Time Capsule Letter

Hello again students!

After a few months re-adjusting to life at home, I hope this message finds you all well. More important, I hope it finds you growing in your leadership and continuing to live out the values we all encountered in our beautiful home in Geluksburg!

I know, for our staff team, the Aloe, Thorn Tree, Shield, and Nguni have made a lasting impact on the way we see ourselves, the world, and our role in it. Do you remember what each one stands for (Community Living, Equality & Integration; Personal Growth & Development; Building Cultural Capital; Inclusivity & Diversity)? And how about those amazing posters we created on our first weekend at Homeground! You all were amazing, working together, collaborating, creating, and growing in our understanding of South African values and principles.

As we reminisce, a few memories really stand out. I hope they remind you of some of these amazing moments from our short time together, back in July…

Zulu dancing with the local dance troupe:

Talk about breaking out of your shell! I know for a few of you, the Zulu dancing felt a bit intimidating, given the intense nature of the leg flexibility and slamming your foot in the ground. But, it definitely brought us together to learn more about the Zulu culture while having a fun time! You should all be proud of partaking in this activity, whether you have two left feet, are a skilled dancer, or maybe you got your groove back.

Just remember how you felt as you danced and how it didn’t matter if you got the steps right. All that mattered was that you were expressing yourself in the way that allowed you to be you! Revisiting these dances during our drumming event, talent show, Afro-pop dance lesson, and our almost daily song and dance with Sifiso & Aubry reinforced these ideals for me, as well.

Mandela day service activity (beautifying the reading room at the Community Center):

What a great service day in honor of Mandela Day! All your hard work cleaning the windows, sorting and organizing books, assembling and painting shelves (and stocking them with books), and painting a lovely mural will certainly be enjoyed by the local children and community for years to come!

Remember how the students at the school worked together to provide an awesome tribute to Mandela with their songs and dances? Hopefully that inspired you to come together to brainstorm on how you can continue service in your schools and/or communities! Perhaps some of you may be inspired to raise money in your hometowns to continue projects such as this one or even think of ways to help this particular library.

A look back at our time together wouldn’t be complete without recalling the life transformation we saw in one another. Sharing our gratitude and expressing the way we have grown during our last meeting together will stay with me forever. New insights into our own personal growth were expressed and I left truly inspired to continue to #bethechange in my life back home. I hope you were too.

Speaking of “being the change”, how is your OMG (One Meaningful Goal) coming along? Collectively, we committed to raising awareness of the rural South African healthcare systems & what gaps we saw during our visits to clinics and hospitals. We also committed to working together to raise money to continue supporting Sportstec, as they teach local students about healthy living through the Sports2life curriculum. Have you started that GoFundMe?

Have you held an informational meeting at your school? Have you met with school leaders to host a workshop on awareness and ways to get involved? Have you kept in touch with one another, challenging each other to rise up and follow through on those commitments?

I know, from us at GLA, we would love to hear how things are going. We’d love to know what has had the greatest impact on you since you returned home. If you’d like, send GLA an email and let us know how things are coming along, if you’d like additional support, or if you have any relevant updates on the progress you’ve made in your own community!

We may be separated by many miles today, but our time together in Geluksburg will forever bond us together. I believe in you. I have confidence that you all will #bethechange in your own way. Keep at it! Go for it! Don’t give up! #ondelay #andale

With gratitude & optimism,

Jen, Veronica, Mark & Brett

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Friday July 12, 2019

Hello friends and family!

I’m one of GLA’s mentors, Veronica Martinez, and I’m from San Diego, CA. This is my 5th GLA program. I am super pumped to have these students on our program for the next two weeks. On behalf of our GLA team (Jen, Mark, Brett, and myself), welcome to the BLOG!!!

After a few trips to the airport, all the students arrived safely at our gorgeous homebase, Sunrock Guest House, for the first night. Even through the jet lag and tiredness, everyone’s smiling faces shined bright. After phone calls back home, exchanging dollars for Rand (*the local currency), and settling into their rooms, everyone relaxed and mingled.

Some played pool and ping pong, while some sat outside on the lawn and chatted away the afternoon. Everyone came together for dinner and yummy dessert. We had a quick welcome and staff intros, gave a brief overview of the schedule for the next 24 hours, and took a few pictures:)

Everyone is now eager and excited to head out tomorrow morning to Geluksburg to our beautiful homebase and get started! So many of the students have already begun talking about all the things they’re most looking forward to. We’re confident it’s going to be an unforgettable two weeks together in the Drakensburg mountains!

From all of our GLA staff team here in South Africa, thanks for trusting us with your loved ones. We expect that we will all learn so much together, have experiences we’ll remember for the rest of our lives, and learn a bit more about serving in rural South Africa. And we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it!!!

After today’s blog post, students will take over and will be sharing their own experiences firsthand. So we’ll leave you with our first ‘family’ photo which we took tonight at SunRock after our delicious dinner:) Included with our students are local staff members, as well as our GLA mentors and staff.

Sunday July 14, 2019

Sawubona!

My name is Tori Gens from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and I am Anaya Robinson from Houston, Texas.

This is our first time on a GLA trip, and we are extremely excited to be here.

We are the leaders of the day, which means we will be sharing today’s blog post. This blog is where students will be able to share their thoughts, experiences, and highlights with everyone outside of Africa! So here it goes…

Over the first couple of days we have been able to become acquainted with the warm and welcoming staff of Mt. Thintwa. They do an excellent job of making us all feel safe, welcome, and comfortable. Because of them, we all have quickly become a big family.

We had a great conversation with Michael, the owner of the Social Development Academy at which we are attending. He told us that our job is only over once the world is a perfect place. At first, this statement seems like a daunting challenge, for how could a world ever be “perfect”. But upon deep reflection, it is this kind of statement that drives people to work towards unfathomable goals in order to make any kind of change. Success shouldn’t be measured by how much money someone has, but by the impact they have made. Even after being here for only a couple of days, we now understand that being able to impact one person is a success.

To wrap up this blog post, we would like to touch on the highlights of our day. Today, we were able to tour the community that we are staying in. We were able to see the school and the Sportstec Homeground. Being able to see our surroundings has given us a better understanding of the community we are staying in. Also, we were able to watch traditional Zulu dancing, and we learned some dance moves as well. This allowed us to break out of our comfort zones, learn to let loose around one another, and emerge ourselves into the Zulu culture. As Michael said, “Even the most shy community members will express themselves as soon as they hear music.”

Thanks for reading Today’s blog post! we are all very excited about the rest of our program and will keep sharing our experiences.

Hamba Kahle!

Tori Gens (17, Minneapolis) and Anaya Robinson (17, Houston)

Monday July 15, 2019

Hi my name is Caroline Baur! I am from Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Hi my name is Janvi and I’m from Chino hills, California.

Today was the first day we felt like we were integrated into the community! We got to hangout with kids our age. We combined sports and health. We had different activity stations and were paired with kids in the Geluksburg community. We talked about important issues in the community such as HIV/AIDS prevention, teenage pregnancy, goal setting, participation, and the importance of team work and healthy friendship. We incorporated and analyzed the similar skills that you need in sport as well as life. Another amazing factor of these activities was that we got to learn from the other students how different yet similar our worlds are.

We also got the opportunity learn Zulu in a language lesson from the local instructors. This was absolutely amazing and so interesting to learn, and it actually really helps in the service work we are doing. We learned basic words that we can say to the kids and adults in the surrounding area. Whenever we say hello (sawubona) in Zulu, all the local community members are so impressed and happy! 🙂

After dinner we participated in a debate/discussion about HIV AIDS. There were three groups as well as a mediator and judge group. It was amazing to hear the diverse world views and knowledge of important world issues that different people brought into the discussion. Today was so fun and got us excited for what’s to come!!

-Caroline and Janvi

Tuesday July 16, 2019

Hello all! We are Anoushka and Ellie and we want to tell you about our jam-packed day, filled with new experiences, people, and foods.

Our day began bright and early with a quick ride to Greenpoint, also called ngcongcosi, which is a high school with grades 8-12. There, we interacted with the students, first by giving them presentations on general health and safety. We then walked around the school and learned more about them and their school experience. The experience made us feel more optimistic about the future of our world. Another group went to the community center where they educated parents about health, nutrition, and basic first aid.

Next, we had a scrumptious meal at the home of one of our local instructors, Aubrey. The meal was cooked by his mom and served in a sacred building where we had the opportunity to learn more about Zulu traditions. We saw many of the animals on the property, and we learned about the tedious process of making bread in a wood burning oven. On our journey back home, we witnessed breathtaking views. The entire experience made us feel blessed to be here and fortunate for everything we have.

The last thing we did was play soccer with the local boys. I (anoushka) didn’t participate in the soccer game, but instead passed around the ball with two young boys. The first was in 5th grade, and a few minutes later, we were joined by another boy, in 3rd grade. We played for around an hour and I had so much fun! The experience made me feel excited to meet more young kids to play sports with. It reminded me (ellie) of playing sports with a whole group at summer camp. I felt so connected to everyone and so at home. I completely forgot that I was more than 2,000 miles from home.

Be on the lookout for more exciting adventures from GLA!

-by Anoushka and Ellie

Wednesday July 17, 2019

Hi this is Rian and Avery!

Today was yet another successful and fulfilling day filled with service activities, music festivities, and great food! Our amazing chef prepared a healthy breakfast to give us energy for the fun day ahead of us. After breakfast we began our day by splitting into three groups. Groups two and three went to visit the elementary school to speak with the parents about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Group one visited a high school to convey the same ideas to the students.

The experience was not only rewarding in the fact that the children and parents were beyond grateful and eager to be learning the critical steps to staying healthy, it also gave us the opportunity to truly understand how the community functions. We discussed how a balanced diet and daily exercise is crucial to living a healthy lifestyle as well as the necessary precautionary and vital steps to take when someone gets injured. We were able to measure the amount of knowledge the adults and children had about the subjects we were discussing through a series of personalized survey questions.

This information allowed us to reflect on our experience and truly understand the impact we have on the community. It came as a shock to many of us when we found out that most of the community doesn’t have access to common household remedies like antiseptic cream and therefore don’t understand its importance when dressing a wound. After our visits to the schools we visited a mobile clinic and spoke with the nurses what worked there.

The nurses explained how they have different locations that they travel to nearly everyday and will only go to each station once a month. Community members were lined up for a multitude of different reasons. Due to the clinic only coming once a month, this is the community’s only opportunity to see if they are healthy, check blood pressure, or be prescribed medication for an illness.

Most of the supplies are inside the van that functions as a makeshift clinic. However, these supplies are then transported into a room provided by each stop, and at this clinic we were in a room in an elementary school. The nurses showed us how they help the community through both improving health, but also attempting to educate each patient about dangerous and prevalent diseases and the precautionary steps that one can follow to avoid them.

