2011-11-07
I didn’t expect to get so close to my host family in Quito. Before arriving, I figured I would spend some quality time with them during my training and then move on to my longer home-stay with little trouble. This is not what happened at all. After a month with my wonderfully helpful and incredibly...
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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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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 More2011-11-03
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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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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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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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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