Official Student Bloggers

May 4, 2016 by The Young Leader

An Interview with Her Dad

GLA alum and ambassador Beate Kaz presented the following questions to her father about her GLA experience.

Here are his answers:

Q: Were you nervous about her flying alone? How did this experience turn out?

A: When my daughter was 14, we were reluctant to send her on flights so far away without her being with us, but we were excited about her seeing Guatemala and having a learning experience. GLA was helpful throughout this process because they gave us the contact information for other students on her trip who lived near us so that we could email and have our children fly together. Once at the airport we immediately saw the blue Gla shirts and met up both knowing our children would have easy flights.

Q: What concerns did you have about sending her on a GLA program? What happened with those concerns?

A: My daughter knew she wanted to travel abroad and we wanted her to have that experience, but of course we had concerns. We wanted to make sure GLA was a safe and organized program, and through their website we were able to get in contact with staff member who helped talk with us about GlA, easing our concerns.

Q: What were you hoping she would gain from this experience? Were your expectations met, and if so, how?

A: My daughter picked a trip that had Spanish classes in hopes to expand her language skills, and it really did make a difference. Not only did her skills improve, she was know more interested in becoming fluent than before!

Q: Did you notice any differences in Beate immediately after she returned home from her program? Two months after her program?

A: Immediately after her trip my daughter was happy all the time and talked about Guatemala non-stop! In the long run, she was more involved with global affairs and had a new perspective on what was happening around her.

Q: Do you feel like this experience changed your daughter’s college choice or career path? How?

A: My daughter has always been intrigued by the Peace Corp, and after her first GLA program she came home knowing that was something she wanted to do in the future. One of her counselors had done the Peace Corp in Peru and gave her group a slide show on his trip and answered any questions they had about his experience. My daughter was immediately hooked.

February 25, 2016 by The Young Leader

From a Student’s Perspective

Republica Dominicana

This article appeared in the school newspaper for Autumn, a GLA Alumnus

Have you ever wanted to travel outside of the country, but found your parents wouldn’t let you go alone? Well, what if you had the opportunity to travel with a group of teens for 8 to 21 days without your parents: would you take it?

This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic for 10 days through an organization called Global Leadership Adventures (GLA). GLA is a service-learning abroad program where students will learn the local culture, history, and language of their destination, serve in the surrounding communities, and explore all that the country has to offer. Potential destinations include Tanzania, Thailand, Fiji, Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Galapagos Islands, Peru, and many more.

One of the greatest aspects of GLA is that within each trip, there is a specific focus. For example, if you love children, you can go on a trip that is centered on the children in their communities, teaching them to read and write English. If you love sports, you can spend all day with the boys and girls playing new games and teaching them some American games. If you love working with your hands like I do, you can go to the Dominican Republic and build schools out of plastic bottles and chicken wire, mix your own cement from the sand beneath your feet, and personally connect with the community.

You will work many hours of service depending on the duration of your trip, but each trip includes some amazing adventures. The Dominican Republic home base, for example, is right on the beach, and it’s great to cool off in the water after a long day of volunteer work. I spent a day snorkeling, shopping at the local stores, and relaxing on the beach. Another day, I went ziplining and cliff jumping from 50 feet up into a lagoon.

Parents need not worry about supervision; there are mentors and supervisors on every trip, and I felt extremely safe everywhere I went. Parents will also appreciate the other great aspect of these trips: affordability. GLA offers need-based scholarships, a guide to fundraising your trip (which is what I did), or payment plans you can work out with your trip advisor. I chose the Dominican Republic because I felt that it would be an eye-opening experience, and that was exactly what it was; I realized I am fortunate to live here in our small rural community. Everyone should travel outside of the country at least once in his or her life, so why not go to a place you never expected to go, have the time of your life, and give back all at once?

Contributed by Autumn E.

GLA Alumnus

Dominican Republic

January 25, 2016 by The Young Leader

Guatemala in Photos

Photo taken from one of our day to trips to the hot springs! We were gladly hiking to the waterfall and 120 degree hot springs!

Photo taken mid-Spanish class that we had class in the Quezaltenango city. We were practicing our Spanish by asking the locals questions about Guatemala 🙂

A photo capturing the excitement of recess at the school where we were doing our work in Quezaltenango.

In this photo we are learning the art of making traditional Guatemalan tortillas, a very tasty snack!

