I’ve passed the three-month mark in Ecuador, and can’t be happier about my progress advancing my Lumos goals. The Manna Project community center’s programs are booming, and I’m thrilled to be leading many of them on a weekly basis. Here’s…
The first time I was told to “kenbe ko ou” was by some ladies returning home from a day selling at the market who were concerned about me tripping on my way down from our mountainous partnering community Vielo. I…
It is turning into autumn here in Cape Town! Quite a strange experience to celebrate Easter as the leaves start to change colors, the air gets cooler and the days are a bit shorter. Although, South Africa doesn’t change their…
The Placement Week number four at Sunrise English Boarding School began to feel like another home in itself. There are certain love-hate psychological see-saws that come with being a teacher of small children. For example, I began to love the…
8:30 am – I wake up and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast with some guayusa. Coffee isn’t popular in Ecuador and my home doesn’t have a working coffee machine, so the guayusa caffeinated tea is the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…