PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things you can expect:
- We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.
Cell Phone Policy: The GLA cell phone policy is currently in place this summer to help foster meaningful connections between students. This means your student’s phone will be collected every day and returned to them throughout the program during designated spaces of time we call ‘tech time’. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location. During designated ‘tech time’, your student may use their phones as they wish. Please note that your student may not always choose to use this time to get a hold of their parents. If you are not hearing directly from your student each day, you can assume that no news is good news! We strongly recommend you follow the blog to follow your students’ experience without talking to them every day. If you are a parent and would like to get in touch with your student directly, you can call us at +1-619-758-3031 and we can set up a formal time for you to connect with your student.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 20
Written by Lizzie and Shayna
Hey everybody! We made it to the Dominican Republic! We got picked up at the airport and made our way to our home base. We got settled into our designated rooms and jumped in the pool for a swim test. Spoiler alert! Everyone passed.
We had a delicious dinner which included rice, beans, eggplant, chicken, salad, and some sweet mangos! After that, we had an orientation meeting where we learned a lot more about the culture of the Dominican Republic. We also learned about what our plans were for the rest of our trip! Can’t wait for service tomorrow!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 21
Written by Lizzy and Shayna
Day two of Dominican Republic! We started the day with a delicious breakfast and then we played a name game to get to know each other more. After that, we toured around the town and visited the beach. We had lunch and headed to our work site where we made concrete and helped make a floor. After our work was done we took a quick trip to the supermarket! It was super fun and we got to buy some local snacks (aka goldfish). We got back to our home base and took a dip in the pool. We ended our day with a delicious dinner and a talk about global health!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 22
Hello parents, we had an amazing day today! Jake and Spencer here, we were day 3’s leaders, which was a very new experience for both of us. We woke up nice and early, at 7:30, and had a great breakfast. We took the bus over to caño dulce where we mixed up cement to make concrete floors for homes in the community. During our work we met some amazing furry friends, a little kitten named Cheeseburger and a puppy named Celery. After our hard work we made the decision to get ice cream, which was amazing after a long day in the sun. As soon as we got back to home base everyone got bathing suits on and jumped right in the pool. Later on, we enjoyed a nice dinner followed by a good lesson from Doctor Caho about malnutrition in rural communities in the Dominican Republic. Then, we played a few rounds of Poison Dark Frog, the leader of the day activity. Meditation, then bed! Goodnight.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 23
Written by Sophia and Alexandra
So today we went to Laguna Gri Gri and explored the beautiful nature and culture. We started of our day bright and early with breakfast then departed for our 50 minute bus ride to the boat that took us through the mangroves. After adventuring through the mangroves we swam in the ocean along the island. We stopped in a breathtaking cave along the way to our ocean swim spot. When it started raining we departed for the beach where we bought local, authentic jewelry and other souvenirs. After this stop, we headed on our way to lunch at a secluded beach and we drank piña coladas (non-alcoholic) from pineapples! We played some soccer on the beach, caught some waves, and eventually returned to the lodge where we had a relaxing swim. We had tech time, a delicious local plate, and an inspiring visit from a local doctor who prepared us for our medical brigade tomorrow in the village. To end our day, we had mentor groups in which we reflected our time so far in the Dominican Republic.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 24
Written by Dani and Sarah
We woke up around 8 am and had breakfast consisting of eggs, toast, cereal, hot chocolate, coffee and fruit. We departed at 9 am to a healthcare clinic and we each worked at different stations. We were in groups of 2 and 3 working at patient flow, registration, vitals, shadowing the doctor, entertaining the kids, clinical history, pharmacy…etc. We returned back to home base around 3 pm and took a trip to the beach where we all participated in a leader of the day activity. Later on we had tech time, dinner, another trip to the beach, participated in mentor groups, looked at the stars by the pool and went to bed. We will be back tomorrow with another update!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
Hello friends and family! This is Kate and Bella, today’s leaders!
Today we had a delicious breakfast of banana pancakes and then we headed to the Chocolate Cooperative. We rode on the bus and listened to music and when we arrived, we were greeted by the 14 women who own the company. They gave us a presentation and we got to taste test the chocolate which was the highlight of many people’s day! The group liked the white chocolate (blanco) the best. We then toured the facility and brought some of the cacao products to support the local business! We headed back to home base for a delicious lunch followed by a discussion from the Ministry of Women. We did our leadership activity which was based around asking for help and learned a lot, then competed in a human knot challenge to see what group got to do laundry first! Ben’s group won….twice! We got ice cream after dinner and did a debate on HIV/AIDS medication and the cost differences of genetic vs on brand medication and we argued against each other and had a great time. We wrapped up the night with mentor groups and a memorable discussion on our insecurities and fears, and ended the night off with meditation! Thank you for reading, we are having a fabulous time as a group!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 26
Hello parents. What’s good? It’s Alex and Joshua, leaders of day 7.
