls and I would agree that the relationships that we have formed with the Hope Girls over the past fourteen days have really taken us by surprise. Fourteen days does not sound like a long time, but when we had our closing ceremony yesterday there was not a dry eye in…
Today we went to Cusco to see Inti Raymi, which is the winter solstice festival. Although chaotic, It was beautiful. Watching the dances and all the people in their beautiful outfits made everyone take a step back. Everything about the festival was so rich with history and culture. Everything we had learned about during the…
Over the past five days or so, we’ve been working at the Himalayan Hope Home; lugging bricks up four flights of stairs, shoveling sand to make concrete, and getting to know the amazing girls who live there. These girls are orphans, mostly from Solukhumbu, and range in age from five to fifteen years old. We’ve…
As we look at the current progress we have made so far on the guesthouse, it is truly inspiring seeing how one action can have a ripple effect. Working side-by-side, “shoulder to shoulder” with our fellow Kenyans has made my eyes open to the limitless possibilities when people of all backgrounds come together. No task…
We have been living in the home stays for 3 days now, and the experience is a once in a life time opportunity! The first night was very interesting and a small challenge to say the least. The whole family, including some of the extended family, came to the house to meet us. It was…
Although the weather was very hot and humid, our group was excited about the outcome of our work. The first job was transferring potted trees onto a new surface in order to avoid sprouting weeds. Later in the week, we will be planting the trees from the nursery in the wetlands. For the second task,…
Today we spent most of our day back at the school mixing cement and creating more pillars. In comparison to yesterday, we are twice as efficient at post making which was really awesome. During one of our breaks we listened to one of the main work managers play a traditional Cambodian song using a leaf…
Tibet. We have only been here for about six days and I feel as though I never left home. The streets of Tagong and the homes that we are staying in are so inviting and comfortable. I can hardly articulate how stunning and tranquil it is here. Everything oozes with beauty; the people especially. Everywhere…
Friday was our first day in Meru, and the warm sunshine and lush landscape were a nice change from bustling Nairobi. After a nice breakfast of oranges, bananas, pineapple, pancakes, and eggs, our group met with Dr. K to discuss how IPI began and why she decided to run her program the way she runs…