Then nurses also explained how even though they attempt to educate the public about diseases like HIV/AIDS, and diabetes, many people will still ignore the risks factors associated with their decisions. This is one of the reasons why it is important that we are going more into depth about why and how one can stay healthy.

After our mid morning excursion, we went back to home base for a delicious lunch and some down time. For the next two hours, you then had a choice, to go on a hike to a waterfall or relax and rejuvenate at home base. If you chose to hike to the waterfall, you saw a beautiful lake and a small trickling waterfall with breathtaking landscape surrounding it. If you chose to stay at home base, you had the opportunity to shower and relax after a long week of being on your feet.

Next we all met together again around a fire to learn Afro-dance taught by Evans, a professional dance teacher. This dance combined styles of dance from all across Africa to create a fun, energetic environment that welcomed even the most uncoordinated “dancers”. After some practice, we were able to complete the entire dance with only a few slip ups. To refuel, we had dinner and dessert right after our dance lessons.

Once our food was digested, we were taught how to drum an African style bongo and create intricate and simple beats and rhythms. Our instructor informed us that different beats conveyed different meanings and served different purposes. For example one rhythm could be used for war and battle whereas another one could be used for wedding celebrations and other festivities.

This was an unforgettable experience and was the perfect ending to such an amazing day!

-by Rian and Avery

Friday July 19, 2019

Hello everyone! This is Katie Ledakis from Baltimore, Maryland and Zoé Moore from Shreveport, Louisiana! We were today’s leaders and therefore are taking over the blog! Our group has officially crossed the pivotal halfway mark. We have already learned so much and experienced new things, and can’t wait for next week!

This morning we all woke up nice and early to the yells of the roosters, goats, and dogs. After another yummy breakfast, we drove to the local waterfall where Matt (a community counselor), had a surprise activity for us. After our anticipation reached its peak, Matt revealed we would be competing in a community inspired Amazing Race course modeled after the television show. We were split into teams and we each had a community counselor for guidance. It started with throwing a pebble from the top of the waterfall and trying to hit a standing rock at the bottom. Then, we sprinted to the community field’s center, and inside there were three bowls filled with water and an apple in each of the bowls. The object was to eat the whole apple without touching the apple or using any hands!

After members of each team finished the challenge (shoutout to Zoé and Rian for getting soaking wet from dunking their faces in the bowls—but still succeeding), teams ran to the next challenge. Here they faced scoring three baskets at the home ground center. The team titled “the Skunks” was in the lead followed by “the Rockers” and our team, “the Goats”. As teams raced to the final challenge at home base, we cheered each other on with help of Sifiso. The last challenge was squeezing oranges that we picked and juiced from the trees on home base. The winners of the race were “the Skunks” and won major bragging rights for the day!

Around 10:00 am, we left to go see the mobile health clinic in a new location. We were warmly greeted by the same sister (nurse) as before and she allowed us to observe, record and reflect on the clinic. This location was bigger than the Geluksburg location and had several rooms. However, the clinics were very different compared to clinics in the States. Even though, they were extremely busy, the nurses did an amazing job regarding their circumstances. After asking our questions and observing the mobile clinic, with is ran entirely by nurses, we drove in town to the Bergville clinic.

The Bergville clinic was a great example for us to see the next step in rural South African health care. A nurse took us through the clinic briefly and explained each room while answering our questions. She explained the high risks of HIV, TB and other diseases to us. She also explained the treatment process for the diseases. After the short tour, we headed to a resort-like place where we ate lunch and relaxed. Most enjoyed pasta and/or pizza and finished with dessert. We also had an opportunity to buy crafts from local women that Charmaine drove to the resort. When we were all done buying jewelry from them, Charmaine thoughtfully drove them back to their homes!

Before going home for the rest of the day we stopped by a supermarket to get snacks and other various items. After a lot of free time filled with card games and phone calls, we ate a late dinner. Then we had a quality pow-wow in the common area and went to bed.

We had such a great day and can’t wait for the few days we have left!

— Katie & Zoe’

Saturday July 20, 2019

At 7:30 we enjoyed a delicious breakfast. We had some fresh baked bread, hard boiled eggs, a mix of traditional pap and fresh cocoa, and an assortment of meats. After breakfast we began our day by traveling to the Drakensberg Canopy Tour which is a zipline course. From hairnets to harnesses to helmets, we wore it all. We spent the next two hours flying through the trees on twelve different ziplines. The experience was not only a great way to appreciate nature but it allowed us to step outside of our comfort zones.

Next, we had sandwiches for lunch at the zipline course. It was made by local chefs and then we had an assortment of delicious desserts. Afterwards we headed to a shopping area where we had the opportunity to buy some beautiful artwork, jewelry, and souvenirs. We needed to fuel up before the Geluksburg talent show so we had a terrific dinner. The talent show consisted of singing, dancing and other fun acts. It was an opportunity to see the local community sing and dance with us. It was so much fun! We had a wonderful day!

-by Izzy and Laekhram

Monday July 22, 2019

Hi everyone! This is Isabella and Ashley bringing you the latest updates on our GLA adventure!
Today we had the opportunity to observe at a local public hospital. EMMAUS hospital is located about an hour away from our home base in Geluksburg. That brought up quite a few interesting revelations about the challenges of quickly getting to a hospital if needed.

Earlier in the week we learned about how public transportation is only available at certain times of the day, so if you were sick and needed help you could have to wait hours if not days to be seen by a doctor. The hospital actually looked quite similar to some in the U.S.; the main difference was the technology and amount of staff. We found that they were lacking a lot of the technology that we take for granted.

For example, they did not have an MRI machine, so if you needed a scan of your body or head you would have to travel to another hospital. After the insights we gained at the hospital visit, we went to a game reserve to try and look for native African animals. While there, we were able to see Giraffes, wildebeest, antelopes and zebras. Afterward, we had a discussion about the hospital and after dinner we had our mentor groups. So all in all an amazing day in South Africa!

-by Isabella and Ashley

Tuesday July 23, 2019

Hi!! I’m Annie Johnson from New Jersey and I’m Paige from California. It’s day 12 of the program and we did a big hike at the Drakensburg mountain range. Early in the morning, we piled in the vans and drove an hour to the hiking trail. There, we met our tour guide and he led us to the beginning of our hike. We saw many beautiful views of the mountains and a few animals on the way.

During our hike we took in the spectacular views of the the second tallest waterfall in the world but unfortunately it was dried up due to the winter season. Mid hike, we stopped at a nearby waterfall to take pictures and had a few snacks. After our great trek, we stopped at a local gift shop to pick up some souvenirs. We drove back to home base and had a wonderful lunch prepared for us. After we filled up on lunch, each mentor group gathered together to prepare for our big health day tomorrow! We made posters and brainstormed ideas regarding public health.

This was a great opportunity to learn and engage with the local community members. Tomorrow we will be at the local school (Greenpoint) and will be talking about health issues in order to find ways to improve the community. We had a jam packed day and are super excited to see what tomorrow entails. Thank you for reading about our day, we hope you enjoyed!

-by Annie and Paige

Photos from Day 11 and 12:

Wednesday July 24, 2019

Hey everyone! This is Julia Reid, from Grand Rapids, MI, and O’Neal Fox, from San Diego, CA.

Today was our last full day in Geluksburg! We started off with a workshop where we taught 6th and 7th graders about 4 key topics relating to health that are part of their national curriculum. We then related these topics to a “Sports to Life principle”, courtesy of our SportsTech team.

In these workshops, we used games, activities, and handmade posters to teach each of the topics. For example, our topic was “building your team” in relationship to having a “positive attitude”. It was great to end the trip with such a wonderful opportunity to give back to the community, especially to kids relatively close to our own ages. We feel like we’ve made a lasting impact on people of all ages in Geluksburg, ranging from the children of the ECD center all the way to their grandparents who visited our workshops.

After our service, we were visited by the “Snakeman” of the region. He taught us about venom, its effects, and how to treat it, as well as types of snakes in the region. He related his discussion back to our Medicine and Public Health program by talking about the prevelance of snake bites and the lack of antivenom in hospitals and clinics surrounding the area where Geluksburg is located.

To end our trip, we had another fabulous dinner by our chef, Sandile, and celebrated all that we’ve accomplished by partying together in the lodge with music and s’mores. We will miss the wonderful meals, discussions, and times we’ve shared with everyone here, and are sad to be returning to our home country in a few short hours. We have hopes to continue the work that SportsTech is doing for the community, and are determined to spread awareness in our own home towns. We also have hopes of staying in contact with all of the wonderful people we have met on this trip.

Overall, this trip has been eye-opening for all of us. On behalf of all of the students, we’d like to thank our parents for giving us the chance to change the world. We’d also like to thank all of our leaders and mentors for guiding us along the way. The perspective we’ve gained on public health in rural regions has changed our views on medicine forever.

We’re thankful for 24 new friends, and a thousand new memories. Thanks for reading along with our trip, we hope you’ve had as much fun as we have 🙂

~ Julia Reid and O’Neal Fox

Time Capsule Letter

“Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.”
-Dalai Lama

Hey Everyone,

I hope this letter finds you well. Time goes by in a flash! I know those 21 days in S-O-U-T-H A-F-R-I-C-A sure did—wait did I spell that right?!

I bet by now you are in the middle of your school year. In the midst of all the activities you all are involved in; I want you to take a moment to reflect on our time in South Africa. Between the fun of singing over and over to BackStreet Boys, painting Elizabeth’s house, helping to teach the children at Nyakallo, and sitting by the ocean listening to the waves -we all had periods of growth and self-reflection. I hope you continue to embrace that growth, continue to reflect on how you can contribute to society, and continue to combat the single stories you hear around you.

Remember that our time spent in Du Noon truly made an impact on the community and had an impact on us as well. The knowledge YOU gained on this trip I hope will serve you and the communities you find yourselves in for the rest of your life!

SO much was accomplished during those 21 days and I hope while you read this you find yourself smiling because there was a ton of fun that happened during our time there that made the experience all the better.

Three weeks may not seem like an extremely long time but it can make all the difference in the world. Remember our Group’s OMG – “One Meaningful Goal” – that we created at the end of the session over S’mores?

We pledged to reduce food waste in our lives as much as possible and to stay in contact in order to encourage each other to continue on a path of sustainability. We would love to know how that is going! Have there been any changes in your life, home, or even community?

Never forget the ripples effect your actions have on society. I hope you hold onto the quote that Gail gave us as we concluded our time in Du Noon and continue to ponder how you can be the change you want to see in the world. I am so very proud of you all and know you will go far!

-Jennifer Duncan (Mentor)

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Tuesday June 18 and Wednesday June 19, 2019

Hello family and friends! We’re writing all the way from beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. We’ve just begun our 21 day Social Change Program here, and want to share some of the highlights of our first days together.

