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
Symptoms of Poverty
Gabe Jackman
2013-01-17
In my last blog post, I talked about how my host community, Pedro Vicente Maldonado, is not really poor. Although this is true, there are still some telltale signs of a relatively underdeveloped community. While reading Voices of the Poor, there were a few parts that really stuck out to me. To start out, I...
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First-Month Experiences
Lauren Holt
2013-01-15
Everyday holds something different here. Since I’ve been in Imbabura, no day has been the same. With each day comes a new experience; something new is learned, a challenge is faced, an obstacle is overcome, a bond is created with a new person, or a laugh or two is passed. The simplest things now mean...
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Strangers Like Me
Meliza Windmoeller
2013-01-15
Everybody has seen Tarzan. Or at least I hope everyone has…if you haven’t I would strongly recommend you get on that. Now, what does Tarzan, a Walt Disney 90’s classic, have to to do with my life as a Global Citizen Year Citizen? Let’s think about that for a minute. In the movie, a man who grew up in...
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La Novena: Giving and Receiving
Mackenzie McMillen
2013-01-15
I sit silently looking at the Christmas decorations around the living room of my oldest host brother’s house. Though I have a vague idea, I’m still looking for clues as to what exactly we’re doing here this evening. When I asked my mom where we were going she used a word I didn’t understand and in the moment, as...
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Women of Kebemer: The Lives of Bebe, Adja, and Alima
Mary Modisette
2013-01-15
At first glance, one notices little gender dominance in the sandy market town that is Kebemer. Amidst the bustling street stands and boutiques, an outsider can hardly tell the difference between who is the shop owner, the buyer, and the friend stopping by for midday glass of attaya and a chat. However, if there is...
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The Ones in Orange
Talia Katz
2013-01-15
It begins before the rise of the sun, before the first cry of the rooster. They leave their clay hut compounds and begin a steady trickle onto la route nationale. Their destination- jurato- Tomboronkoto’s gold mine. The diverse crowd steps together- an old man who parts with nostalgia for the days when this very hour...
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Negão
Joshua Reason
2013-01-15
People call me by many different names here. I originally introduced myself as “Joshua” to everyone I met, but I soon learned that the “ua” part was difficult to pronounce for some locals. Eventually I started telling people to call me “Josh”, but ending on the “sh” sound was hard for a lot of people...
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Getting Dirty
John Villanueva
2013-01-14
When it comes to hygiene, many of us Fellows find it difficult to feel and stay clean throughout the day. I don’t mean to call Ecuador a “dirty” country, but it’s easy get dirty here. Especially for me, staying clean is quite a difficult task. That’s because my apprenticeship at Fundación UTOPIA exemplifies dirtiness. Every two weeks we hold...
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Stranded on the Beach
Drew Hayes
2013-01-09
I remember the buzz about cities. In Ted Talks and magazine articles, people were raving about the efficiency of cities because, according to some grandiose regressions, the larger a city gets the more productive it becomes per capita. Megacities were claimed the future of mankind. I was not impressed. I lived in a mid-sized city...
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