Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
Category
Class Year
Country
Family Time
Nathan Edwards
2013-02-13
Hey family and friends, Hope everyone is well. I had a great visit with my Mom and Sister about 2 weeks ago and I hope that they have been able to tell you about their experiences in Ecuador personally. After having not seen my family for 5 months, it was definitely an emotional rush to...
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Outside
Aidan Holloway-Bidwell
2013-02-13
Day 163 in Ecuador 02/08/2013 Living in Los Bancos gives one a glimpse of the overwhelming power of nature. Simply step fifty meters off the main street into the wilderness. Twisted ridged trunks rise on all sides like the pillars of an ancient atrium. From the thick, pulpy layers of decay covering the earth vegetation...
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Waking Up Again
Ariel Vardy
2013-02-13
Maybe it’s a sleeping kick from her sister, lying in the same small bed that wakes her up. Whatever it is, maybe a knock on the door from her mom, She wakes up at about Seven a clock. Having no blanket, her consciousness comes with an immediate and sharp awareness of the harsh, cold temperature....
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Identity Below The Equator
Drew Hayes
2013-02-13
The definition of “gringo” is hard to pin down. The basic element is being a foreigner. Being white and pasty is a large component. Being from a northern hemisphere, Anglo-Saxon society is another big one. Being wealthy is important also. The cherry on top is the gringo accent. Whatever it may be, apparently I’m about...
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Bricks by Bricks
Alison Rivera
2013-02-11
I remember when Mom bought property; what it meant for the family…new start, a promise, the beginning of something better. The house was just missing paint, and it was completed… ready for our arrival. I also remember five months ago, how I hated the sight of cement buildings with no doors or installed windows no...
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Re-thinking “Poverty”
Jordan Ricker
2013-02-11
I have now spent over one hundred and fifty straight days in Senegal, a country that the World Bank defines as “developing.”* That’s quite a change from spending the last eighteen years of my life having only lived in or visited “developed countries.” Passing this hundred and fifty days mark, I have also passed the...
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Here she is a girl… In America, she is a woman
Alison Rivera
2013-02-11
“The randomness of where we are born and how much that determines who we become” – Blue Sweater p. 33 Popularly quoted as “Life is a box of chocolates.” Just six words…but they resonate so much with women’s social status in Senegal. At training seminar 2, myself and three other fellows held a discussion on...
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Xaliis bii
Alison Rivera
2013-02-11
The kids call me money “xaliis,” “l’argent.” They pull literally my skirt but figuratively my head out of the clouds for America isn’t a hero here but more of an arrogant exhibitionist. I thought all “Toubabs” were viewed the same until I met an old French man. Being a good host to his model wife’s...
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Defining Developing
Danielle Livneh
2013-02-05
This blog was first published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. You can read the original posting here. _________________________ For the past decade or so, the validity of the term “third world” has been a topic of debate. A phrase coined during the Cold War to distinguish allegiances, many argued that it is outdated. Others...
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