Banku, Fufu, and FanIce... Oh My!!!

June 30, 2012

Ghana ACT, Ghana
Annelise Madison

 Wow! We've had another eventful week here in Ho--so eventful that the U.S. Embassy in Accra has issued a traveler's advisory for our area. There has been some Muslim riots in a neighboring village, and a few lives have been tragically taken. Fortunately, the violence has been isolated and we have not been affected by it. There has been some violence in Ho, though. Just down the street at the market, a police officer shot a man who attempted to rob a shop. The other shoppers turned against the officer because they thought he had shot the man for no reason. Due to this incident, the police have had a heavier presence here lately. The police depo is across the street from our house, so we feel pretty safe.We have...

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A Week in the African Bush

June 30, 2012

Ghana ACT, Ghana
Annelise Madison

 It is hard to believe another week has gone by already... especially since this week marks the halfway point of our volunteer experience. It is the end of session one of two sessions of the Ghana ACT summer program, and while Molly and I are staying for both sessions, many of our fellow volunteers are not. While it is sad that some of our friends are leaving, it is fun to meet the new volunteers that continue to arrive. This past week we went to Mole National Park, which is located in the northern part of Ghana. We volunteer in the southern part of Ghana, so we trekked across the nation, which is quite an adventure.Instead of taking tro-tros, we took the Metro buses, which are part of a government...

Elephants at Mole

Baboons at Mole

Elephant Crosses the Stream

Treehouse

Warthogs Sleeping at Mole

Safari

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In Sickness and In Health

June 30, 2012

Ghana ACT, Ghana
Annelise Madison

 Bout a week since our last post--time for another update! Annelise and I are still having a blast, experiencing new things everyday, and treasuring every moment here in Ho, but I have to say there were a couple of days this last week that we both wished we could've pushed the fast forward button. But let's start with the good stuff! Last Saturday we went on a daytrip to a stunning town, high in the mountains, called Aburi. We traveled with the other volunteers, as well as our Ghanaian friend, Linda, who cooks for our house everyday, and another volunteer from the US, Mike, who works right across the street at an orphanage. Funny sidenote, Mike is a VMI alumni. Small world! Anyway, we all left bright and early as...

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June 29, 2012

Omprakash, United States
Godfrey Ogoma

This is is the story of the humming bird, which has inspired me. We may all think what we are doing is a drop in the ocean,not knowing that we are all change agents.As omprakash volunteers,we should not give up in our missions......I first heard this inspirational story in May 2006 when Noble Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai addressed7,000 international educators who had gathered in Montreal for NAFSA’s 58th annual conference. Here isthe story she shared with us in Montreal..........................One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest - a huge woodlands was suddenly engulfed by a ragingwild fire. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came to theedge of a stream they stopped to watch the fire and they were feeling...

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Sun - Weds

June 28, 2012 | 1 comment

Honduras Child Alliance, Honduras
Stephanie Martin

 Sun, 6/24:Danny and I went to Jared’s for lunch and got chicken, and then in the evening, all of the volunteers went to Jared’s for dinner, so I got pastelitos that time. They were so fresh and delicious!Mon, 6/25:In the morning, I took Sara over to meet Iris and show her the PEP classroom. I went to Ceiba with Danny to go to the university to figure out about getting into a class and then went to the mall and got some supplies for my classes. I also had a very tasty smoothie there! I learned my lesson about trusting the buses, though – I got to the terminal in plenty of time to catch a bus that would get back in time, and ended up waiting on the bus...

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Soley Levey Concert (Soleil Leve)

June 28, 2012

Haiti Communitere, Haiti
Sahadia Auguste

I have mentioned Cite Soleil in previous posts, but to recap, Cite Soleil is an extremely impoverished commune in Port Au Prince. Its history has been riddled with bouts of terrifying displays of murder, arson, police/ gang wars, and other forms of violence.  For a very long time, no one was able to travel in and out of the commune for fear spreading the danger.  Cite Soleil has a rough reputation, both domestically and internationally. I am happy to say that things are currently moving forward in Cite Soleil.  This past Monday, Cite Soleil celebrated its security rating improving from a red zone ( complete lockdown, no one goes in or comes out), to a yellow zone (suggested curfew, limited violence/ security concerns).  Cite Soley  (Cite Soleil) translates in to...

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Tico Time & Workshop Prep

June 27, 2012

Abriendo Mentes, Costa Rica
Jillian Buckley

 The first thing I learned upon touching down in Liberia, Costa Rica, was about Tico Time. It really means that you can't expect a fast pace; things don't really go as planned, and patience is essential to La Pura Vida. Not only does this apply to travel plans (my 2 hour weather delay resulted in my arriving 5 hours after planned to Abriendo Mentes), but time in general in Potrero.I've been here three days already, and where has it gone? Sure, Meradith and Drew (AM founders) and all the volunteers have been working their tails off to get the Cross Cultural Education Workshop in order. The volunteer center is abuzz, the educational program is finishing up the semester with a full schedule of arts and nutrition...

The bustling office at Abriento Mentes

Drew and Meradith interviewed by CNN Latin America

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Walking up to Chicon

June 27, 2012

Ive been here almost 3 weeks, and its been an incredibly different experience than anything ive had before. One of the highlights to me is walking through the sacred valley up to Chicon, a local town in need of many stoves through our cocinas project. The walk up is still different from the town of Urubamba, with houses spread farther apart and a lot of farming land. With this area comes some poverty, and uncleanliness of homes. Ive noticed that local families are truly in need of clean burning stoves, and am excited to be a part of a project that will be sustainable and worthy for the families. All of the time they welcome us with smiles and are excited to have a new stove provided by the organization....

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The top and bottom of the mountain

June 27, 2012

 My very rocky first week, consisting of 3-day hospitalization with salmonella and a parasite, has made my attitude toward any venture I take even the trying ones bright indeed. This is my eleventh day in Peru and the first off antibiotics. So as you could imagine there have been some side effects that haven’t made me quite myself, although for the most part I was laughing through the whole experience. Even in states of despair I have felt how blessed I am every time I look at the people around me and the constant struggle they have been going through there whole lives. During my mission of women’s empowerment I spend afternoons with these amazing mujeres in the small towns of Media Luna and Chicon. For some of them that...

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question of caterpillar fungus

June 27, 2012

Golok Sengcham Drukmo Home for Girls, China
Geneva Wilgus

 sunday, may 3, 2009 question of caterpillar fungus I survived the 22 proof perils of terrible Chinese wine (it tasted the way I imagine fermented envelope glue would) and the Tibetan drinking games associated with it (never thought I would play drinking games with wine), and I am able to unstick my tongue from the residual grape-slime to say hello and welcome to my readers, new and familiar.Big thanks to Jennifer Moore and her popular blog, Pink Heels (http://pink-heels.blogspot.com) for featuring my blog and project! I encourage you to visit her online and find a wealth of pertinent, current information for women, from arts and entertainment to spotlights on up-and-coming entrepreneurs who have something to say. You can also follow Jennifer on Twitter @pinkheels. We recently had the pleasure of hosting two...

A foursome of girls on the mountain.

Yartsa gunbu in my hands.

Our hands.

A beautiful Tibetan sun in the sky.

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