We did some pretty cool stuff today. We woke up nice and early at 7:30 for a delicious breakfast at 8:00. We departed to Laguna Dudu at 9:00 singing karaoke harmoniously as one big family. We arrived at the secluded Laguna Dudu with natural caves and pools which we had a lot of fun swimming in. After a very adventurous morning, we had lunch at a restaurant nearby. It was sick. Then we went to a beautiful beach, La Playa Precious’s. We body surfed the waves and bought beachside jewelry. After that, we went to a local supermarket and bought snacks and a beach ball. With our purchases in hand, we went back to the base. We relaxed during free time and had a delicious meal. Shortly after, Junior gave a lesson the Seven Pillars of Global Health. All in all, it’s been a great day.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 27
Written by Kaleb and Mylo
We started off the day with an early rise, however, everyone was ready to get the day started. We ate, got ready, and headed out! The drive was filled with music, sleeping teenagers, and a task that no one was ready to face. It started off easy, we talked about the agriculture, some buildings, and then 30 minutes later we’re trekking up steep roads while being engulfed in a sea of humidity. The group pushed on and made it with style, everyone did an amazing job and we sat down for a tasty lunch at Doña Maxima’s house. There was chicken, fruit, beans, rice, and more. One of the family members came back with ice cream that had some great tasting flavors.
We chilled out as another rain storm struck again, listening to Drake and Pepas. As lunch was coming to an end we all filled up our water bottles and began our hike down the steep roads. It was a bit slippery because of the rain and some of us fell down getting scraped by the road, but we made it back in half the time it took us to get up.
After our main adventure was over we went to a super market getting snacks and other tasty treats to reward ourselves for an awesome day. When we got back we had dinner, mentor talks, and a cool surprise for the end of the night.
The leaders of the day and the staff took the group to the beach for a surprise Bonfire!! It was awesome, we talked, laughed, and played games. Ben played his guitar for us and we ended the night with some spooky scary stories. It was one of our longest days but everyone was still happy.
We hope that our families are well and we can’t wait to come back with all the cool adventures we’ve had.
See y’all tomorrow!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 28
Exciting news!! Today we got a new member of the family named Ellie, a real radical gal. We started off the day going to a local community to help make bee boxes. The director of the honey harvesting, Johnny, taught us how to assemble the boxes; it was surprisingly more complicated than it looked but was still a very fun, engaging experience. After we ate lunch, we went back to the same community to finish making cement for the houses. It wasn’t as hard as the other days, and since all of us are closer now, it felt like it went faster. When we finished, we came back and got ice cream from the neighborhood heladeria on the same street as the compound(the passionfruit popsicle is the best by the way). Then we listened to Junior’s insightful talk about healthcare and he also opened up about his cute 8-month-old daughter. We finished the night with a super dope free time and we all had a lot of fun learning the Irish Jig from Gabby.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 29
Today we had another medical brigade. This time we went to la grua which is a poorer community than last time. It was very fun to interact with the kids and help sick people. After La Grua we went to a community nearby and Junior gave us a tour. The kids were very friendly and each one of them clung onto one of us. We went to the McDonald’s and the supermarket after. The McDonald’s was very big and the bathroom was super clean and nice. At the supermarket we got some snacks and tested out hats. It was a very big supermarket; comparable to Costco. We arrived at homebase rather late but dinner was still served. They served French fries, chicken, pasta, and mangoes. We played a fun game where we a lot of new things about each other. Today in mentor groups we talked about assumptions and we shared them in smaller groups. Gabby arranged a late pool party where they found a frog in the water. Overall a fun and meaningful day!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 30
Written by Sophie, Ellie, and Lizzie
We started off our day by waking up and having breakfast at 8am. After our delicious meal we left the Home Base to go on a safari ride through the country side, where we saw much wild and local life while listening to fun music. We then began a small hike on our way to the water falls. We jumped off of three cliffs, each one was higher than the next. We finished our day trip with an amazing lunch with an amazing view. Then we headed home for free time and tech time. After tech time, we had a mini lecture with Ben on death causes in high and low income countries. To finish off our day we played the LOD activity which was “Name that Tune” and had some free time after.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 31
Dear parents,
Hey! It’s Spencer and Jake here. Today, August 31st, was the last day of service. We woke up early and had a quick breakfast, then we enjoyed a nice bus ride to the medical brigade. There weren’t many people that came in today, most likely because it was Sunday and Father’s Day, when locals take this day off for themselves. After our service, we got ice cream at Bon to celebrate the end of all the hard work we completed. When we got back to home base a few students jumped in the pool when others relaxed and played cards. Later on, we went to the beach where one of the counselors, Kate, led a yoga session followed by a sand castle building competition. After dinner all of the students embarked on one of the last mentor group sessions. To finish the night strong, everyone took part in a special activity called appreciation circle, which helped everyone display their gratitude toward one another. Thanks for reading!
