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

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

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

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

The new GLA Belize program is perfect for a teen still looking to find their passion in the summer before college begins.

Before beginning another four or more of school, more teens take a break and travel. While common in countries like Australia, this gap experience is a new endeavor to many in the US. These kinds of trips can not only lead to a new passion, but it can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. GLA’s Belize program is a great way to see the world and make a difference in a new community without delaying the start of college (something your parents will thank you for!).

When in Belize, there is the chance to see both its rainforest and Caribbean coast. Either can inspire an interest in environmental preservation and conservation. There are also many hikes to take and the chance to learn more about Belize’s Maya heritage, in case you were considering exploring a career in cultural anthropology. And who doesn’t want to visit the world-famous the Belize Zoo? You can even see a Kinkajou! Yes, that is animal; one that it is small and usually in the tropical forests found so plentifully in places like Belize.

Belize also gives the chance to make life-long friendships and connections with like-minded individuals – those who will have the greatest impact on your future major or career plans. Volunteer hours may also seem trivial to those who are focused on the future, but many budding careers began with a volunteer experience that was memorable and insightful in a way a classroom setting always isn’t.

So there’s no reason to not sign up. Living conditions are the perfect prep for college with dorm-style buildings. The memories made on the trip will last forever and be perfect to share with new college roommates. And just think of all the incredible pictures that will be taken! It’s the chance in a lifetime to travel abroad and make a positive impact in this world.

Contributed by Samantha Watkins