June 11 – June 24, 2015 – Letter from Krobo Staff

Remember when you all did amazing squats and made 22 bricks! I am so proud of you ladies working hard in the heat to leave behind a wonderful gift to the Krobo community. Thank you all for your respect and commitment, not only to the GLA program, but to each other.

Sixxxx! I literally cannot say the number 6 without thinking of our never ending evenings playing Ludu. When you weren’t consumed by Ludu, you managed the classroom with such ease and maturity and even taught the students some great dance moves and songs. Daddy Shark…do do do do do. They were still singing it after you left.

You all had such amazing energy throughout the program, whether hiking to Boti falls and the top of umbrella rock, wrangling Kote at the park, or shoveling sand to make bricks. Thank you for being such an easy and fun group to work with and I hope to meet you all again soon!

Mama Kendall

 

July 30 – August 11, 2015 – Letter from Krobo Staff

This group was truly the girl power group. 15 lovely ladies arrived at our cozy homebase in Krobo. I must admit I was very nervous about the prospect of an entire girl group but you were all some of the sweetest, kindest, and funniest teenagers I have ever worked with. You left your experience having been fully initiated as Krobo women, you learned all the customs and expectations of that role. If there is one thing you all seized the opportunity to do, was shop. From crafts to fabric to beads, you stocked up on Ghanaian souvenirs. We shared every meal together and you guys tried everything from peanut stew to lots of yummy tomato based dishes. We devoured the fruits, especially watermelon and mango and some of you learned that you love plantains and yams, while others did not.

You went to service site, it was no easy feat but you worked hard. Some of you chose to go to the nursery, while others opted to teach the older students. We first learned how to be cement bricks, the exhausting task made you all appreciate how much work goes into some of the structures you see everyday. You followed that up with teaching English lessons, songs, dances, and even some yoga. I was so impressed by your maturity, poise, and ability to connect with the students even through a language barrier or disability. I know some adults who wouldn’t have been able to handle the classroom and nursery experience as well as you did.

You had such positive attitudes throughout our 2 weeks together. Even during the great water shortage of 2015 you bucket bathed like champs and some of you even preferred it! I will never forget being serenaded Taylor Swift before lights out, listening to you all share relationship advice, and watching you all wrangle the 30 or so children who came to spend the afternoons with you in the park, especially my favorite Kote. I have no faith you will all continue on in a life of service and adventure and I am so happy to have been a part of that journey with you.

All the best,

Kendall

Special Anloga Photos from Henry

            

June 27 – July 10, 2015

To my strong women and gentleman from GLA Building Healthy Villages 2015,

I hope that this letter finds you well and that is it a lovely break from college applications, studying for class, or just a nice reminder of our time together this past summer. I can’t believe it’s been 6 months since we were hanging out in Dzita-Agbledomi constructing a sexy composting toilet.

It feels like just yesterday we were jumping into that giant pit to dig out sand while fending off the children who thought you were live jungle gyms. Despite that minor distraction, you all managed to complete the toilet a day ahead of schedule! You even had time to complete a mural and your artistic ability shone through and you left behind a beautiful treat for Meet Me There’s guests

I want to thank you all for your positive energy and enthusiasm and for being open to all of the amazing learning opportunities around you and all of the new friendships you were able to forge. I was so impressed with the level of maturity you all had and the intelligent conversations we shared as a group whether talking about water and sanitation or Disney princesses. You all showed such respect for one another that I have great faith that you will all go on to do great things.

Working with you all was such an honor this summer and I am so happy I got to share this experience with you.

I hope to meet you all again soon!

Mama Kendall

 

July 14 – July 27, 2015

Julia, Jouke, Yili, Jack, and Matt. You successfully completed the construction of a composting toilet for a family in the Dzita community and that is a pretty big deal. Your ability to integrate with the local community impressed us and was much appreciated by everyone on staff.

You all were excellent at sports(wo)men and it was a pleasure to spend the afternoons tossing around a soccer ball or embroiled in what sometimes became heated volleyball matches!

Thank you for showing such respect and maturing during cultural events whether showing your artistic ability making batiks or dancing at a funeral

I have faith you will go on to do great things and thank you for sharing this summer with GLA.