I’m Mark, the International Director of this program. Below, you’ll find some photos of our group. We’ve all arrived safely, although some flights were delayed because of late departures from the US. But, everyone was able to get a full night of rest before waking up to a warm breakfast of homemade biscuits, cereal, and traditional Rooibos Tea. After breakfast, we came together to begin our Orientation Day schedule which included our first group photo! We also reviewed our House Rules, the Student Code of Conduct, some local cultural norms, and were introduced to one another through a fun ice-breaker name game!

Afterwards, we packed up our lunches and headed to Dunoon Township. There, we visited two schools, played games and sang songs with local youngsters, helped serve lunch, and had our own lunch, as well. The local children really love songs and dancing. After a few hours of fun, we headed back to home base for a rest, and then jumped back in the van to drive down to the beach for sunset.

At the beach, we had amazing views of Table Mountain. In fact, the neighborhood we’re in is actually called Table View! Lots of photos and laughs later, we arrived back to homebase again for dinner and our first Mentor Group. We spent time doing reflective journaling, and continued to get to know one another by sharing about our experiences of our first day in the Township.

It’ll be an early lights out tonight, as we’re all exhausted from the long trip here and all the adventures we had today. Beginning tomorrow, students will be sharing their experiences with you through this blog, so continue to follow along on our journey. We hope you can get a sense of how incredible these people and this place really are!!!

For now, it’s time for bed. But there’s more to come, so stick around:)

Thursday June 20, 2019

Two student perspectives:

Hello! I’m Owen, a student on this exciting South Africa program, and I volunteered be one of our first “Leaders of the Day”! This means that you’ll be able to read directly from my experiences and thoughts from our second full day in Cape Town.

Today, we continued our service at the township school, Nyakallo. I was tasked with beginning the repainting of the schools’ indoor walls, with my fellow students Maia, Will, and Dianne. Renovating such a helpful place truly made me feel like I was contributing to something greater and helping to improve the lives of the many adults and children who would continue to roam the building. Working hand in hand with the self-proclaimed “Man of the House”, I felt a sense of unity in achieving our shared goals.

Our second stop was the famous Table Mountain, a tall plateau that had been staring us down since we all arrived in Cape Town just a few days ago. While everyone conquered the mountain at varying speeds and intensities, overcoming such an arduous physical challenge was key to us maintaining an optimistic attitude. We bested the tallest and largest monument in all of Cape Town; there’s nothing we can’t do now!

We ended the day by hosting a mini-debate among ourselves about the HIV/AIDS crisis in South Africa. We were each given a different perspective to argue from, whether it be from the government’s perspective or that of a large pharmaceutical company. Our perceptions of human rights were challenged as we collaborated to come to a conclusion. We learned it’s important to consider everyone’s point of view, regardless if it is from a traditionally beloved or detested source.

Thanks for reading the blog post for today! There’s still so much for us to do over the course of our three week program, and we’re all super excited for what it will bring. Remember to look back at our blog to see what we are up to next!

Owen Culberson / Grade 12 / Pembroke, NH

Hi, my name is Dianne and I’m from Mclean, Virginia.This is my first time going on a GLA organized trip and coming to Africa. I volunteered to be one of the leaders of the day, so i will be sharing my experiences for today’s blog.

Today we went to a local school called Nyakallo. We met the owner who runs the school and takes care of the children. We decided to help her by repainting the walls to give it a newer and nicer look. After we finished painting for the day and looked at a comparison of the color before and after, we realized that it did look a lot cleaner, even if it was only a small difference. This showed me that we should find ways to help others that we can accomplish. We don’t have to do something extravagant or big to help others. we should listen to what they need and find ways that we can help with our own abilities.

After we were done painting and helping out with the kids for the day, we headed off to climb Table Mountain. Table Mountain is a popular mountain for tourists that has a flat top. I personally didn’t climb all the way up because I was climbing with someone that wasn’t feeling too well, and we thought that their health was way more important than an adventure. Instead, we decided to use the lifts to get up. When we were up there, we were met with an amazing view. Every view, angle, and side we saw up there was breathtaking. It was definitely worth it to visit Table Mountain.

It is adventures and experiences like these that made me want to come here with GLA. It gives me opportunities to help others, while also seeing the world and and having fun. It gives me new perspectives of the hardships and lifestyles of others that I wasn’t familiar with before. I’ve definitely started to understand the reality of life here, and the hardships of others.

Thank you for visiting our Blog today! We’re all super excited for the fun adventures to come and will keep sharing our experiences with you. I hope that you will also wanna hear about our adventures, and maybe join us one day!

Dianne Zhang-Li / Grade 9 / Mclean, Virginia

Friday June 21, 2019

Hi, our names are Maia and Benji and we are from around Maryland and Virginia. This is our first time on a GLA trip. We were the leaders of the day on Friday, which means that we are writing the blog post for June 20th. Today we volunteered at our service site, splitting our time between helping kids do crafts and helping to renovate the common room of the school by repainting it. We met the principal’s daughters who performed a dance/drum routine for us that they were practicing for a performance later.

Today, we were split into three groups. One group helped the 4 and 5 year olds make crafts, such as puppets and shakers. The second group continued to paint the common room of the house that makes up the school. The last group worked with the Neptunes, the two and three year olds. They played with them, fed them, and sang songs to them, such as Baby Shark.

One experience that was really great for me (Maia), was right before snack time with the 4 and 5 year olds. While the girls were in the bathroom, the boys were getting rowdy and trying to push each other over. In order to calm them down, we taught them the American alphabet song. Even though not all of them could sing along just yet, they all calmed down and did their best. We learned that instead of pronouncing Z the way we do in America, they call it “Zed” instead. The teacher even asked us to sing it with the girls, who picked it up even faster than the boys had.

Hello everybody, this is Benji. I’m just gonna share something about what I’m most excited for about this trip really quickly. Probably the thing I’m most excited for so far, at least, is the penguins and hiking at the Cape of Good Hope. I also heard there would be a super long bike ride to go along with that day, which is good, because I was also in need of some exercise from the multiple days of just eating and helping out the community. After we visit the cape and the penguins, I will probably be good on for my tourism needs, at least for a little while.

Thanks for reading today’s blog post! We’re excited about the rest of our program and will keep sharing each day and posting as often as we can, so stay tuned!

Saturday June 22, 2019

Hi, we are Rachel and Gentian, and we are from Maryland and Florida! This is our first time traveling to South Africa. We are the leaders of the day, which means we will be sharing this blog post! Here it goes!

Today we visited local malls and craft markets as well as participating in a video scavenger hunt in the middle of the largest mall in Cape Town! Despite having a rainy day, we bonded as a group and were able to experience a part of Cape Town we otherwise would not have seen.

A moment we’ll never forget was riding in the ferris wheel that overlooked one of Cape Town’s harbors. The conversations I had within that ferris wheel ride changed my perspective on life, with everything from different cultures to the impact of our service being discussed.

This program day challenged us to reach out of our comfort zone and talk to strangers, especially during the video scavenger hunt, as well as walking through the markets. These lessons helped us to broaden our horizons and learn valuable communication skills in order to develop a deeper understanding about the cultures of the people we talked to.

Hopefully when we get home, we will implement our newfound communication skills in order to learn more about the people in our community.

Thank you for reading our blog post! We are so excited about the rest of our program and we will keep sharing each day and posting as often as we can, so stay tuned!

Sunday June 23, 2019

Hello, Lindsey and Jenna here! Lindsey is from North Carolina and Jenna is from Ohio, but they first met in South Africa on this trip. This is our story of our sixth day on this amazing trip. Today we started the day off very early with breakfast being at 7am rather than our normal 8am start. We were not prepared for what this wild day would have in store for us.

The bike tour bus came to get the group from homebase at 8am and we set off learning about the history of Cape Town as we drove. Our first stop was at a dock where we boarded a boat to go see seals. It was incredibly exciting to see the amount of seals swimming in the water and we even got to see a few babies. The scene from the boat made for some great photographs and was quite breathtaking.

Once we returned from the boat we set off to go see African penguins on the shore. We were slightly saddened by the amount there, but it was still amazing to see the few there waddling around and we both saw one go for a little swim. From there we set off on our 20 km bike ride on a road sandwiched in between the Atlantic coast and the beautiful mountain range that surrounds Cape Town. Part way through our bike ride we were surprised to see baboon warning signs. We even started making jokes about actually seeing one. We never expected to actually encounter one (This is extreme foreshadowing!).

As we were biking, 3 crossed the road directly in front of us and we quickly sped by them to avoid any unwanted encounters. As we neared the end of the biking portion of the day, 3 got to experience an extended ride, as they missed the turn. They were able to see an ostrich farm that no one else got to see. Luckily, they were redirected by Gail (the local director), who was following the group from the back to ensure nobody got lost or left behind. We all enjoyed a nice picnic lunch at a small museum with real whale bones in the courtyard!

We then went to The Cape of Good Hope where we got to watch the waves from a lighthouse and cliffside. We hiked for another 45 minutes where we had two encounters with baboons. One baboon took an interest in Owen’s backpack but luckily was scared off by Mark. The second encounter unfortunately was not as lucky, as the baboon took Jennifer’s sweater that she was unable to fight off. After our close encounters we got to sit on the tip of The Cape of Good Hope for a view unlike any we’ve seen before.

After our long day of biking 20 kilometers, hiking, and “fighting” off baboons, we were all exhausted. Most of us slept in the car and our 10pm lights out time was not as difficult as usual.

Thank you for reading our blog post, and see ya in the next one 🙂 That’s all folks!

Sunday June 30, 2019

Hello families! Here is what we’ve been up to the last few days!

DAY 7 — Will & Ali

Hi, my name is Ali and I’m from Philadelphia. This is my first time on a GLA program and traveling internationally on my own. My name is Will from Minneapolis, and this is my first time traveling by myself outside of the U.S.

We’re leaders of the day, so we’ll be sharing today’s blog post. Today we started out our day by doing service in Dunoon with the kids at Nyakallo. We continued our project of painting the inside of the house and teaching the kids numbers, and the letters of the alphabet. We made up a song to help the kids learn about the letter “c”, which hopefully was helpful. Will and I spent time in the Neptune room, with kids from the ages of 2-3.

After our service, we went into downtown Cape Town to learn about the history of the city. First, our amazing local director Gail took us on a tour through the heart of downtown to show us the buildings which were used during slavery. After learning about the enslavement of black Africans in Cape Town, we walked to a food bizarre where we enjoyed a traditional eastern meal of biryani and pita.

