What Words Cannot Describe
Greetings from my bed after a very long, very hot day! It has been a busy, but good few weeks! I was talking with a friend from home the other day about how incredible it is that even on the…
Category Stories
Week Three | हप्ता तीन
The Placement By week three, I had finally been placed in some different grade levels instead of teaching the upper kindergarten level after lunch. This change, along with a few festivities that were to happen at the school, excited me…
Planting Trees
If my short experience in economic development is a lot like climbing mountains, then participating in the development of business leaders, the creation of jobs, and the development of personal businesses is similar to planting trees. Several times throughout my life…
English in Ecuador
I recently started volunteering with one of the Manna Project’s partners, Chaupitena. Chaupitena is a local public school in the Chillos Valley for K-12 children. At Chaupitena, I serve as a teaching assistant for two English classes. Working in an…
Topic: Himalayan Grace Coffee Shop | हिमालयन ग्रेस कफी
“O come, all ye faithful, come let us adore him…silver bells, silver bells…O, holy night…” Every time I sit down to write a new blog post, this is my background music. Don’t get me wrong, I love the tunes in…
ubuntu
It as been a month today since I have been in Cape Town! WOW! I still have to pinch myself that this is real! It is the most beautiful, calm day right now. I woke up to it raining (woohoo!),…
Behind the Smiling Faces
As I open the door to Manna Project every afternoon, I hear the running footsteps of excited children racing up the stairs to get inside. We exchange our usual “buenas tardes” and “cómo estás” and I hear about the kids’…
Week Two | दुई हप्ता
The Placement During week two of my stay, along came picture day at Sunrise. All buttoned up and ready to smile, the little miniature people were rounded up by the teachers and set atop a chair to match the height…
Reflections and Refractions
There’s a creepy path by my apartment building. It exists under an overpass, enclosed by claustrophobic metal gates, punctuated by odd little alcoves that seem to only exist as trash receptacles for careless litterers. Ordinary objects become haunting when they…
Voluntourism – Volunteer or Tourist?
One of the responsibilities of Program Directors at the Manna Project is to coordinate and run spring break service trips. During the first week of March, I will be responsible for coordinating eleven Vanderbilt University students who will stay in…