CREAR Summer Camp in Playa Samara!

August 01, 2012

Asociacion CREAR, Costa Rica
Jen Nevins

What a successful week at CREAR. For the first time ever, camp was held in back-to-back sessions thanks to available manpower. Every day, we were able to provide seperate sessions for El Torito and Samara in morning and afternoon shifts, which allowed for some extra attention to each group and each child.We started the week off exploring on an eco-walk and learning to dance with Lindsey. We tapped into our creative side, making Tetra-pak wallets, nametags, homemade chalk and a team sign in preperation for Olympics Day on Friday. Homemade chalk was a hit, especially breaking down the steps into a recipe and involving the kids in mixing, adding color and glitter and finally building their multi-colored masterpieces.The kids were also really excited to form Olympic teams and select an...

Homemade Chalk Making!

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The idea of sustainability

August 01, 2012

 Its been about 8 weeks since ive been in Urubamba, Cusco. One item that always hits my mind is how sustainable my project is for the community. Now that ive seen direct results out of building cosinas mejoradas, its given me a feeling of satisfaction that local community members do profit from this project and will continue to profit from it even after I am gone. What strikes me as the best aspect is that there will continue to be volunteers who continue to check back on the families where we have put in our stoves. If there ever arises a problem, I know that there will be someone who the family can contact if they need something to be fixed or redone. Even though my impact and learning is...

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Harder Than I Thought

August 01, 2012

Deep Jyoti, India
Anoop Jain

 Just got back from spending nearly a month with our wonderful friends at Deep Jyoti. We have been working on assisting their program while trying to develop our own (HPP). HPP focuses on building sustainable toilets that generate electricity from human waste. This electricity is sold to villagers in the form of rechargable 12-Volt batteries. Money from these sales is used to maintain our toilets and will eventually be used to build new toilets.I am no stranger to Bihar. But I certainly am no expert. This was exemplified by the various obstacles we encountered during our stay there this time around. I've been told that I am a natural leader, something I take a lot of pride in. But working in tough conditions so far from home is extremely challenging. Especially...

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Progress Report #2 - And some thoughts on development

July 31, 2012 | 1 comment

Honduras Child Alliance, Honduras
Katherine Olden

I’m back on the ground in El Porvenir, Honduras, and back to work putting together culturally and locally relevant workshops for teachers of first grade and kindergarten. As always, keeping a good perspective and an overarching timeline in mind helps me to acknowledge that work is indeed progressing. And while it might not be at the breakneck pace a similar project would get in North America, it is about building a foundation and expanding upon it bit by bit.I’ve got a lot of logistics more or less done, like the workshop schedule and location and materials. Those are important foundation stones to lay. And I’ve begun getting back in touch with teachers and visiting the schools to see them at work and to work out together with them what information...

Pictorial representation of my thoughts on development as a pyramid

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Life After The Conference

July 31, 2012 | 1 comment

 After working solidly in Playa Potrero before and during the Omprakash Cross Cultural Educational Conference, I decided to take advantage of opportunities to network with potential partners, to strengthen relationships with Omprakash volunteers and to hike up volcanoes. I split my time between Ometepe (an island made of two volcanoes in Lake Nicaragua), Monteverde (a botany research and environmental conservation hotspot in the mountains of Costa Rica) and San Jose (Costa Rica's capital city).Ometepe, Nicaragua: My very first morning on the island was an early one. I hiked Volcan Maderas with Omprakash grant recipient Jillian Buckley. It was a great way to unwind after weeks of brain-work in Potrero. At times, we used all fours to navigate the slope of the dormant volcano. We scrambled up a very...

Lake Nicaragua

Hiking the Volcano with Sara Bernard

Visiting an Ecolodge

Reaching the Summit of Concepcion

Sara Bernard Hiking Volcan Concepcion

Wild Horse, Lake Nicaragua

Outdoor Classroom

Monkey at Ometepe, Nicaragua

Volcan Concepcion

Eco Brick Stockpile

Hiking Volcan Maderas with Jillian Buckley

La Escuelita de Esperanza

Having fun in the classroom!

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Tin Roof And Bamboo Walls

July 31, 2012

Parijat Academy, India
Joanna Sese

This article was published in 2006 by Outlook India. You can find the original article here.---Seven-year-old Sanjay's father Mahendra Boro works at a stone quarry. His mother supplements the meagre family income by selling home-made fermented rice beer. Himashri' 6' is the daughter of a woodcutter' Haren Basumatary. And four-year-old Apon's father Ratneswar Bora is a daily wage-earner. For these families with uncertain income' living in Pamohi and three adjoining tribal hamlets on the outskirts of Assam's capital Guwahati' educating their children was a distant dream until Uttam Teron set up a school with a difference' right at his homestead.As Uttam watched kids wander about aimlessly it set him thinking about ways to keep them occupied. A school was the only answer. It began at his home. "I would...

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PISRF is a featured Congolese NGO

July 31, 2012

PISRF, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Joanna Sese

The Tulane University School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Programme National la Santé de la Reproduction (PNSR), has featured PISRF on its informational website Family Planning in the D.R.C. After visiting PISRF's profile, make sure to click the link to understand more about the climate in which PISRF functions.  

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Hug It Forward Experience

July 16, 2012

Hug It Forward, United States
Nadine Pagerie

Hug It Forward is helping many communities in Guatemala make the dream of having a new school a reality. The process not only provides education for generations to come, but also teaches skills to community members and helps clean up the environment in the process. This is what initially attracted me to the project, and the reason why I quit my job in corporate America to live and work with no pay as a full-time Volunteer for HIF in Guatemala. My experience thus far has been amazing. I have been able to work very independently on many projects and interact regularly with children and adults in the communities we are working in. I have learned so much about Guatemala's culture - past and present, and have hope for what...

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What a Fabulous 2 Months in Guatemala!

July 13, 2012

Hug It Forward, United States
Jack Bracken-Lobb

Not many people would consider you sane for flying over 5000 miles to one of the most dangerous countries in the world with borrowed money to help out a group of people you have never met before. It turned out to be the best experience of my life! These guys have got a firm grip on doing what's right, not only for the recipients of the schools but also the volunteers and those that come to help. I was welcomed at the airport with HUGE hugs. The proper kind! all transport was arranged and everything went smoothly, just like every other journey i went on with the team. I felt comfortable and safe for the entire duration of my time even when traveling in dangerous areas because we never took risks...

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My activities

July 31, 2012

Intag, Ecuador
Emilie Dannenberg

This is a timeline of my activities I wrote up to apply for a visa. I did not end up getting said visa. But this document provides a rough outline of our plans for developing the cloud-forest reserve and how this particular project fits into the overall scheme of tourism in Cuellaje parish. The details are imprecise but the general idea is sound. The document is in Spanish but if you don't speak that language just bung it into google translate!! Desarrollo del proyecto modelo de ecoturismo en la parroquia de Cuellaje: eco reserva San Venancio AntecedentesEl plan de desarrollo de ordenamiento territorial (PDOT) incluye el desarrollo de turismo en la parroquia de Cuellaje. En esta zona hay las ganas de desarrollar ecoturismo y turismo comunitario. Actualmente, existe el establecimiento de un programa de...

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