After stuffing ourselves, we went to the District 6 Museum to learn about the tragic eviction of the residents of District 6 in the beginning of apartheid. We were fortunate enough to receive a museum tour from a man named Noor, who lived in District 6 when the government designated it as a whites only neighborhood. To end our day, we went to a small local market to buy handmade crafts for our family and friends. Today, learning about the tragedy of District 6 and the horrors of slavery, we were able to expand our understanding of the true history of Cape Town and South Africa as a whole.

Thanks for reading today’s blog post! We’re excited to update you in the future with all the fun things we have planned.

DAY 8 — Rachel

Hey it’s Rachel and today i was leader of the day, so i have the opportunity to share a blog post about the day with you all! We began the day with service at Nyakallo where some of us taught the number 3, while others continued to paint the interior of the house. I was in the classroom and one of the little girls i was working with was having trouble and kept asking for help. We worked together and before long she had figured it out and was writing her 3’s like a pro all by herself. The impact may seem small, but the pride i felt was immense.

I’m no teacher, but i think the one-on-one assistance we can provide in contrast to their usual 30 students to a teacher ratio can be very beneficial to the kids. Being a part, no matter how small or short lived, can make a difference. I’ve decided i can implement this same concept when i get home and wherever i go in life- taking a little bit of necessary time to share my knowledge and help others who may struggle with certain things when i’m able to. Having the opportunity to learn, work, and play alongside these kids is definitely the highlight of this trip for me and a life changing experience.

After service we had planned on a trip to Robben Island, but we had a change of plans due to weather (lots of wind and potential of rain) and instead, headed back to home base for some insightful discussion based leadership activities. In the evening we watched “A Long Walk to Freedom”, the movie about Nelson Mandela’s life and the hardships and triumphs he lived through and fought for. Overall it was another eye-opening day and i am so excited to see what the next 2 weeks hold. Make sure to check back for more blog posts to keep up with our exciting adventure!

Rachel Linn/12th Grade/Maryland

DAY 10 — Jenna

Hey y’all it’s Jenna again! Today I was chosen as the Leader of the Day all by my lonesome. But shoutout to Lindsay and Owen, they’re always being there to tackle the dishes with great a cappella jam sessions!

We started the day off with service at Nyakallo and the iconic greeting of “TEACHER! TEACHER! TEACHER!” I personally have the most fun spending my time in the “Neptune” room with the two to five year olds. I have a greater connection with them because I have a younger sister close to their age. My favorite moments in this classroom are our dance parties. All the kids are full of pure joy and always dance like no one is watching. It’s extremely hard not to join in with them. One of my other favorite moments was when I began teaching some of the kids how to tie their shoes. We have the knot down but have the bunny ears to work on. I have a feeling we’ll get it 🙂

After service, we went to Bo Kaap, a historical site of the Cape-Malay people. There, we cooked a traditional Cape Malay curry, flatbread, and samosas. It was absolutely DELICIOUS and our tummies were very happy. Some of us even got the recipe to make it at home, so parents remember this. Dinner could be made by us 😉 After our lunch, we went on a tour of the area. The historical sites were beautiful. My personal favorite part was learning out the community’s primary religion of Islam.

At the end of the day, we came back to Homebase, ate dinner, and did mentor groups. We talked about one thing we wanted to change in the world. If you’re reading this, what would your response be? What are small steps you can take to get closer to achieving it?

Jenna Gilbreath/ Freshie in Uni/ Ohio

DAY 11 — Owen

Hello again! I’m Owen, and was chosen to be today’s Leader of the Day. That means you’ll be listening to my unique perspective as we all went about the volunteer and tourist aspects of this awesome South Africa program.

Because it was a weekday, we resumed our regular service at Nyakallo, which I’m sure you’ve all heard about by now. We had an especially long day ahead of us due to some early departures during the same week. Today, I was working again with the older kids — around four to nine years old — teaching them the alphabet, the days of the week (though they have significant trouble realizing not every day is Friday), and their colors and shapes. Part of my job today was also instructing craft time, where I helped my usual group of kids braid and (attempt to) crochet friendship bracelets and necklaces.

Through trial and error, I think I’ve really found my niche in this program. I’m a sub-par painter and borderline awful with younger children, but I’m absolutely entranced by working with the kids I have for the past week. I’ve learned many of their names, their quirks, and their senses of humor, all of which have left an unbelievable impression on myself that I’m sure to carry back to America. It’s amazing, honestly, the fact that while I’m absolutely a newcomer to Nyakallo, I feel welcomed instantly as a partner and a teacher.

The rest of our day was rather relaxed. We had a few blocks of free time we used to take some long deserved naps, visit the local mall for snacks, and socialize with each other.

One of the focal points, at least for me throughout the day, was our Leadership Activity and Mentor Group session, where we were tasked with thinking about both our past and our future, and where our ambitions would take us in the years to come. From these activities, I really got a grasp of what, specifically, I was looking for in the future, and what sort of positive change this GLA program would help me implement for the world around me.

Well, that does it for my newest blog post! We’ve just reached the halfway point of this incredible opportunity, but there’s still so much for us to do. I look forward to whatever we do next, as well as updating you about it too!

Owen Culberson / Grade 12 / New Hampshire

DAY 12 — Lindsey

Hello! I am the Leader of the Day today. We had breakfast at 7:30. Today was our safari day so we left around 8:30 for a long 2 hour drive. We snuggled up with some blankets and just hung out. Jenna and I watched a movie on the way there while also looking at the amazing views out of the window. We arrived and were given a buffet style lunch where there was a lot of different options to choose from including dessert. We then left on our safari for a chilly ride in an open-aired jeep. It was so amazing just looking around before we even saw any animals any direction you looked you could see beautiful mountains.

We started off the adventure laughing at Mark our director who said that the rock in the distance was a hippo and then we realized it actually was. They were all huddled up and looked like a huge rock. We saw many animals along the way, however as a group we had two favorite encounters. The lions which we got very close to which made some of us excited and uneasy at the same time because we were about 7 feet from this huge male lion. The second was my personal favorite animal: the elephant. We saw two elephants in the distance and drove towards them. One of them was just minding its own business but one started charging at the vehicle from a few hundred yards away, and even made the driver nervous that he flew into reverse and zoomed off.

That experience made us all excited but also terrified because this huge animal just started charging at us. I was so sad that I hadn’t even been able to take a picture before we had to leave the situation. Luckily, we were able to get a different perspective of them further away and were able to take lots of great pictures. We then headed out of the game reserve and back to the van to head home. We learned that they do not bring any new animals into it they just fenced around the animals that are already there. This protects them from poaching (especially the endangered rhinos) and any interactions with the civilization that we have all built around the animals’ home.

When we got back to homebase we relaxed for about 30 minutes before we had vegetarian and non-vegetarian hamburgers for dinner along with some salad. We then had mentor group where we did an activity to choose our top 20 values and then narrow it down to only two that are values that we truly live by. Today we all learned a lot and that activity really highlighted how we have been digging deep to find our true self and determining what we can do to demonstrate these values on the remainder of the trip and back home as well.

I have seen a side of myself that I didn’t know I had until this trip. I am so excited for the remainder of the trip and to see how much more I can learn as the program continues. I hope you can see how much of an impact this experience and program can have on us participants. I hope you enjoyed hearing about our experience today and are looking forward to our adventures to come!

Lindsey Toro/ Grade 11/ North Carolina

DAY 15

Hey guys! It’s Dianne and welcome back to the blog. Today was a very special day for us because it was our second to last day of service, as well as Rachel’s birthday.

Today, we went to Nyakallo, the school we are working with, and just made sure that everything was finished. We finished all the painting and touching up we needed to do. As for the kids, we wrapped up and did a review of all the things we have taught them so far.

It started to kick in that our service was ending. It made us think of all the fun times we had with the kids and the teachers. During the time we were there, we made a special connection with them. We were a little sad to think that we might not see them again, but were happy that we could help them. I think we would all agree that we will never forget our experiences and the people we met.

It was also on this day that Rachel turned 17! As soon as we woke up, we started to wish her happy birthday and give her presents. Her parents and family gave her an envelope for her to open on the day of her birthday as well. From the time we woke to the time we slept, we were in a great mood. After service we had some leadership activities and got to relax. It was a really fun and layed back day.

Thanks for visiting the blog again! I hope you come back to read about our experiences again!

DAY 16

Maia here! Today was day 16, our last day of service and our last day in Cape Town before we go on our Garden Route road trip!

Our day started off with a late sleep in, which was a major treat for most of us! Then, we went into Du Noon to volunteer with Nyakallo for the last time. Since this was our last day, we threw a party for the kids! We had face painting, bubbles, and sweets. We sang our favorite songs with the kids – the hokey pokey, if you’re happy and you know it, and baby shark. We also finished our last project, decorating the billboard. We spent the previous night writing and painting “Welcome to Nyakallo.” This morning, we had all the kids make handprints on a poster and we hung it up with our sign. Elizabeth, the woman who runs the school, loved it and insisted on taking a picture of it with Benji, her favorite of our GLA group. After we were done with service, we went to say goodbye to our kids. We were all crying on the van ride back to the hostel.

That night, we went out for a 14 course dinner. That might sound like a lot but Will swears he was still hungry afterwards. At this dinner, we also had the opportunity to participate in a drumming session (or try to participate in a drumming session). Overall, today was the perfect culmination of our Cape Town experience and the entire group is super excited for our garden route excursion!

DAY 17 – July 4

Hi, it’s Ali back again for today’s blog post. Happy birthday America!

Today we began our road trip on the Garden Route- the last leg of our South Africa trip. We started our day by leaving at 7, with our tour guide, Ferne. We were driving for most of the day, but made some really great stops. We enjoyed some of the world’s best milkshakes and beautiful scenery passing through the Cape Mountain Belt. We had lunch by a lake in the middle of the mountain range. The weather was so nice compared with the wet and cold in Cape Town. We also stopped at an ostrich farm, which I’ve got to say are the strangest looking animals! We learned that their brains are as big as their eyes and they have the second strongest leather (or skin) in the world.

Our last stop of the day was a tour of the Cango Caves, where we learned the history of the caves. Tonight we stayed at Backpacker’s Paradise and had a with delicious meal!

That’s all for today, see you guys again tomorrow!

DAY 18 – July 5

Hello everybody, its Benji again, and this will be my last time writing the blog for the remainder of this GLA trip.

Today we got up early in the morning, ate some good breakfast, got in the van for another long ride, ok well, not that long, only about 1 hour which has become standard for our car trips so far. Finally we arrived at our destination which was a clubhouse on the coast, right next to the ocean where they offer a tour of the “Point of origin of Humankind”.

The tour was about the origin of man, specifically the first modern humans. It was, according to scientists, the place they found the oldest composite tools in all of Africa, and over the entire world, so far. We got to walk down the cliff to a series of caves, which was where the ancient humans lived. There was an interesting amount of big rocks in the water, which scientists say were part of the cave at some point in the past, which broke off the cliff due to unconfirmed reasons, but they have a theory that it was due to a massive inflow of water that broke the cave down and collapsed it.

