The Young Leader

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4 Great Ways to Preserve Your Volunteer Abroad Experience

The Best Ways To Keep A Journal While Volunteering Abroad

Your friends aren’t going to believe you when you tell them you hiked the base of a volcano, rode elephants through the rainforest and helped improve sanitation for a rural African community. They’re not going to believe you, which is why you need proof.

Before you embark on your GLA service learning adventure, prepare to document the amazingness with these four tips. In addition to backing up the mind-blowing tales you’ll have to tell, you’ll also create keepsakes to keep your adventures fresh.

Photo Journaling

Your friends want proof? Show them the pictures! You know you enjoy cyber stalking your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram friends when they post pics of their travels. Now you can be the stalkee when you share your trip highlights through photo journaling. As you venture through bazaars, mountains and local villages use these tips to create a top-notch photo journal:

  • Make those clicks count. Before you capture a photo, make sure it’s something significant. That way, as you sort through your photos, it will be easier to choose the ones you want to share.
  • Though your favorite photo apps give you lots of room to play, sometimes simple is better. Decide if the amazing landscapes in front of you really need filtering or if it would be better to share them in their raw form.

Journaling

When you volunteer abroad, you’re bound to experience an array of emotions as you engage with people from other corners of the world. Document your thoughts and feelings each day with a Journal.

  • Try journaling first thing in the morning. Jot down your thoughts as you approach the day. You can write about your itinerary – the sights, sounds and smells that you’re anticipating.
  • Close the day with a journal entry. Write down what “really” happened. Was it what you expected? What did you see? Who did you meet?

Blogging

Blogging is like a journal that you share. Keep a live blog to share trip highlights, or wait and make an “after-the-trip” entry when you get back. You’ll find that volunteering abroad offers valuable insights. As you learn and grow on your trip, think about what kind of wisdom and experiences to share with your online community.

  • Blog “notable quotes” that you may hear from fellow travelers or the locals that you meet
  • Make your blog posts easy to read. Don’t share everything. Just include the highlights.

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is a great way for you to get creative and highlight your favorite trip moments. You can peruse blogs and social networking for great tips to make a travel book to remember. Here are few tips to get you started:

  • Play with fun layouts. Visit Pinterest to get great ideas to create a unique mashup of travel photos.
  • Do a collage of day and night photos. Capture your favorite service trip locations during the day and again at night. Then feature the day-to-night contrast in your scrapbook.
  • Use one picture to tell a significant story. Take your time to capture a great moment and then use an entire page of your scrapbook to highlight the picture and tell the story.

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Serve, Learn, and Explore: The GLA Way

GLA offers students opportunities to serve others, learn about other cultures and explore the world around them. Our high school summer programs combine a one-of-a-kind strategy for exploration, service and true learning that breaks cultural barriers.

The GLA way incorporates service and learning into a trip of a lifetime. Because students are getting out of a classroom and seeing things they’ve only read about, service trips like these really make learning come alive!

Serve

The service element gets participants involved in a local culture in a way that tourists can’t. Students interact with locals in countless ways, depending on their interests.

Those with a passion for sports can get involved in a Costa Rican volleyball team, for instance, becoming a role model and encouragement to the kids and teens there. Others could end up serving by teaching English to islanders in Bali. In every GLA program, service, exploration and education are woven together to create an unbeatable, life-changing journey.

Learn

Learning happens at many different levels on a high school service trip. High school volunteers can learn a language, learn about a nation’s history and learn how to get by in another culture. But perhaps even more meaningfully, GLA participants learn personal lessons that will last a lifetime–lessons in diversity, leadership and one’s relationship to the world around them.

Author Mary Anne Radmacher said, “I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” The truth is, international travel and service does change you, teaching you lessons that go far deeper than facts about history or the correct pronunciation of “Hola.”

Explore

Though service and learning are huge factors in every GLA trip, exploration is just as important. Excursions to different locations within destination countries and adventure trips keep every week interesting and exciting–whether participants are white-water rafting in Peru, hitting the beaches in Costa Rica or exploring Mayan ruins in Guatemala.

Excursions and explorations in destination countries make the history and culture of a place come alive, adding depth to book-learning and meaning to the culture of the people that students are there to serve.

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When Have You Been Brave?

Do you remember the last time you were brave? Was it as recently as yesterday? Has it been a long time? Did you think you couldn’t do it? Do you still have the pictures?

The Young Leaders below – just like you – pushed themselves to the limit and lived to tell the tale. I invite you to take a peek inside their adventures from as far away as West Africa, as recently as last summer:

Jayvee Salunga, Dominican Republic, Summer 2012

“Helmet. Check. Life vest. Check. Twenty minute mini hike. Then our first jump. Jump.Time seems to stop while you float in the air. Until………spshhhhhhh, your whole body becomes submerged under water. The teal colored water is refreshingly cold. Second jump. The high jump we had. 30 feet they said? It was high. That’s all you need to know. And I loved the thrill. Sliding was fun too! In between jumps and slides you swim or walk to the next. Along the way you see the threes, the sun, the rock formations. The nature. It was beautiful.”