Kendall

Letters from Alexa and Taralynn

June 10 – June 23, 2015

The summer kicked off to a great start with an amazing group of people. Mentors, Directors, and students were keen to explore what Ecuador had to offer and to have a strong start to the service projects as a team.

And what a team we were! We had Romulo’s cheeky grin and Wilson’s quick-witted comments.

We had deep conversations sparked by Allen’s intellect and cohesive team motivation lead by Ross.

We all learned the power of the Galapagos sun from Lizzie’s painful burns, but she toughed it out and made some great friends.

Who could forget Romulo and Wilson trying to carry those plants up the mountain on San Cristobal? Or the scene-by-scene movie conversation that lasted for ten kilometers! Or “Lizzie’s Lagoon?”

Egyptian Ratscrew surely kept every person in every village awake until the game was over, and by the end of the trip we could play Ninja in our sleep!

Everyone arrived being a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. We learned together as a team the power of stepping out of one’s comfort zone and supporting each other no matter what.

-Alexa

 

June 26 – July 9, 2015

What an amazing second session! A small session in numbers but it was big in leadership, community and family.

From Morgan learning how to ride a bike on a 7 MILE round trip bike ride through sand and hills with a huge smile on her face to Thomas’ spar with a rock divider (no idea what the real name of that tool is) to our happy times on the hill in San Cristobal, it was all wonderful.

Gwyn and her impression of an old Russian villager names Yuthka that almost made all of us choke on our own laughter!

Jaime and Elizabeth’s infectious energy gave us all a boost when we needed it!

Hakan, Thomas and Fabricio tumbling rocks down the cliff side to smother invasive plants was amusing for all of us to watch.

Who will ever forget “Daddy” written in red letters in that abandoned building and then being scared out of our minds when Hakan jumped out from behind a door!

Our meals together, our discussions, the highs and the lows, were all worth it. We were able to make significant impacts in each of the communities on Isabela and Cristobal and changed the lives for the wildlife and ourselves, forever.

I hope you never forget your amazement and wonder each time we were able to snorkel with sea turtles or get up close to a seal lion or work with Galapagos tortoises. Each of those moments will be memories for the rest of your lives.

I hope that you are inspired to continue to travel and to have a positive impact on the world.

-Taralynn

 

July 12 – July 25, 2015

Halfway through the summer and there was a lot of work to be done on the service projects, good thing this was the largest session of the program!

We made some real progress with these projects, from carrying massive rocks across Campo Duro for the tortoise lagoon, to putting in some intense machete time to combat the mora and create a cultivation area for native species.

There was some seriously cool snorkeling, with the sea lion pup stealing Cam’s shoe, and the amazing sea turtles everywhere we went! Good job standing up on that kayak, Kevin…practice makes perfect.

Thank goodness the boys brought their hammocks for that great spot to relax on San Cristobal (and spend the night). Star gazing on the islands is like nowhere else in the world.

Of course, there was that one day on the beach on San Cristobal, with a rogue sea lion, intense waves, Fabri trying to distract the sea lion so people could get out of the water, and Allison realllyyyyyy wanting to know what time it was. Despite the convergence of chaos, it was still Haley’s favorite part of the whole trip.

Eighteen students and loads of new friendships! Ups and downs and twists and turns; everyone learned so much about each other, but most importantly, themselves.

-Alexa

 

July 28 – August 10, 2015

Our time spent together in the Galapagos will have an impact on endemic wildlife and the communities we served for years to come.

Your group of twelve was a force to be reckoned with, accomplishing so much in such a small amount of time. I was so happy to see such a big smile on Wilfredo’s face! You made him and his tortoises very happy.

From impromptu soccer games with school children and nights filled with laughter, it truly was a memorable trip.

Ryan, Olivia, Natalie and Thomas racing ahead on our crazy 10 mile volcanic hike! Hannah taking care of everyone and handing out granola bars.

This was a group of many natural leaders who stepped up when we needed it with a smile, an encouraging word, a shoulder to lean on.