We also learned that at two different points in time, during the middle and late stone age, the ocean was super low, letting the land be very, very high, and at one point the ocean was very high. Another thing we learned was how the stone tools were made, with smooth cobble formed in streams and rivers. They used the smooth stones first to form the edges of the rock, by smashing it on a bigger rock, and when the edges are formed, they break it off of the bigger rock, forming a tool that would look like an arrow head.

Tune in for tomorrow’s last, and final blog post of this trip, written by Rachel Linn, sponsored by Rachel Linn. Thanks for reading.

DAY 19 – July 6

Hello everyone! It’s Rachel and I’m honored to have the opportunity to share with you the very last blog post of our 2019 South African GLA trip. Today was our final day on the Garden Route before we begin our trek back to Cape Town for our farewells and departure for home. As our final hoo-rah we drove to Storms River for lunch, followed by an exciting kayak tour.

Although many of us were very inexperienced kayakers, we all had a lot of fun and made it back alive and safe. Soaked, but alive and safe. After hiking back to our starting spot, we were grateful to be able to change out of our wet clothes and head to our next hostel. We enjoyed a wonderful home-cooked meal, and had a reflective mentor group activity-our final one of the trip. After our long, active, and exciting day, we will all certainly sleep very well tonight.

Something I will take from both today’s kayak experience as well as from this GLA trip overall, is that you will never know the possibilities of unfamiliar people, places, and things until you dare to take the step out of your comfort zone. Personally, kayaking through a freezing river in a wet-suit did not initially sound like the easiest or most appealing activity.

However, I went beyond my boundaries and, although it did prove to be challenging, it was also an incredible thrill that I’ll never forget. The same can be said about this entire trip- each day I stepped out of my comfort zone in a different way and was rewarded with one of the most incredible, eye-opening experiences of my life for which I am so so grateful for.

Thank you for reading this final blog post, and all the ones before. It has been an amazing trip, and we are so glad we’ve been able to share it with you all.

Time Capsule Letter

Hola chic@s!

The whole team here at Spanish Service Adventure – Luismom, Sophie, Estefany, Lauren, and Javier – misses you already. You were a curious, intelligent, fun loving and generally fabulous group. We wanted to reach out now that you’re back to your daily lives in the U.S. and let you know that you’re still on our minds and to remind you of all the adventures we shared together this summer!

First of all, we want to say that we’re very proud of you for the work you put in at Pampallacta. Our service project was hard! As you all agreed upon, “adobe be heavy.” That being said, you all worked incredibly diligently, and special shoutouts to those willing to wheelbarrow the adobe, arguably the most tiring task of all.

Not only did you put in the physical effort during service hours, but you also connected emotionally to the project. Your overall dedication to Pampallacta was evidenced in the official ceremony, where all of you participated and some of you shared beautiful words of appreciation and thanks alongside the maestros.

We are equally proud of your willingness and dedication to learning Spanish. No matter your level coming in, you all improved, even if it meant just learning a couple new phrases that you’ll always remember, and some of which we’d never heard of (“qué piña!”). For those of you who found your passion in learning a second language, we sincerely hope you keep it up. Who knows, maybe you’ll replace us as mentors one day!

Beyond Spanish learning and service, there are experiences we shared during our 21 days together that none of the GLA brochures could have prepared us for. They are the magical moments that come simply from spending lots of quality time with a special group of people. Although we can think of endless such moments, here are some of our favorites:

– Javier leading us in a beautiful meditation amidst the Pisac ruins
– Half the group’s hilarious soccer game above the cemetery, with our four unstoppable, and tiny, porteros and the animated Chilean family (“chi chi chi, le le le, viva Chile!”)
– The other half of the group’s wildly successful time playing games and practicing their Spanish with local kids in the Jardín Botánico
– SOUP EVERY DAY
– Everyone thinking we were getting hamburgers because of the ketchup and mustard on the table and instead getting…just french fries. Oh well, they were delicious!
– Cheering Vishnu on as he prepared to jump of the rock on rafting day (and cheers to all of you who took the plunge)
– Thinking we were going to have to offer someone’s blood (by way of a blunt, wooden skewer) to make the cacao drinks at the chocolate museum
– Hearing our destinies and strengths read by the shaman on our last day
– Being suprised and wowed by everyone’s talent at our sing-along the last night (Theo, where’d you come from??)
– Our extremely heartwarming appreciation circle, and the feelings that come with recognizing others and being recognized ourselves

Whether we mentioned you by name in this letter or not, we hope you know that you each made a lasting, positive impression on all of us. You showed heart and soul in your general attitudes and your friendships with one another, embraced the challenges of the program with humor and poise, and (thank you!!!!) behaved yourselves all the while. We’re excited for what each one of your future’s brings, and hope all of the shaman’s predictions ring true.

All the best from your exhausted but extremely pleased GLA team.

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Tuesday June 18, 2019

Hola Dear Parents!

We’ve finally started our Peru Spanish Adventure! Most of our students have arrived and are at our Home Base in Pisac. Unfortunately Charlotte, Madeline R, and Xander will join us tomorrow morning as their flights got delayed.

Even though the team was tired after a long travel, we all enjoyed a delicious lunch / dinner together. We also had some time to settle down, go over our Home Base safety rules, and get to know each other.

We’re excited for our Spanish placement test tomorrow morning and to meet our 3 friends who are currently flying. We also have our fingers crossed for Sydney C, Vishnu, Viktoria, and Anna’s bags to arrive tomorrow.

Due to late arrivals we were unable to get a photo with the entire group but we promise we’ll do that tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more news.

Sophie, Estefany, Lauren, Javier, and Luismi (el equipo)

Wednesday June 19, 2019

Hello again!

We started our day meeting our Spanish teachers Susana and Miriam. Students took a Spanish placement test to figure out which of 3 levels they’ll be in. We then did a Yincana (scavenger hunt) that helped us get to know Pisac better and interact with locals. Around noon Charlotte and Xander joined us after their long flights here; we all welcomed them with a delicious lunch. Anna and Sydney C’s bags also arrived, which was great!

In the afternoon we went to Amistad Sagrada and met Sanan, who told us all about our community project up in Pampallacta. We then completed more elemnts of our Orientation back in the homebase, where we created an Acuerdo Comunitario (community agreement), went over safety guidelines, culture awareness, and responsible photography and social media.

At dinner time Madeleine R joined us after her long journey here, and afterwards we played a fun game called Get to Know Your Mentors – things got competitive!

Everyone’s excited for our first Spanish class and service session up in Pampallacta tomorrow.

Hasta mañana,

Luismi

Thursday June 20, 2019

We were split into three groups for our Spanish classes based on the level we placed into the previous day. We then went to our respective classes, which lasted two hours. Our class reviewed the usage of articles in the Spanish language. After receiving our tarea (homework) we went to a community very high in the mountains called Pampallacta to flatten a hill that will be built upon later and drove back. Now, we are in a café and eating ice cream and drinking coffee.

-by Anna and Vishnu

Friday June 21, 2019

Today we had a delicious Peruvian breakfast and then set straight out to spanish class! On the way to spanish class, our middle group (which the writers are in) saw a ceremony in the market right by home base! The ceremony consisted of a flag being raised and the national anthem. This was for the anniversary of the town we are staying in! Then we ate a quick lunch so that we could head off to our service! After service we went to a special dinner at a local pizza restaurant! After that it’s relaxation time and then lights out!

-by Molly and Maddy

Saturday June 22, 2019

Hola!

Today was the start of our first weekend in Pisac. Since we are leaving Pisac for our next two weekends, we are staying and doing day trips around the town this weekend. Some students started off the day with a run bright and early with our mentor Sofia. We also had a slightly earlier breakfast so that we could have plenty of time to go on our hike down through the Pisac ruins. Our local director Javier led us through the ruins today and gave us great history lessons about what we were seeing (for example, holes in some of the mountains house the bones of the deceased). Our trek started uphill and winded back down, going through stairs, tunnels, terracing, and lots of rocks. We walked all the way back down to our lovely town of Pisac with about 4 miles under our belt.

We had lunch at the Blue Llama, a local restaurant, and got our much needed break. After lunch, we headed back to home base. Our afternoon activity was a debate about women’s and civil rights in Peru. Each student was part of one group: the Catholic Church, an American NGO, local artisan women, or the Macho machismo group. We had a long conversation about the implementation of an international women’s support group and how each of our perspectives would feel about that. After our enlightening debate, we had some free time until dinner. Card games were played, as well as the guitar (shout-out to Dean), and we enjoyed spending more time with our new friends. We are currently having some lovely spaghetti for dinner and will either play Mafia or watch movie afterwards. Overall, a very exhausting day so we should all sleep well tonight.

Hasta luego,

Cordelia and Dean

Sunday June 23, 2019

Buenos días!

Five early risers crawled out of bed early this morning to participate in a yoga session lead by our mentor Sophia. On another note, after breakfast, we all gathered in the dining room to discuss the controversy surrounding international voluntourism programs.

We observed a traditional mass at the local Catholic church, all said in the native Pisac language of Quechua. Then, we were free to browse the nearby market for souvenirs. I’m sure our friends and family will be delighted to receive everything from ponchos and alpaca socks, to turquoise rings and woven blankets when we come back home.

As lunch approached, we tied our aprons and put on our hair nets as we prepared to make the midday meal ourselves. Tables floured and dough rolled out, we stuffed our empanadas to the brim with ham, cheese, and tomatoes. ¡Que rico!

Sunset came and we found ourselves at a little animal sanctuary nestled in the mountains, where we fed alpacas and llamas handfuls of grass in exchange for fluffings and fun selfies.

Maria y Watt

Monday June 24, 2019

!Hola y buenos días¡ Today started off as a lazy day. People trickled into breakfast around 8:00 and we enjoyed a refreshing meal of orange juice, bread with butter and jam, and a fried egg. Sofie, one of our mentors, graced us with her angelic voice and strumming of the guitar as we all got ready for the next activity. Later on, we all went to our respective Spanish classes.

Lunch was divine. We enjoyed a warm soup and a hearty meal of white rice and lentils. We were also provided chicken, trout, more vegetables, and fried eggs. Half of the kids headed out to Pampallacta to continue working on the community center. The rest stayed in Pisac. We were supposed to teach the local kids some English and Art, however today was a special day. Today was the Inti Reina day, a day that is dedicated to expressing ones gratitude to the Sun god. Many kids had traveled to Cusco for the day, so we went on an adventure. We decided to go play soccer, or fútbol, at a local field, however no one was there.

