Our 2019 Tibet Crew begins their return journey home in just a few hours. Below you will find their flight information: Depart Chengdu on Thursday, July 11 at 10 AM local time on CA 4107 arriving in Beijing at 12:45 PM local time. Depart Beijing on Thursday, July 11 at 3 PM local time on…
When I signed up for this trip I expected many things: cute kids, foreign animals, and long days of labor. However, I never expected spending 11 nights in a small room with 10 girls that I can now call my close friends. I never expected to find a gecko in our room at night nor…
Hello again! It’s Ellie. Today we woke up for an early breakfast at our hotel. I ate bread with butter and strawberry jam. We loaded up onto a new bus…our beloved purple one was taking a break, and set off early for Angkor Wat to attempt to beat the crowds for the first part of…
Our Cambodia crew is heading to the airport now. Here is their return flight information: Cathay Pacific/Dragon Air (all times local time) Departs Phnom Penh on Wednesday, July 10 at 11:25 A.M on KA 287 arriving in Hong Kong at 3:10 PM Departs Hong Kong on Wednesday, July 10 at 4:35 P.M. on CX 882…
Over the weekend we were all fortunate enough to stay at a Kenyan home. We started Saturday with a great leadership program with Dr. Karambu were we all learned how we react instead of respond to our surroundings. We learned this through a balloon game where we were given a balloon and a toothpick. We…
After four days and three night spent in Charque (a small village along the Bolivian Amazon), the group has made it back safely to Rurrenabaque. They will spend tomorrow cleaning up, finishing the filters they built, and having a final dinner with Joselo and the team of the Rio Beni Health Foundation.
Our course instructors report that students spent the day learning about the significance of the horse to the Lakota cultural and also had the chance to go on a horseback ride. While riding, the group had the chance to speak with several Lakota about the role of horses in their culture.
Our CI’s report that the group has made it to Kangding and will be leaving for Chengdu tomorrow. The group has had the chance to taste lots of local food, dance in the town center, and get a glimpse of nomadic life.
Our 2019 Bolivia crew finished their last day of work delivering filters in the town of Charque. They will be packing up camp and returning to Rurre tomorrow where we hope they will have a chance to send along some photos from their time away.
On the first day of this course, we learned that the children’s camp was canceled. Bewildered and disappointed, the instructors engaged their thirteen years of experience leading the Pine Ridge course to create a meaningful program in ethical leadership. The first lesson was handed to us in the news of the canceled camp: how to…
As the rooster crowed us awake for the last time, we rolled out of bed and placed our packs on our back to load up the boats just like we had done when we departed for the island. We enjoyed one last breakfast, cooked by our master chef and my personal best friend, Phiya’s mother…
Before embarking on this 10 day experience, we were all very excited to be working with children at the Children’s Healing Camp in the Black Hills. However, due to circumstances outside of our control, we have not been able to do so, as the Healing Camp was moved to a later date. We have participated…
We have heard from our course instructor team that yesterday “the group began a hike at 13,000 feet and reached a hidden lake at 14,600 feet, with views of a peak nearing 25,000. The altitude was a challenge, but it was a great experience. Later, we visited a nomadic family of yak herders. Traveling to…
The SStS 2019 Panama Crew will be returning home tomorrow, Monday, July 8. Their flight information can be found below: American Airlines Flight 1347 (Monday, July 8) Departs Panama City at 6:15 a.m. Arrives in Miami at 10:22 a.m.
Our Cambodia team is touring Angkor Wat currently. In the meantime, we will be posting updates from student journals written while they were in the field. Hi Everyone! Everyone here is doing well and back to working today for our last working day. We all woke up bright and early with the chickens and the…
Our course instructors have reported that the group has landed in Panama City and will enjoy a nice last meal together before finishing their course and heading home tomorrow morning.
Easily I think we can say world peace is a place free from conflict with absolute equality. Personally, when I was asked this question that was my initial response. I envisioned a utopia where everyone got along and no one experienced suffering. This is unrealistic. Obviously we have seen society’s attempt to make every person…
Our course instructors sent us a message by satellite phone letting us know the group is hard at work delivering filters in the town of Charque. We will post updates as we recieve them and will post photos upon the groups return to Rurre.
The Inipi: we took part in a traditional Lakota ceremony called inipi, which means “to live”, and is shaped like the mother’s womb, representing rebirth. The inipi is a dark canvassed tent that is heated with many hot stones from a fire. Inside, we sit by decreasing age in a circle, and participate in prayers…
On our first morning in Pine Ridge, we stood in a circle from oldest to youngest age as tradition in the Lakota heritage. Women were on one side and men on the other. To get to know each other, we went around and said each others names. Then, we took our first step into the…
Our course instructors have reported that group finished their work project and debrief today. Tomorrow they are off hiking before returning to Kangding on Monday.
Ring shopping has been something I was definitely looking forward to on this trip. Returning with not only a new outlook on life, but a new and fresh style that I could say was from a community right in the heart of South America. As I set out on this endeavor after lunch, I found…
July 5th started just like any other day. We woke up bright and early at 6:45 and prepared for our day. We proceeded to Tiriji where we engaged in a group yoga session (and for me a very inflexible 17 year old boy I watched in awe as our instructor and the majority of my…
I started my day off today with a walk to the ocean and eating coconuts cut down by a friendly local, Raymond. The fresh coconut was a sweet start to a very bittersweet ending to our time in San Cristóbal. When we arrived at “el internet”, the San Cristóbal community center, the kids were already…
Today was our last day at San Cristóbal. Two of our leaders let us have a last hurrah with the kids. They provided us with a piñata. The second we got off the boat with the piñata all of the kids started rushing to the community center. It was a really special moment being able…
I feel over these past two weeks I have witnessed a growing of understanding of what motivates me and the people around me to be happy and make others happy; it is the giving of something selflessly from one person to the next. The absolute generosity of the villagers comes from their happiness of making…
Lukas – Happy 4th of July! Today was our day of exploration and recovery after 2 hard days of work with the Greater New Orleans Iris Society. We started the day with an adventure to Bourbon Street. From there, we drove to “The Fly,” the local city park, where we picnicked and played a sweaty…
Our Cambodia instructors report that the group had a great 4th of July which they spent participating in a ceremony led by monks before eating together with the community. They hope to have a student journal post about the experience to the home office as soon as they connect to Wi-Fi.
Everyday that we have been in Bocas Del Toro, two of my group members and I have spent an hour at a local restaurant in Cristobol teaching the moms who own the restaurant English. We spent our time teaching them common restaurant phrases such as what would you like to eat, my name is, and…
Our course instructor team reports that the group has made it safely to Yolongshi and has begun their next project. Students will be supporting the Tibetan Village Project in repurposing oil drums to help families collect their trash and transport them to proper places for disposal.