Don’t forget Claire’s funny voices and impressions or Lil’ Alexa’s excitement and joy for a new adventure or Ben’s first trip out of the U.S. which we all played a part in making it something he will never forget.

The BBQ on Cristobal was a highlight. How many of you remember the homemade hot sauce? It was delicious! That time spent together with the family was some of the best times on that trip.

It was everything we could have asked for; community, service, lifelong friendships being formed and most of all it was fun.

Thank you all for making the session a memorable one. I hope you stay in touch with each other and continue to be who you because you are all amazing.

-Taralynn

 

Letter from Lauren with Special Memories for Each of Her Sessions

Dear Galapagos Adventurers,

It’s hard to believe a few months have passed since our time together in the Enchanted Islands! It seems like just yesterday we were collecting fruit for marmalade and eating off the trees at Campo Duro. You all are off on different adventures at this point (even college, some of you!!!) and you’re probably up to your eyeballs in schoolwork, jobs and activities.

This past summer was truly amazing. The beauty of the islands far exceeded my expectations, and our close animal encounters will be forever etched in my memory. One EARLY morning at the harbor while we were waiting for the boat (those boat rides, tho!) to Floreana and San Cristobal, I was struck by just how unique and special the islands are. As the sun rose, I watched sea lions playfully chase penguins while dozens of diving boobies and pelicans fished alongside observant cranes and iguanas. It was a chaotic yet harmonious scene, and caused me to pause in a moment of true gratitude.

The hard work each of you put in this summer is truly a labor of love for this special place. Though tedious (and pokey and itchy!) at times, all that weeding, digging, planting and chopping directly works to preserve the natural habitat of the Islands. Each time we returned to our service sites, Nicole and I felt so incredibly proud to watch the weedy field become a resting place for Isabela tortoises and how strong and upright the trees were growing on the hill overlooking Hacienda Esperanza. It’s our job to protect such special places, and you should all know that you left the Galapagos Islands a better place than when you came. Continue asking yourself how you can do the same in your daily life back home, whether collaborating with a school club or by simply watching your water usage at home.

Thank you for helping me make awesome memories in a wonderful place. I will never think about the Galapagos without thinking about our guides, all the other wonderful local people we met and also each of you.

Thank you all for a great summer,

Lauren & Crew

Galapagos 2015

 

June 18 – July 1, 2015

• Cooking together in America’s kitchen (arroz con leche with Stefan!)
• Late-night talks with Felipe at Hacienda Esperanza – Matt and Maya
• Going to the top of the tower at the Basilica in Quito
• Planting with the kids at the school above Campo Duro
• Swimming through the mangroves on the bike day
• Standing on the lip of the volcano crater
• Hammock lounging at Campo Duro and Hotel Sandrita
• Swimming with baby sea lions at Las Tijeretas
• Eating passion fruit off the tree at Campo Duro
• Catnaps and good music on the boat rides
• Those awesome volcano day empanadas

July 5 – July 18, 2015

• Dolphin spotting, Natassia!
• Swimming in the mangroves with sea lions on our bike ride
• US Womens Soccer win on that first night
• The great turtle escape!
• Nighttime s’mores, games and dance parties
• Many ice cream breaks, and that yummy homemade ice cream spot on the beach
• The nesting turtle midday…amazing!
• Standing on the lip of the volcano crater
• Hammock lounging at Campo Duro and Hotel Sandrita
• Swimming with baby sea lions at Las Tijeretas
• Eating passion fruit off the tree at Campo Duro
• Catnaps and good music on the boat rides
• Those awesome volcano day empanadas

July 21 – August 3, 2015

• Soccer and swimming with Jorge
• Hammocks on the Sandrita rooftop
• Early morning swimming on Isabela
• Nighttime s’mores and games
• Many ice cream breaks, and that yummy homemade ice cream spot on the beach
• Cooking together in America’s kitchen
• Swimming through the mangroves on the bike day
• Standing on the lip of the volcano crater
• Swimming with baby sea lions at Las Tijeretas
• Eating passion fruit off the tree at Campo Duro
• Catnaps and good music on the boat rides
• Those awesome volcano day empanadas