Instead, we went to a nearby store and bought a soccer ball. We walked to our previous stargazing location and began an intense game of soccer. Soon, we were joined by Martín, a foreigner from Chile, and four local kids: Daisy, Andrés, Bacilio, and Raul. They were all a force to be reckoned with. Daisy, Andrés, Martín, and Raul were young, around the ages of 3-6, but they came up with a strategy of standing in a line in front of the goal. Together, they blocked four goals, and also gave us a chance to practice our Spanish. Bacilio was older, around our age, and he immediately and effortlessly became part of our group.

Afterwards, we came back to home base and met up with the other group, who had progressed greatly in Pampallacta. We all enjoyed a dinner of cream of mushroom soup and pasta with avocados, broccoli, and a spicy cream sauce. Afterwards, we played a game of “Where I’m From,” where we all unknowingly answered questions and created poems that managed to express who we feel we are, Overall, it was a wonderful day, and even though we experienced twists and turns, we all enjoyed today.

By Sam and Xander

Tuesday June 25, 2019

Buenas noches! We are currently waiting for our always delicious dinner. We started our day this morning with breakfast and then a music and ceramics workshop. We made a variety of different pots and sculptures using the clay and tools provided by the instructors. We also learned about traditional Afro-Peruvian drumming patterns and dancing.

As usual, we then had an amazing lunch and piled on to the buses to Pampallacta, the site of our service work. Our progress has shown as we have moved on to the next step of our project; hauling 50 lb adobe blocks up to the soon to be Cultural Center. Upon coming home from a hard day of service, we found that the reason for the common power outages was the result of more than two people showering at one time. Soon we will be heading off to a cafe to eat some Peruvian desserts and take advantage of the free wifi. Bye, or adios!

Madeleine R and Viktoria

Wednesday June 26, 2019

We began the day promptly at 8:15 with a breakfast of bread and hard boiled eggs. After a few minutes of free time, we went to our fourth spanish class that consisted of grammar and a short story. In the time between class and lunch, we paid a visit to the local “Mercado Sofi” and bought an unhealthy amount of snacks at a great value. !Fue una ganga!

Our lunch consisted of a soup and then a rice and pea stew with a side of chicken. Soon after we embarked on bus ride to Pampoallacta. Once at our work site, we started digging the two foot deep foundations according to the lines drawn by the community workers—nothing like some manual labor for the soul. After yesterday’s difficult task of moving the adobe bricks, everyone was tired and sore, but we still made good progress. By the end, everyone was covered in dirt and ready for dinner back at the home base.

Hopefully tomorrow we’ll finish digging the foundations. We left the site right as the sun was at the top of the mountains, making for a gorgeous drive back. We ended the day with dinner, an activity exploring our most important values, and, later in the night, a viewing of Pan’s Labyrinth.

-by Nino and Charlotte

Thursday June 27, 2019

¡Hola!

Today, June 27th, students started the day with our usual breakfast. Then, we headed to our Spanish classes for two hours. After classes, we headed to lunch before headed to Pampallacta for service.

At Pampallacta, we dug out two separate trenches in order to prepare for building in the following days. Today, we had GLA photographer Matt photographing students working at Pampallacta. We worked for a solid, hard about three hours before headed back to home base for the night.

Instead of the usual dinner at home base, we took a small trip to Tierra Bistro to celebrate student Lucas Kraatz’s birthday. After a fun, lively night with friends, we headed back to home base to get well rested for the day ahead.

-by Abe and Sydney T.

Friday June 28, 2019

¡Hola from Pisac!

We started our morning with some delicious fruit, coffee, and eggs before heading off to our final Spanish classes of the week.

In the afternoon, half the group returned to Pampallacta to continue digging and carrying adobe bricks. They slaved away through the cold, unrelenting rain, and although they were shivering and wet, they continued working with as much strength and energy as ever. As their time at Pampallacta came to an end, a double rainbow appeared, and many have claimed that they saw the face of God. (The rain was light, the cold was mild, and in all seriousness, we had a great time).

The other half of our group helped with after school activities at Amistad Sagrada. They went to a botanical garden with the children where everyone enjoyed a game of tag. Then, they had an art class and taught some English to the kids.

Tonight, mentor groups will be presenting movie trailers which they have translated into Spanish. We’re expecting to see Star Wars: A New Hope, Toy Story 4, and Sonic the Hedgehog en español.

Today was a fun and productive day, and we are looking forward to whitewater rafting and hiking Rainbow Mountain on our weekend excursion!

¡Adiós!

-Sydney C. and Rosie

Saturday June 29 and Sunday June 30, 2019

We kicked off our second weekend with a bus ride to an eco lodge in Cusipata. After checking into our rooms, we hopped in rafts to traverse the Urubamba River, crossing class 3 rapids. Halfway through, we took a quick pit stop to do some quick cliff jumping. Much to our sorrow, we did not achieve 1st place in the rafting race.

After white water rafting we heated ourselves up in the sauna to quell the freezing temperatures that were exerted on our bodies by the water. Following the sauna, we had the opportunity to zip-line across the river. Before sitting down for dinner, we circled around a bonfire to perform skits in Spanish. In anticipation for the coming morning, we had lights out around 8:30.

At a late 4:00 AM, breakfast included an array of guacamole, strawberry yogurt, and hard boiled eggs. With a quick turn around, the group boarded the bus to begin our trek toward the summit of rainbow mountain, otherwise referred to as vincucuna. The exodus to the apex was no walk in the park, including rocky pathways and taxing uphills, eventually concluding with a peak of 17,000 feet. We then returned back to the lodge for a lunch of trout, and boarded the bus to return to Pisac.

-by Theo and Victor

Monday July 1, 2019

Today we woke up at 8 AM to enjoy a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bread, and fruit. After breakfast, we had time to prepare for Spanish class. Lucas and I had a different Spanish teacher today and we had a super inquisitive and fun Spanish class. Something that our Spanish class thought was hilarious was the tongue-twisting words in Spanish that mean scrambled eggs, “ Huevos Revueltos.”

After spanish class we had a delicious lunch and then had two groups of eleven people split. One group went to Pampallacta, which is where our service project is located, and the other group went and taught local children.

After everyone was back at homebase, we settled down for dinner. After dinner, we all did an extremely fun activity called “let’s understand each other.” In this activity, we split into our mentor groups and decided on a specific cultural personality to portray. Lucas and I were in the same group, and our group decided to put on a display of aggression and passiveness, just to emphasize how they might look in other cultures. Overall, today was a great way to start July and Lucas and I enjoyed all of our activities very much.

-by Felix R and Lucas Kraatz

Wednesday July 3, 2019

Today we started with breakfast at 8:15 as usual. After a few cups of coffee we were all a little more ready for spanish class at 9:30. Part way through Spanish we went to the Chocolate Museum to pick up the chocolate from the workshop the day before. After meandering back through the streets, we finished class and then went back to the market. Soon, we returned to home base for a lunch of noodle soup and rice with quinoa and peas. At one, we left for Pampallacta and continued to move and stack adobe.

Anna and I worked together to make the adobe bricks as well by moving the mix of mud and grass into the mold. The work was muddy and fun and acts as a natural exfoliate for your hands and feet! Back at home base, we ate soup and pasta for dinner. Shortly after dinner we went back to a cafe called Herba Buena where we ordered different pastries and desserts. Molly, Anna, Lucas, Victor and I finished the night with an intense game of Egyptian Rat Slap (which I won).

-Charlotte & Molly

Thursday July 4, 2019

Bonjour!… wait, wrong language. Hola!

Today marks our last day of service work in Pompallacta (so sad!). Y, nuestros clase de español fínal. Four people, woke up fairly sick with stomach problems on top of other things. It’s the 4th of July, (but there seems to be a lack of fireworks here in Peru for some reason?) For dinner we were served up some hip’ity hop’in french fries with some United States condiments! (Yuck mayo) Did you know that Peru’s national day of independence is on July 28th? We celebrated in a GLA fashion by lifting more adobe brinks and rocks!
Tomorrow we will have breakfast at 8:00am and set off fin de semana with a train ride to somewhere, I’m honestly not sure where, hopefully Machu Pichu!

-Dean 🙂

Friday July 5, 2019

We awoke to the pitter patter of rain dripping onto the courtyard pavement. Our breakfast was coated in fog and wind. Bellies full, we piled into the vans. Everyone popped in their earbuds as we trekked through the picturesque Sacred Valley. Mothers dressed in embroidered skirts carrying children on their backs, cows grazing on the land, and mom and pop shops zoomed past us. Around noon, we pulled up to a tiny secluded cottage in the countryside. There, we were given a tour around this artist’s nook and spilt up into groups for various painting, animation, and pottery activities.

Once again, we hit the road for Ollantaytambo. We were treated too a nice lunch and toured ancient ruins and gardens. Tired, we walked to a nearby cafe to enjoy the free WiFi and pastries. Afterwards, we took a short drive to the train station where we picked up the PeruRail express bound for Machu Picchu. We pulled up to our hotel late in the night, exhausted and satisfied.

by Maria, Victor and Theo

Saturday July 6, 2019

¡Buenos Días!

Today was our final excursion with our GLA family: Machu Picchu! This morning we woke up early (even those of us who were slightly ill) to take a bus up the mountain to Machu Picchu, arriving around 8:45. Until around noon, we spent our time walking through the site looking at ancient temples such as those of Pachamama (mother earth) and the Sun. We also meditated on one of the terraces and a few people (your writers included) enjoyed a nice rest.

After Machu Picchu, we took the bus back down the mountain and went to lunch at an Italian restaurant in the town of Aguas Calientes. We devoured many many pizzas while we were there. Afterwards, we did some light shopping in the local market and many people bought ice cream! We then returned on the Machu Picchu train and got to watch the sun set during our journey. Upon returning to home base, we were welcomed by a candlelit dinner because the power had gone out. Luckily enough, it came back on near the end of our meal. We’re sad to see our time in Peru ending, but we’re looking forward to taking all we have learned and many memories home!

¡Ciao!
– Rosie and Cordelia

Sunday July 7, 2019

We started our last day in Pisac with a traditional shaman ceremony to send us off. We each made an offering that represented our path and prayed for the health of family and friends.

Afterwards, we did some last minute shopping in the Pisac market. In the afternoon we did some packing and then some activities. We reflected on what we learned here and how we will take it back to the United States. Additionally, we each made a personal goal that we’d like to achieve.

Before we left for dinner, we did an activity where we anonymously appreciated one another. Nino described it as “warm and fuzzy.” We went to a restaurant for dinner and ate with our Spanish teachers and others who have impacted us here in Peru. There were many goodbyes and a few tears, and we ended our evening back at home base with a musical jam circle. A great end to a great trip. ¡Adios amigos! We’ll be home soon.

