Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
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Expand the Impression
Antonio Peluso
2011-11-06
For my last blog post I wrote about the reality of poverty in Salvador and how one could get left with an impression that doesn’t reflect the reality. After later experiences, I am glad I titled the last post as “At First Glance” because soon after it was published, I would get handed my own...
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My name is Fallou Beye
Samuel Parson
2011-11-03
There are three kinds of us with the chance to live in this world. There’s one kind that lets the world revolve around them with a forever unchanging attitude and a cold shoulder to even the bare thought of growth, there’s another that really embraces challenge with wide-open arms and a fast-driving desire to build...
Read MoreIn a Man’s World…
Brian Baylor
2011-11-03
Feeling a part of something is a high in itself, and recently I peaked in a situation that I’ve never experienced before. Earlier today I worked with my uncle in the local cemetery. This is no ordinary cemetery though; what’s special about this cemetery is that it has both Catholic and Muslim family members in...
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Pondering
Natalie Davidson
2011-11-03
I’m sitting in the courtyard at my grandmother’s house on a brightly patterned woven mat on the ground. The sun is no longer beating directly overhead and the shade beneath the huge tree provides a cool comfort perfect for napping. Eight beautiful women surround me – each wrapped in vivid Senegalese cloth, laughing, singing, and...
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Trash, Trash, Trash
Charlotte Benishek
2011-11-03
One of the most prominent features of the average street in my rural village of Leona, aside from the sand, is the trash. It lines the streets — mainly plastic bags, packaging, the occasional discarded sandal. Plastic and processed goods have reached rural Senegal, but there is simply no centralized location to discard them when...
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Mind Whirring
Russell Bollag-Miller
2011-11-03
When I woke up this morning I made a promise to myself that I would contribute in some way and make someone’s day easier. I decided on this mission because for the few weeks that I’ve lived in Mberes, I have not been allowed to lift a finger. I can’t clean my own room, can’t...
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Not Foreign
Jacklyn Joy Byrd
2011-11-02
I’m the first to admit that my Spanish speaking skills are not that great. I’m also the first to admit that I possess incredibly perfectionist tendencies. The combination of these two led to a month and a half of silence: I only spoke when asked direct questions, or felt threatened. My silence ended about twenty...
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Patience
Paulina Personius
2011-11-02
For the past two months that I have been in Senegal I have been trying to learn and see as much as I can: from studying Wolof and French every day, to cramming in visits to all the markets and beaches of Dakar. As many of my friends and family at home can attest to,...
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You’re Single, Why?
Paulina Personius
2011-11-02
During my week spent in my village I was asked too many times to count, “Are you married?” And when I responded “deedeet”, or no in Wolof, that first question was immediately followed up with “Why not?” I find that I am still working on an adequate response. At first I responded with “Je suis tres...
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While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Welcome Frye
2011-10-28
You are sitting outside watching the last beams of sun disappear behind the mountains when the news reaches you. The man who brings it expects nothing more of you than simple acknowledgement, yet curiosity brings you to the communal building where all are gathered. A woman has died today, and a vigil of silence is...
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Tommy, can you hear me?
Lukas Brenard
2011-10-28
Being without certainty of practically any demand given to me is slowly forcing me to silence impulsive behavior. Any time I assume I know what someone is saying in Wolof or French I make a mistake. I attempt to show them that I understand by saying something which proves I am listening. By doing this...
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Back to High School
Trevor Porter
2011-10-28
My brother’s high school I visited was not at all what I was used to, and the most similar aspect of the school day was that teachers taught and students studied. My brother told me that school started at 7. But this was Ecuador time, and people didn’t start arriving, even the teacher, until much...
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