August 6 – August 19, 2015

• Dolphin spotting from the top of the boat (lucky boys!)
• Crazy rain on the volcano hike
• Mixing cement-now we know how!
• Nighttime s’mores and games
• Many ice cream breaks, and that yummy homemade ice cream spot on the beach
• Cooking together in America’s kitchen
• Swimming through the mangroves on the bike day
• Standing on the lip of the volcano crater
• Hammock lounging at Campo Duro and Hotel Sandrita
• Swimming with baby sea lions at Las Tijeretas
• Eating passion fruit off the tree at Campo Duro
• Catnaps and good music on the boat rides
• Those awesome volcano day empanadas

Time Capsule Letter from Tim for GLA Fiji (July 5 – July 25)

“The school year is well under way and we’re all equally busy with life! Over at GLA headquarters we’re getting ready for another exciting summer of programs! In Colorado the weather is  getting cold and we’re already sliding downhill on skis. Often I find myself wishing I was on the boat getting soaked, in sun and salt water, listening to Max sing a Taylor Swift song. Fiji had a huge impact on my life, and from staying connected to so many of you, I know it was profound for you as well.

Reflecting on our time on the Yasawa islands makes me think about barefooted running during Briley’s extravaganza of competition, hammocks, smiling little kids in tiny clothes, soaking wet sarongs, bucket after bucket of sand, lots of sweating, sleepy-bumpy boat rides, and the sound of a drum and MANTA RAYS! It also makes me think about how many GLA students came to those islands and helped inflict positive change. We all worked on projects that have a lasting impact both to the community and to ourselves.

GLA Fiji – June 11 – July 1 and July 29 – August 18

Our staff have some incredible adventure photos below from your sessions to share with you. So many great memories. Enjoy!

From your Dominican Republic program staff:

First Letter

To our life long friends,

The Dominican Republic was new for us, which was particularly a treat because it was new for most of you guys too. Now, here we are months later with only pictures and memories of our 2015 summer in the DR. It is so weird how we meet eachother, have to be 24 hours together, learn from eachother, really get to know one another, do such awesome stuff for the communities, and time passes so fast…and we go back to our reality at home as if it was a distant memory or dream.

There were three 21 day groups. Every single group had a unique energy to them. From the first day we met everyone at the airport, to the last day when we hugged everyone going back to the airport, we had a connection. You all have such a great heart. To be honest, you made us better. You taught us so much. You inspired us to continue down our path, too. So thank you for that. Thank you for supporting us. You have no idea how much of an impact you have made. You guys took such a big step to do a program like this with GLA and challenged yourself to the fullest. We feel so lucky to be a part of that.

So yes, time passes so fast. That is life. We will always have our individual memories. We will always have a connection with every single one of you guys and we will never forget our talks about life. We remember telling you guys not to lose your passion for volunteerism. Dont. Get involved. Read about the world. Make people smile. Protect nature and animals. Take care of yourselves. Educate others. Let go of your ego. Help others. Put down the phone. Learn from others. Laugh. And most importantly,

• LIVE WHAT YOU LOVE.
• Team sea glass necklace.
• Personalized sea shells.
• Early morning runs.
• Nights with the stars.
• Pyramid attempts by waterfall.
• Life juice.
• Digging holes.
• Maggots turn into flies.
• Workout with Georgio at 9pm.
• Buying puppies.
• The best leadership with Sarah.
• Pushing Crystal in a pool. You have guts.
• Laughing…so much laughing!

“We are able to live the way we live back home because others sacrifice here and they don’t even know it.”

 -Katherine

Always in our thoughts,

Crys and Shay]

Second Letter

It was such an amazing, challenging, tiring, fun, endless summer for the boys and girls participating to the Building a Sustainable World service-learning program in the DR. I bet no one will ever forget all the emotions, feelings and thrills of the 21 days spent in the Indalo Lodge and in the many communities of the Dominican north coast. For sure I will never forget the usual screaming at night, time of light off, coming from any girls bungalow when a giant armless spider or a microscopic fly were founded hanging from the roof or upon the mosquito net! Or the loud, super loud, too much loud volume of youngster American music in the bus!! The guys learned a lot of interesting and useful things, such as dancing Dominican reggaeton, jumping from a zip-line hanging 30ft upon a clear, cristaline tropical lagoon, the name of Dominican Republic first lady, eating “tostones” and “guandules”, drinking coconut water and the precise ratio of sand and cement to be mixed to build up a wall.