All smiles while touring Xela, Guatemala in our GLA group! Missing so many great people.

Contributed by Beate Kaz

GLA Alumnus

Guatemala

January 25, 2016 by The Young Leader

Tanzania in Photos

1) Our first day at Himo School is a day that I’ll never forget. Meeting all of the kids for the first time was so special- seeing their curious, smiling faces right off the bat made me ever so ready to start my service project there.

2) Mama Simba taught me lessons of strength and integrity that I couldn’t have learned from anyone else. I hope for the absolute best for her and will always keep her wise words dear to my heart.

3) I absolutely love the rawness of this picture and how it captures the man’s expression so well. It’s also a funny reminder of the bridge that we all ended up venturing on, even though it was apparently the one thing we weren’t allowed to go on.

4) This was such a fun and enjoyable performance to be a part of. This picture was taken a few minutes after Will had the pleasure of dancing with that one girl- I love the memories that come back with pictures like these.

5) It’s not every day that you’re able to get out of your car, while on a safari, and take a jumping picture like this. Both safari days were absolutelybreathtaking, and I’m very glad that I was able to spend them with the two different cars of people.

7) Even though I was close to getting hypothermia (oops), the hike around the base of Mount Kilimanjaro far exceeded my expectations. Everywhere I looked, an overwhelming amount of beauty surrounded me. There’s no better way I could’ve asked to end our phenomenal journey in Tanzania.

by Jennah L.

GLA Alumnus

Tanzania: Heart and Soul of Africa

January 25, 2016 by The Young Leader

Unfamiliar Air

June 30th

We stepped off of Flight DL1388 to unfamiliar Costa Rican air. The green mountains in the distance were heavenly compared to the polluted San Francisco streets we had just left. As I walked through the terminal, my heart was filled with excitement, but also fear and anxiousness. Would I survive the next 21 days? Are the other kids going to like me?

Questions flooded my mind, but as I exited the doors of the airport, I saw a group of smiling faces holding a GLA sign waiting for me. Despite jet lag and lack of food, these strangers were ecstatic to meet me! I can’t wait to see what the next three weeks will hold. We wandered the streets of San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, picking up some last minute supplies to bring back to our future home. At lunch we discussed how we felt like a family walking the streets and we’d barely been together for five hours! I then realized that these people were hoping I would let them in with open arms, when the whole time I was worried that they wouldn’t let me in. I think I’m going to have a great time here.

July 3rd

I opened up my tent to the fresh, Costa Rican air and walked through the Home Base, waking up all of the other hardworking volunteers because I was assigned “Leader of the Day.” We devoured some delicious omelets, which were well needed due to the array of activities we had lined up for the day ahead. We headed down to the organic coffee farm and fertilized the trees with our own, homemade, 100% natural fertilizer, made of manure and coffee skins. After four hours of sweating, we took a short hike to the waterfall where we got our well-deserved swim. We soaked up the sun and then ate some lunch, while everyone rushed to finish the homework our Spanish teachers had assigned us in class the day before.

Class went on as planned, and then we had some free time before dinner. Once everyone was stuffed from our amazing meal, our mentors helped us work off dinner by teaching us how to do the native dances of Costa Rica and many other Hispanic countries, such as the merengue and salsa. After a few shorts lessons, we got the hang of it and danced the night away until it was time for bed.

July 7th

I woke up today refreshed as usual (we sleep great because the beds are so comfortable) and ready for the day. We ate a delicious casado breakfast, which is the traditional rice and beans with plantains. Then we headed to Tamí to build ditches to collect rainwater. I thought this was inspiring because we were working on the Home Base where we live and where volunteers for many years will be staying. Everyday we are leaving our imprint here in Providencia, also literally because we got to put our handprints in the cement ditches and write our initials. I love being here because I feel like I’m reinventing myself. Life at home is so repetitive and here it’s like I’m actually being useful and making a difference.

When I get back to California I want/need to be more productive. There is just so much to be done. We had dinner and then our leader, Jonathan, gave us a lesson on community development. I have learned more here than my entire year of school and this makes me gain more and more respect for my mentors everyday. During class we enjoyed the second most favored drink in Costa Rica called Agua Dulce and watched a video about tourism and its negative affect on the environment. This trip is changing my mind every second of the day.

Contributed by Amanda Dwinell

GLA Alumnus

Costa Rica: Spanish Service Adventure