Tamar Willis, Ghana, Summer 2012

“We saw [a slave fort] in Keta, just 20 minutes from Anloga, built by the Danes in the 18th century…Seeing the cramped living quarters — hundreds, sometimes thousands of slaves were kept in a room smaller than Shalhevet’s Bet Midrash – left us unnerved. The Ghanaians never seemed to resent us for what our ancestors had done. They still welcomed us warmly. But in spite of the bright sunlight and lively conversation, the forts made us uncomfortable.”

Veronica Gallilao, Costa Rica, Summer 2012

“Rain whipped my cheeks and the mingled smells of cows and wet soil filled my lungs as I bounced around the bed of a rickety old truck. The rotting wooden railing seemed less than capable of holding four teenagers in and hundreds of folding chairs threatened to topple onto us. My eyes stung and I had no idea where I was being taken, but bursts of delighted laughter spilled out of me as I looked all around me. To my left were crumbling shacks painted in vibrant faded pastels; to my right were miles of coffee plants and cow pastures in front of a backdrop of green-covered mountains. The drive over the pitted dirt road seemed ceaseless in the most phenomenal way. In those moments, I could not believe that I had never experienced such beauty, joy, excitement, and at the same time…peace.”

Bravery is one of the key attributes of a Young Leader. Whether it’s:

  •  Forcing yourself to speak Spanish with a native speaker, even if it comes out half wrong
  • Conquering your fear of heights to see the most amazing sunset of your life from the summit of a mountain
  • Volunteering for the first time in your life…7,000 miles from home

You have the stuff Young Leaders are made of. Hey, remember that time when you were brave?  That was a really good time.

 

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Know Before You Go: 5 Tips for Respecting Host-Country Culture

Tips on How to Respect Host Countries While Studying Abroad

So, you’ve decided to go on a volunteer abroad trip to China. You know the culture is different, and you’ve been warned of impending culture shock. What do you need to know before you go on your high school summer program? How can you best prepare yourself to respect the host country where you’ll be spending a big chunk of your summer? Here are a few tips.

1. Learn the language.

You don’t have to become fluent in Mandarin, but becoming familiar with a few polite terms will work wonders. Being able to say “hi,” “thank you,” “my name is…” and “have a good day” in the language of your destination lets locals know that you respect them enough to start learning their culture. It also makes you look less like a tourist and more like a pro traveler-always a plus.

2. Dress conservatively.

While skinny jeans and tank tops might be appropriate where you grew up, many cultures have deeply-set religious and cultural traditions that preclude Western style. Your regular garb could be considered disrespectful in China or many other Eastern cultures. Many pro travelers recommend keeping knees and shoulders covered, especially if you’ll be visiting religious sites while you travel.

3. Learn history.

Learning about the history of the place where you’ll volunteer abroad will give you a deeper understanding of the culture. It answers a lot of those Why on earth do they do things like THIS? questions that come up on an international trip–and you’ll be one of the best-informed among your fellow service trip sojourners. It’s a win-win.

4. Try the local food.

Don’t turn up your nose at the local cuisine. If you’re a picky eater, it might be best to try things before asking questions (“What kind of meat is that?!” isn’t the best way to impress a host in your destination country). Be respectful and willing to try new things–even if you only end up taking one bite.

5. Watch and learn.

Some things you take for granted-like the way to cross the street-might not be exactly as you expect when you’re on the other side of the world. Watch the way the locals conduct themselves and become a master of imitation. This technique could save your life on a busy Shanghai intersection.

Going on a high school volunteer abroad trip means stepping out of your comfort zone and getting a feeling for a new place, which can be a challenge–but a worthwhile one. Keeping an open mind while you’re there will make your trip exponentially more rewarding. You won’t regret it.

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Bring it or Leave it? A Teen Travel Guide

Knowing what to bring with you on your summer program abroad isn’t just a matter of packing light or looking good. It’s about your overall comfort, safety and convenience. And packing for this particular journey is going to be vastly different from most vacations you’ve taken. As you choose a destination, you can establish an itemized pack list, but the quick guide below will give you an idea of the rules that universally apply.

Bring it or Leave it?

Bring it: Climate-appropriate clothing and gear. Remember that some places you think of as “hot” can actually drop down dramatically in temperature at night and experience periodic heavy rainfall. Hats, sweaters and waterproof outerwear are never a waste of suitcase space. Also, make sure your shoes are broken-in, as you won’t want to nurse blisters on Day 2 – or really any day – of your adventure.

Leave it: Expensive jewelry and clothing such as diamond or pearl studs, high-carat gold, that custom leather jacket your dad gave you as a gift. Thinking function over fashion should help guide these packing decisions.

Bring it: Healthy snacks. Your program should provide you with nutritious meals and clean water every day, but it’s not a bad idea to pack small snacks such as your favorite protein bars for hikes, volunteer projects and travel time. Keep your energy levels high to get the most out of each day.

Leave it: Family heirlooms, one-of-a-kind items, keys without copies. Essentially, avoid bringing anything you absolutely cannot replace when you return home.

Bring it: A flashlight. You may never need it, but in the event that you do, you’ll be glad for that little bit of light a compact flashlight can provide .Companies like Nu-Flare, Fenix and National Geographic sell compact, powerful LED flashlights for under $30.

Bring it: Everything in the right amount. You may need it, but how much of it will you need? Depending on the length of your program, you may have the chance to do laundry once or twice. So, you only need to pack 10 days worth of clothes, even if you’re going away for three weeks.

Sincerely,
Melissa, GLA Program Coordinator

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