– by Rosie and Cordelia

Time Capsule Letter

Hola Chic@s,

I can’t believe it has been six months since we were all together in the beautiful country of Peru! It feels like we just dropped you off at the airport hours ago, but time flies when you are having fun, and the last six months have been a complete whirlwind. Rudy is back in Phoenix, Arizona expanding his travel company and has since traveled with other students to Thailand, Spain and France. Natalie is currently in Spain teaching English near Madrid.

If you are ever in Madrid, please reach out to her so she can show you around. After both summer sessions, Faith stayed in South American doing solo travel and work. She explored more of Peru and then went up north to Ecuador and Colombia. She was traveling up until November so she has many stories to share. As for Bernardo, he is back in Lima working with university students in outdoor education. He is having the time of his life as he is trying to form new connections to share his passions.

Do you guys remember going to the historic ruins and playing with the alpacas at the farm? What about our tiring but beautiful Lares Trek where some of us got sick but the views were so worth it?! We will never forget Sasha and his hilarious comments at the ruins or his extreme flute playing? Do you guys remember our two dance parties? What about Phoebe, Cassidy, Grace and Sarah singing in the car every single time!? Do you guys remember how intense Step Into the Circle was and how every single one of you guys opened up? That was incredible.

What about your mentors groups with Bernardo, Faith and Natalie? What was your favorite activity with them? OMG remember our incredible soccer match and how we won?! Thank you Daniel for suggestion to dress up all in blue to show team spirit. Teagen, thank you for your amazing attitude and Meagen we will never forget your beautiful song or Love’s epic poem readings. Singing, dancing and teaching with the kids was also magical. I hope you realize how much the Peruvian students enjoyed their time with you. They loved your games and you taught them so much.

Please never forget about our group goal of “passing the light forward”. We talked about how your Peruvian experience means nothing unless we pay it forward. Where exactly are you with your goal that you committed to accomplishing? Did the fire burn out? If it did, it’s okay. This is just a friendly reminder that you have the passion to finish your goal.

As staff, we gave you the tools and guided you through a leadership curriculum to inspire you. Reminiscing about our trip brings us back to Cusco and being with all of you. We miss your friendly faces, the amazing Peruvian food, our home base staff, Alejandro and Patricia, and Mario. Please keep in touch with everyone and don’t be afraid to reach out to us for anything.

Love you guys and hope all is well.

Gracias from your GLA Staff,

Rudy

Natalie

Faith

Bernardo

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Sunday July 14, 2019

Hola!!

Today was our first full day in Peru! Every student arrived safely and are excited to explore Peru. Our entire staff is eager to get our program rolling. As staff, we have worked hard and learned so much from our first session. We are confident to give this next group the experience of a lifetime.

On our first day we played some get to know you games, are our first Peruvian meal and ended the day with watching a Peruvian film called Pachamama! Hasta mañana!

Signing off,
GLA International Staff

Monday July 15, 2019

The Children of the Andes group has just finished there first full day in Peru!!! We started the day with a delicious breakfast of chicken-egg-avocado sandwiches and cereal composed of traditional Andean grains. After some brief card games we went to the school that we will be working at for the next couple of weeks.

We made lesson plans for tomorrow’s class and were greeted with affectionate hugs from the children that we will be working with. The next stop was the construction site where we will be building the greenhouse for a future high school. We learned a bit about how to properly use the tools that we will be working with and then made sure all of the measurement for the site were accurate.

We then headed back to the base camp and after some more fun games of cards and mafia went out to a local field to play a active and bonding game of capture the flag (team 5 won). Today was also Alex’s birthday and we surprised him with a cake! Yum! Exhausted, we finished the night off with a workshop designed to eliminate the harmful effects of stereotypes and prepare us to act as leaders in our own communities by fostering environments of acceptance and tolerance.

 

Tuesday July 16, 2019

Our third day in Peru!! We started the morning with a breakfast of hard boiled eggs, fresh bread, incredible mango and passion fruit juice. We then left and headed over to the school, where we did a few arts and crafts as gifts for the children. Then our group divided into two: one for the four year olds, and one for the five year olds.

We met them while they had lunch and assisted them through their routine then joined for a variety of games in the patio. Our next activity was teaching the kids English in their classroom which included the alphabet, numbers and some every day objects. After spending three and a half hours at the school we went back to Home Base and had a delicious lunch: tacos!! By far the groups favorite.

The next part of the day was construction work, where we worked on leveling land and sawing pieces of wood for benches. Sadly, it started to rain and we had to head home once again, but on the way we experienced stunning views of Peru’s mountains and colorful architecture. Then we had mentor groups and discussed many topics. Finally the day came to a close with pizza and another round of Mofia.

Wednesday July 17, 2019

¡hola!

Today was full of adventures and immersion into the Peruvian culture. After beginning the day with a authentic breakfast, we headed onto the busses to begin our tours.

Patricia, our home base director, lead us on our tour in Saxaywaman. Once there, we learned more about the empire referred to as the Four Regions of the Sun. We saw many structures with stones ranging from 50-300 tons! After spiritually connecting to Pachamama, we headed to the city of Cuzco to shop and walk around.

To finish off an amazing day, we had an intense session of leadership curriculum. In attempt to practice our vulnerability as leaders, we were asked to step into a circle if certain topics related to us as individuals. While some topics were harder than others, which left some of us in tears, we were relieved and happy to be in the company of other who understood us. This definitely brought us closer together.

We Miss You!!

-Maegan

Friday July 19, 2019

We started off today with a delicious breakfast that helped us gain strength for the hours we’d be spending at the greenhouse. Following breakfast, we loaded into the vans and took off for our day of service. At the greenhouse, we split into four groups: two leveling the ground, one mixing cement and laying bricks, and the last cutting wood.

Following three hours of labor, the group felt satisfied with the work accomplished and ready for lunch! We headed back to home base to find a lunch of rice, fried trout, mashed sweet potatoes and peppers stuffed with vegetables. Feeling exhausted some of us decided to take a nap while others played a quick card game before heading back to the greenhouse.

After a few hours of hard work at the greenhouse it was clear that a lot of progress had been made! We then began the trek back to home base, eager for another meal and rest. For dinner we enjoyed hamburgers, french fries, bread, and some sweet tea. We ended the meal by singing Happy Birthday to Anna, which was followed by a delicious cake. We then finished the day by having our second mentor meeting, and a well needed night sleep to regain our strength for tomorrow.

Sunday July 21, 2019

We left homebase very early in the morning: around 8am. After a long bus ride, we arrived at the river lodge. We got settled into our rooms, and then got changed to go rafting. We put on all our rafting gear and boarded the bus to head to the beginning of the rafting experience. We were given a brief explanation of the basic commands and then split into groups of six people and got in our rafts. After an hour and a half of an exhilarating experience, we returned back to the lodge, where we had a sauna waiting to warm us up. We were then served a great lunch.

After lunch, we had the option to zip line across the river. Many people took this opportunity and appreciated the chance to get out of their comfort zone. After an adventurous day, everyone took the time to rest or explore the surroundings until dinner. During and after a nice pizza dinner, we watched the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. Afterwards, everyone was exhausted and we went to bed early to prepare for our early hike up rainbow mountain the next morning.

Monday July 22, 2019

On July 22nd, we set out at 4 AM to take a bus to rainbow mountain. Two hours later, our hike began just as the sun began to rise. Although the hike was only 1.6 miles, the altitude made it incredibly difficult to continue our trek. Although, as soon as we got to the top, the view of the rainbow mountain made the difficult hike completely worth it. With the hardest part of the day completed by 9 AM, we still had a long journey ahead of us. After returning back to the lodge to have a huge bowl of spaghetti for lunch, we headed back to Homebase. Even though the rest of the day was spent resting in the car, the hike up Rainbow Mountain was an unforgettable experience.

Tuesday July 23 through Sunday July 28, 2019

Hey friends, family, and loved ones!

So sorry about the delay in blog posts- we’ve had quite the jam-packed itinerary, with activities happening from morning to night most days!

This one is sort of an overview of the last week or so:

We had a lot of service days with the kids, teaching them English through art projects, or playing games and dancing on the school patio. The service is really fun and rewarding- but working with 4 and 5 year olds can definitely be draining! Some lessons, we work with them on coloring pages and help teach colors and shapes in English. Other lessons, we bring posters that we prepared the night before to teach them about different rooms in the house, or other common scenarios that could be useful to know. The end of the week was our last day of service with them, and it was so hard to say goodbye! We spend the morning just dancing and playing with them before their break for Peruvian independence day.

We’ve also been making dolls and picture frames at the school, that we’ll be giving out to children in the high Andean communities during the Lares Trek we go on before Machu Picchu. For some of us, its the first time we’ve sewn- but they’re still cute!

Our other service project is work on a greenhouse that will be used by the school where we work with children. The progress has been unbelievable- but certainly not easy! We level the ground by hand, mix cement by hand, and lay bricks all by hand! We’ve been painting the fencing too, along with cutting wood to build benches. It really is amazing to think of where we started, and to see where we are now.

We had a soccer match against one of the other GLA programs- Foundations of Global Health. It was cool to interact with a different program, and to share similarities and differences of our experiences here in Cusco. While I’m sure our soccer skills had something to do with it, our team spirit surely led to our 2-1 win!

Later in the week, we took an excursion to an alpaca farm, the towns of Pisac and Urubamba, the archeological site Moray, and the salt mines of Maras! At the alpaca farm, we got to feed llamas, alpacas, and vicuña, and saw native women weaving their wool. Lunch in Urubamba was a beautiful outdoor buffet where we could play it safe with rice and potatoes, or venture out of our norm and try a traditional dish like alpaca! We also went to Moray- which was absolutely incredible! It was used as an experiment for agriculture, and the temperature difference between the top and the bottom is 15 degrees Celsius.

The next day, we visited the salt mines of Maras, and they were absolutely amazing! We were all shocked by the beauty of this place, and even got to try pieces of salt from the mines. We also got to visit a ceramics studio of a renowned ceramics artist in Peru- Seminario. We toured got to tour the facility, shape some clay ourselves, and even got to meet and speak to the artist.

The day before our trek to Lares, we went to the greenhouse for a Pago a La Tierra ceremony with a shaman. He performed a traditional offering of different natural things (like nuts, flowers, roots, candies) to Mother Earth, which he then packaged up and burned in a small fire at the greenhouse site. Then, everyone got to experience a short, personal coca leaf reading with the shaman and ask him one question. This was a one of a kind experience, and was a great way to put what we have been learning about Pachamama (or Mother Earth) in to practice.

Tomorrow, we’re off to start our trek through the Andes!

Sending lots of love to everyone at home!

Wednesday July 31, 2019

On July 31st, we took an early morning bus from our hostel to visit Machu Picchu. After climbing to the top and taking lots of pictures for the memories, we gathered with the mentors and guides to do a 20 minute meditation session amidst the beautiful mountains. Then, we were guided in small groups around the ruins to learn about the fascinating history of the communities that once thrived in Machu Picchu.

