The Young Leader

by

GLA Bali 2015 Time Capsule

Bali-GLA-Time-Capsule

Letter to You from Director Ryan Feinstein

Wow! Can you believe it has already been three months since we were all together in Bali? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was eagerly awaiting your arrivals at the airport, whether at midnight or mid-morning, to see your jetlagged faces ready to embark on an adventure of a lifetime J

Recently I have been back to Lovina to visit our friends from the summer. We reminisced about all the fun we had with Domingo, Anik and the singing boys at the beach.   Saw the dorm staff and they say its already lonely and feeling vacant without you there. And of course I visited the schools that you made such an impact on. The children were so excited to see me because they thought I had brought all of you back! Unfortunately not, but I can tell from talking to the teachers that they have a new enthusiasm for learning that directly stems from your incredible teaching JJ

I hope that you have had an amazing start to your new school year. I have no doubt that you have stayed true to your commitments that you left with at the end of the program and that you have a new understanding of your role in the world. Keep traveling and keep taking risks, I know that each of you is going to make such a difference in the world!

Miss you all and stay in touch!

Ryan and the rest of GLA Bali

 

After chatting with Julian and Jackie, we came up with some of the most memorable moments of the summer:

June 15 – July 5, 2015

  • DJ got those awesome drawings from one of the boys at school
  • That time we took pictures underwater on the sunset boat ride and it took approximately 15 tries
  • Sawyer was always the killer in Mafia, but we could never tell!
  • Pizza on the beach on the 4th of July at sunset
  • The sickness bug that almost got all of you and we would have been out of teachers!
  • The crazy competitive trivia games with DJ and Taylor
  • Declan’s dinner theatre game that turned into so much more
  • Taylor’s brain!
  • Drinking chocolate drinks after our last day of teaching!
  • Karaoke!

July 9 – July 29, 2015

  • Crazy photo sessions at the beach, temples, school, basically everywhere!
  • Indoor soccer turning into one unbelievable injury frenzy!
  • Making penjors and doing difficult yoga with Ketut
  • Slip-n-slide says it all… and the resulting weird movie preview thingie…
  • Last day of teaching and all the singing, photo taking, and gift giving with the children.
  • Julian’s face… resulting from a permanent marker war
  • Night tag in Amed and the unbelievable hiding spot of Raphis
  • Julian’s face… and shaving cream
  • Karaoke! And the whip!

GLA-CTA-Yellow

by

Disconnecting from Technology on GLA’s Peru: Amazon Service Adventure Program

Why the Remoteness of the Amazon and the Challenges There Present the Perfect Opportunity to Explore for a Bold High School Student, on GLA’s Peru: Amazon Service Adventure Program

Peru-Amazon-1

If you’re anything like me, you spend a lot of time with your eyes staring at a screen – computer, TV, smartphone, tablet, e-reader, what-have-you. We’ve come to expect that always-on connectedness. We become impatient when a friend doesn’t immediately reply to our text message. We, maybe not always consciously, avoid talking to people in favor of messaging, Facebooking or Snapchatting them. If we get a little bored, there’s always a device nearby with which we can distract ourselves. We expect this ease of communication to always be there – think about the panic you experienced the last time your Internet went down or the cell towers became overloaded near your house.

Spend a little time in the Amazon, though, and you’ll learn to expect something a bit different from the world.

While technology may not necessarily be lacking in Peru, on a GLA Peru: Amazon Service Adventure Program, you can be assured there will be more than enough other activities to divert your attention. You won’t be needing that smartphone – except to use GPS to find your way around.

To get around, you’ll also have to focus and interact with the local population, especially if you’re taking on a service project while in-country. No more hiding behind a text message. Your personal communication skills will be tested to their limits as you attempt to converse with the native population – and your fellow travelers from all over.

You’ll experience the slower life of the jungle. A life where your usual impatience is rarely useful. By working together consistently and building bonds with those around you, the (probably lifelong) friendships you form will become strong and personal, unlike in chat windows.

You’ll realize you really can live without a screen within three feet even when asleep.

Contributed by William Pate

by

Aspire to Help Other on GLA’s Dominican Republic: Global Health Initiative Program

The GLA Dominican Republic: Global Health Initiative Program is a perfect fit for an aspiring doctor, nurse, or future Peace Corps volunteer.

DR-Health-1

Have you ever considered the possibility of traveling to experience another culture while at the same time making a difference in an emerging country? Well, here we have a program you might find both interesting and exciting, especially as it allows you to gain hands-on experience in public health.  The Global Health Initiative, coming in 2016, will give you the best opportunity to apply your interests in health and humanitarianism to make an impact in a developing country. While on this program, you’ll adapt 7ELEMENTS Foundation’s sustainable health solutions to human security problems and apply them to impact underprivileged Dominican and Haitian families.

As a volunteer providing community service in the DR, you will find that there is much more planned for you than just community service.  This is your chance to hike beautiful Dominican landscapes and see the local town’s naturally formed freshwater lagoon.  In addition you will visit other local towns like Dajabon on the border of Haiti.  There is no better way to experience the Dominican Republic than through working hands on with its people.  Imagine the rich culture and people who await you in the DR and ask yourself if learning these perspectives is something you believe will benefit you in your future studies, especially when public health and medicine is often approached apart from interpersonal connections and cross-cultural immersion.

By meeting with community health, sustainability and education leaders to learn how they provide sustainable health care in rural conditions, you’ll uncover what it means to be a caregiver, a medical worker, and a humanitarian. This kind of experience is invaluable to any resume in almost any field, but can be specifically impressive when applied to those aspiring to a career in medicine or public health. This is an experience you won’t get on a college campus summer program or by shadowing at a hospital for a day.

Contributed by Josh Schwartz

Brought to you by