2010-02-26
A couple of weeks ago a lot of personally and monetarily valued things were stolen from me. Cameras, phone, favorite shirts, money, and so on. The roughest part by far being the loss of my notebook containing four months of notes and all of the studies that I had completed in Noflaye thus far. The...
Read More2010-02-25
David Sedaris, a memoirist, wrote about how it’s always interesting to hear the different onomatopoeia of a culture. It’s SO true. I never thought about it, but it’s really hilarious. In Dakar recently, we learned from Rachel that for a car horn, the Senegalese use “pain pain”, pronounced closer to “paing paing.” And after hearing...
Read More2010-02-24
One of the most interesting aspects of my GCY experience is the opportunity to periodically shadow Yoli and Clara. These resourceful Guatemalan women are two of the owners of SOLCOM, the small Guatemalan-owned social enterprise that turns a mild profit by delivering healthcare products to rural communities. Recently, Yoli, Clara and I were scheduled to...
Read More2010-02-24
With a strong sense of motivation to make change, the volunteers of SolCom and I started a 3 day program at a community center in a small town called La Pista. The main focus of Earth Day is to educate kids about the importance of not throwing trash and how they can help. The first...
Read More2010-02-22
Before I came to Guatemala, I was of the opinion that education was the best route for social development. I still think that, but I have seen through my experience with schools in both the private and public sector that education needs great support to function effectively and that finding that support can be extremely...
Read More2010-02-18
I first learned about my host family’s belief in the super natural when I asked my host father about the belts made of thick cord and string the family, and many other Senegalese, wear called gris-gris. I was told that the pouches attached to the belts contain plants and verses of the Quran to help...
Read More2010-02-18
Since I basically live on the edge of Sebikotane, opposite from Gaya, Hilary, and the places where our activities are, I walk about two or three miles every day to get around. I could take a ndiaga-ndiaye for about 15 cents, as my Senegalese family and friends encourage me to do, but I prefer to...
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