When we arrived back into town, we had lunch at a small restaurant while listening to live music, and then enjoyed some free time at the surrounding markets and cafes. Later, we took a long train ride back to Home Base, taking in the views around us. Late that night, we arrived at home, tired from a long day but grateful for the amazing sights.

Time Capsule Letter

Hola Chic@s,

I can’t believe it has been six months since we were all together in the beautiful country of Peru! It feels like we just dropped you off at the airport hours ago, but time flies when you are having fun, and the last six months have been a complete whirlwind. Rudy is back in Phoenix, Arizona expanding his travel company and has since traveled with other students to Thailand, Spain and France. Natalie is currently in Spain teaching English near Madrid. If you are ever in Madrid, please reach out to her so she can show you around.

After both summer sessions, Faith stayed in South American doing solo travel and work. She explored more of Peru and then went up north to Ecuador and Colombia. She was traveling up until November so she has many stories to share. As for Bernardo, he is back in Lima working with university students in outdoor education. He is having the time of his life as he is trying to form new connections to share his passions.

Do you guys remember the going to the historic ruins and playing with the alpacas at the farm? What about our tiring but beautiful Lares Trek where some of us got sick but the views were so worth it?! I’ll never forget when Ellie accidentally cut her leg during service but was such a trooper. What about when Abby and Peyton sang their hearts our during our car rides?

What about our great service with Mario at the school and the greenhouse? Singing, dancing and teaching with the kids was magical. I hope you realize how much the Peruvian students enjoyed their time with you. They loved your games and you taught them so much.

Please never forget about our group goal of “passing the light forward”. We talked about how your Peruvian experience means nothing unless we pay it forward. Where exactly are you with your goal that you committed to accomplishing? Did the fire burn out? If it did, it’s okay. This is just a friendly reminder that you have the passion to finish your goal.

As staff, we gave you the tools and guided you through a leadership curriculum to inspire you. Reminiscing about our trip brings us back to Cusco and being with all of you. We miss your friendly faces, the amazing Peruvian food, our home base staff, Alejandro and Patricia, and Mario. Please keep in touch with everyone and don’t be afraid to reach out to us for anything.

Love you guys and hope all is well.

Gracias from your GLA Staff,

Rudy

Natalie

Faith

Bernardo

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Thursday June 20, 2019

Hola,

The entire Peruvian team is excited to get the Children of the Andes program up and running! While flights were hectic, we managed to welcome 19 excited students to Cusco. With 7 more arriving tomorrow, we can’t wait to get our full team together!

Students arrived eager to learn about Peruvian culture, Incan traditions, and are ready to serve the local community.

This evening we successfully divided in to mentor groups, where students met with their program mentors and began to get to know each other.

After successfully completing in-country training and exploring Cusco, we are more than prepared to give students the best possible GLA experience this summer.

Nos vemos mañana!

Pictures will be sent tomorrow!

Signing off,

Faith, Nat, Ber and Rudy
GLA Program Staff

Friday June 21, 2019

Hello Families!

Our first day on program has been jam-packed with food, fun, and excitement. Today, we had a delicious breakfast consisting of eggs, yogurt, cereal and fruits. The students went to visit the school where they will be teaching English and other subjects such as dance, music, and art to four and five year old children in a nearby school community.

After a tour of the classrooms and facilities and an introduction of how to teach and interact with young children, the students went to the other service site that will be a greenhouse for a local community to benefit the school. Students are excited to start their service within the Cusco community!

After a great lunch of crema de maiz and spaghetti and chicken, the mentors took the students to a nearby park to play capture the flag. Everyone enjoyed the fresh air and running around while competing and getting to know each other better. We then walked to a local store to grab some Peruvian snacks and get familiar with our neighborhood.

To finish the exciting day, students watched a movie called Pachamama which is a story about a young Andean child discovering his roots and culture which was an excellent introduction to the Inca culture. In Cusco, the city is celebrating the Winter solstice which is the Andean New Year. Tomorrow, we will be exploring Cusco city and taking a tour of the beautiful barrios and archaeological sites.

We will keep you updated on more of our exciting adventures in Peru!

Sunday June 23, 2019

Hola!!

Today was the first full day with all 26 students here and ready to explore! We got up early this morning with breakfast at 7 in order to arrive to Pisac by 9:30. When we got to Pisac, we explored the ruins and the terraces that were made in the 14th century. After many, many steps we finally got to the top of the ruins and were able to enjoy the amazing view of the Sacred Valley.

After exploring the ruins, we quickly ate lunch in the main square of Pisac in order to give us lots of time to explore the market to bargain with the local vendors. After the market, we headed to the alpaca/llama farm and even got to meet up with two of the other GLA trips happening in Peru right now. And yes, Abby Cowan did get to see her brother! We fed some angry llamas and barely avoided getting spit on. Overall, everyone had an amazing experience and are excited to start service tomorrow!

Adios!

Ellie Harris

Monday June 24, 2019

Today we attended the Inti Raymi festival. It was a mix of cultural dances to celebrate another year of freedom. The dancers were each used to represent the elements in precise movements and actions.

Then we broke ground at the new greenhouse. We spent over 2 hours moving dirt, painting equipment, transferring rocks, pulled nails out of wood, and laying out the windows. All the rocks were moved by hand, and the dirt by pickaxes and shovels. This was a highlight for many but for some people(Aubrynn) the pink airplane was the best part.

-Jack M

Wednesday June 26, 2019

We started off our day with a breakfast of chocolate pancakes with a smoothie. Then we got ready for a morning at the green house. We filled up our water bottles and we got in the car and we were on our way. Once we got there we split up into groups which were pick axing, shoveling, painting , wheel barreling and siphoning water.

Once we got there we split up into groups which were pick axing, shoveling, painting , wheel barreling and siphoning the water. Then we headed back to the homebase for lunch. We had tomato with tuna and rice with beef. After that we had time to rest. Next we went to the Popular Art Museum which had Baroque style art. This art was made Peruvians but was influenced by Spanish artists and styles. After the museum we had time to roam around to buy ice cream and visit cafes. We went to dinner and had chicken and rice.

After that we all loaded in the vans and went to a planetarium were we learned about constellations. We were divided into two groups. One group went inside into a dome where they projected the nightsky onto the ceiling. Here we saw the big, black llama which is part of the Milky Way Galaxy. The other group looked at telescopes outside. We saw Jupiter, Saturn, and Galileos moons. After this activity was over we headed back to the homebase. Learning about the Inca people used constellations to forecast the weather and lead their daily lives was very interesting.

Lots of love from Lucas and Chloe

Thursday June 27, 2019

Thursday June 27th, the volunteers were pleased with a later start than usual. After taking advantage of a longer sleep and a great breakfast including beloved coffee we’ve been asking for since day 1. Ignacio the van driver pulled up and we drove to a near by park to meet with the children. We played games like Fútbol and swung from monkey bars and had an all around good time.

Once we dropped the children off we headed back for a delicious lunch created with love by our local staff. Since many of the students were craving snack type food, Rudy accompanied us on our last minute snack run. Next we went back to the school to help with the production of Christmas cards and picture frames. We did lots of decorating and had a successful time.

Finally, we drove back to home base and got cleaned up for dinner. To end our night we began packing for tomorrow’s rafting trip as well as the trek to Rainbow Mountain and we are all excited for the days to come.

-Mia and Gauthier

Saturday June 29, 2019

Today was one of our most adventurous days yet. After a long day of rafting on the river yesterday, we went to bed early to rest up for the hike today. It started bright and early when we woke up at 3:30 am. We had breakfast at 4 then headed out to climb rainbow mountain.

It was about an hour drive from the rafting lodge to the trailhead and once we got there, it was freezing. We began the hike at about 6 am and it took people about 1-2 hours to get to the the 17,500 foot summit. While not everyone got to the top, everyone tried their hardest, hiked at their own pace, and enjoyed the experience.

After the hike, we drove back to the lodge for lunch and packed our stuff. It was an hour and a half drive back to home base where we were able to chill and rest for the afternoon.

A couple people went to the market for snacks and then we all engaged in a group activity before dinner. We learned more about ourselves and each other through hearing other people’s stories.

We ate potato pizza for dinner and hung out for the rest of the night in the common room and our rooms.

Overall, today was one of the best days yet. We all stepped out of our comfort zone and challenged ourselves- which is what this trip is all about!

Hope everyone is doing well!

-Luca and Abby C

Sunday June 30, 2019

Hola Family and Friends!

Today was a really jam-packed day! We started off our day at the greenhouse determined to make progress as it was our second to last day working there. After an efficient three hours of cementing, we headed back to home base for lunch. We had a few hours to rest and then participated in a leadership curriculum activity involving disabilities. Every student was assigned a different disability which included being either blind, deaf, mute, having one functioning leg or one functioning arm. With a variety of items (like blindfolds, earplugs) we were given the chance to see what it was like to live with that disability.

We were faced with tasks like eating dinner, showering and walking up and down stairs with our disabilities. This activity was very shocking for the group because we were given the chance to put ourselves in the shoes of people who struggle with physical disabilities every day. From this we learned a lot about how to be respectful and aware of other people’s struggles. It was a perfect way to end the night before given time to relax before bed and get ready for the adventures to come.

Monday July 1, 2019

Today was quite a full day. We first had a breakfast of toast, scrambled eggs, hotdogs, yogurt, kiwi and the choice of coffee or tea. Then we headed over to the school and picked up the kids in our usual mode of transportation: the tourist van.

Once we picked up the 5 year olds, we drove over to the Husao wetland park. It was a beautiful place full of different sculptures, trees, and a duck pond. We walked around with the kids, some of us carrying them the whole way through. At the end of the walk we sat on benches and played with the kids while they ate their snack. After the park, we headed back to the school and dropped off the kids.

Then we went back to the home base for lunch, delicious fried rice and soup. We now had a little bit of free time to get ready for our next activity: the greenhouse. This was the last time working construction at the greenhouse. We finished pouring down concrete on the perimeter of the greenhouse and we layed down the first layer of bricks on top, leaving it for the next session to continue from. We then gave pachamama an offering of coca-cola and inca-cola. We poured these two offerings in the middle of the greenhouse we have started building, and gave her thanks.

We came back to the home base and ate dinner, burgers and fries with a choice of coca-cola or inca-cola, with warm and delicious jelly-filled churros for dessert. We then did a little activity where we discussed the purpose of coming on this GLA trip. We were aloud a little bit of free time before the main leadership activity. Two of the mentors and a few of the students had roles in a skit displaying the switched roles of homosexuals and heterosexuals in our society. We then watched a short video on the topic, which we then reflected on in the group. After our discussion, everyone got ready for bed to get a good nights rest for our next adventure.

-by Nikita