From Makenzy Kunkel So far, this trip has been a journey. We have been through a lot of airport time, group bonding activities, massages and beautiful sights. After an overnight flight and A LOT of airport time, we finally arrived in Rurre. Today was our first day working in the Rio Beni Health Center after…
SStS Kenya: 2016 gathered in Houston, the gateway city, to begin the first steps of becoming a team. It’s a good-looking crew, especially after rounds of UNO and other ice-breakers in an extended stay, waiting for their plane to arrive. Group orientation continues on flights to London and through to Nairobi. For all of you…
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…
When I was younger I would always hear the saying, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened,” but I never had many opportunities where this idea was vital to follow. But, tonight, after a day full of questioning government officials, and playing intense games of Wallyball (volleyball played in a smallish room where…
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…
“Life is not the number of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away.” Whether the breath taking moments are in a good way or in a more physical way (like heavy panting from carrying many heavy things down very slippery hills), that is what life is all about. This quotation seems…
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…
It is hard to put into words exactly how my experience in Detroit impacted me. I took so much away from being immersed in the culture of the city. Just talking with the people there and listening to the stories and memories they had to share was something I will never forget. It changed my…
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…
As I sit on this balcony overlooking the picturesque Lake Titicaca and a setting sun on the horizon, I begin to reflect on this life-changing experience I have had the privilege to partake in. Isla del Sol is jaw-dropping, and today, the group hiked around the island heading towards the north for 3 hours. We…
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…
As our course winds down on the breathtaking island of Isla del Sol, we have begun reflecting on our experience both as a group and individuals. After our delicious breakfast of eggs and warm, fresh bread (what a treat), the group took a small hike up to the peak of the mountainous island. Here, as…
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…
From the time I arrived at the airport I knew I was going to enjoy this course thoroughly. KC was so welcoming to everyone who came down the escalator. All of the kids instantly connected, it can be scary when you are with a group of total strangers, but we never had a quiet moment….
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…