Guzly Guzman

Guzly, known to her friends as Gigi, has been involved in her community since middle school through The Community Word Project, working with art and poetry. In high school she was most recently part of the New York Mayor's Youth Leadership Council. As a council member she worked with health policies that affected city youth and presented recommendations to Mayor Bloomberg and his advisers. She graduated as a visual arts major from LaGaurdia Arts high school, and her years there have given her a great love and appreciation for diversity, creativity, and photography. She is eager to travel to Senegal and hopes that this is the first of many travels to come. During her bridge year Gigi hopes to better learn French, broaden her point of view, and make new lasting friends and connections all while improving herself as an individual.

The Needle on The Clock and The Needle at My Table

Guzly Guzman

2014-03-27

At 7:30 I awaken to the sounds of my host family bustling about the compound. My mother shouts in Wolof as my younger siblings prepare for school. The maid’s broom sweeping the sand for leaves and trash. The gate closing behind my older sister as she leaves for the market to buy ingredients for lunch....

This Isn’t a Circus

Guzly Guzman

2014-02-23

The day had been long and it wasn’t even over but even God took some time to rest right? Well we’re not on the level of gods but even cohorts hard at work have the right to a good lunch. So in come the bowls, on to the floor we go hands ready. This is how it’s done here,...

So, you came to find yourself in Senegal?

Guzly Guzman

2014-02-23

So there we all were looking down at the small crowd of host family members that had come to collect us for our first home stays in Dakar. One by one we were introduced and walked out the hotel to start our “Senegalese” lives. I remember my heart pounding like crazy as my eyes scanned the faces trying to see...

A Dinner Over Screens

Guzly Guzman

2013-07-18

Logging on to Google+ was not that new to me. I’d browsed the page a few times before but never in depth. Certainly not enough to know every nook and cranny of the site and how it worked. By the time I got to Global Citizen Year’s page I was too late and the hangout...

First Steps and the Before

Guzly Guzman

2013-07-09

What can I do to get support? What can I give to get and give back in return? How can I do all this before my departure in August? These are only a few of the questions I have to seriously ask myself this summer. But before I get ahead of myself, let me explain...