Sometimes I regret choosing Social Entrepreneurship as a college major. As I work with Hilary and the Monte Cristo team to start Queen Bee from scratch, I often wish I would have gone to school for engineering, chemistry, or computer…
It is so crazy how so much can happen in one week! First things first, the flight here was nothing less than a journey. This is the second time I have made the 30 hour journey to South Africa but…
The end of May is an exciting time in Guatemala; I’ve been looking forward to it since we arrived. A mysterious thing happens after the first big rain comes, and it was really cool to be a part of it. …
Last Friday we had an awesome day walking more than 6 kilometers with our students from Monte Cristo in a march against smoking. We started off the day at the town hall with speeches from the mayor of Chimaltenango and…
We’re super excited because last week we ordered over 700 metal containers for our first major run of Queen Bee products. This week we also had a training workshop with CEMOC’s leadership to teach them how to make the product…
Guatemala changes to winter in May and then cold the rain comes. Storm clouds gather in council on the mountains to beat warm their thunder drums. The roses return to full bloom in the garden and their thorns love like…
Well, this is it! I leave in a few hours from Amritapuri to Cochin Airport to fly back home to California. I’ll admit I’m excited to be back home in San Diego and looking for a job back in the…
Being a volunteer is hard. When you show up to an organization that’s running perfectly fine without you and say “Hi! I’m here! What can I do?” Often times, even under the best leadership, the answers are vague. Or not…
As we arrive at this year’s Mother’s Day, I’m inclined to ask myself “How will I manage to apologize?” My mother’s birthday is May 8, always only a few days apart from where Mother’s Day falls during the year. Both…
Amritapuri’s ecovillage offers “Get Growing” classes and workshops which are oriented around teaching visitors (mostly westerners) the fundamentals of organic and sustainable farming. Recently I was asked to give a talk on composting to the would-be farmers and gardeners of “Get Growing”. For…