Talking seriously, I think it was such an important moment in the life of our students. They could experience the struggles and difficulties of the everyday life in a third world country. They touched by hand what living in a forgotten and poor Haitian “Batey” means. What kind of difficulties and challenges kids like them are facing day after day in places like La Union, La Grua, Caraballo and other communities were they could work. It was nice seeing them scared and suspicious, confused and overwhelmed at the beginning and then, after a couple of days of hard work in a village, holding two or three Dominican babies on the shoulders, dancing hand in hand with Haitian kids, playing football with them such as they always knew each other… and discover that human feelings, dreams and expectations are the same in New York as in Las Canas, in the US as in the third world.

I know there was some difficult or hard moment: not every single day was just fun and enjoyment… the students worked hard, mixed cement, cutted playwood, painted walls, pulledl heavy wheelbarrows. In some moment the sun was really hot… sometime there were a lot of mosquitoes around the houses in the villages… Strange new food, new people to deal with, waking up early in the morning… hiking a steep hill under the tropical sun… But I’m sure any of this moments contributed to the process of student’s personal growth and in creating a strong team spirit… I remember many crying guys on the last day… they became like a family, sharing fun and hard moments and, most important, sharing life changing experiences that are hard to believe and understand if you didn’t tried it! They came to DR like young scared students and went back home like older and more experienced young-adults, filled by once in a life time experiences.
Students had also the opportunity to understand and discuss many issues about human security and development. They could face new perspectives and points of view about their lifestyle and about their life at home and its effects on the rest of the world. That was, for many of them, useful to understand to be on the right path and to continue to be engaged for making the world a better place. At the opposite some of them were shocked by some new issue about poverty, world economy, environment or some founded hard to believe some topic about the world and the cause-effect chain of the elements of human security and to find out that life is not what it looks like from a Tv show.

Finally, I don’t want to forget all the incredible results we scored together during summer 2015: thanks to the students hard work, we completely renewed, rebuilt and painted the Joba Arriba communal water tank; we started building the plastic bottle clinic in La Gra completing it by 80% (the community is working on it at the moment to finish it before Christmas!); we worked hard to renew the La Veredita community center, providing the community a safe place where to have their meetings and store medicines; we built three new greenhouses for the Arroyo Blanco cocoa farmers, improving their ability to produce new plants; and we cemented more than 25 houses floors in La Union… a super important project to improve the health security of this very poor neighborhood: Mercedes and the other women of La Union want me to say thanks to any student that worked so hard and well in their village last summer! A big hug from the girls and boys of La Union! And also a big hug from Jony, the bee farmer of Cano Dulce, that now can improve the production of honey thanks to the new bee houses built and painted by our students. A very important successful project to improve the poor economy of that little village.

Last but not least… A respectful and sincereTHANK YOU to any student that shared his efforts with us last summer trying to improve the quality of life of many people and the human security of a small part of the world… Acting locally we can change the entire world and together we made the difference! Thanks again and believe me, we miss you all!
Recollection

[1] The delicious campo lunch at Doña Máxima’s house in Brisón and the refreshing ice cream on the top of the mountain after two hours of very hard hiking.
[2] The “What are the Odds” game!
[3] Watching the bruised, yet smiling students step of the bus after a day of zip­lining at Dudú.
[4] Kicking around the soccer ball with the kids in La Union.
[5] Bonfire ans Stargazing on the beach
[6] Slapping cement on the walls of the bottle building with the local kids in Caraballo.
[7] The night in Jarabacoa with the lunch prepared by our mentors.
[8] Hanging around In Santo Domingo by night
[9] Jumping from the scariest waterfall in Damajagua 27 Charcos
[10] Sharing time with friends under the porch at night at the lodge… so many laughs and memories!!!

Giorgio Piracci, International Director

Some extra photos just for you!