Welcome to Uganda!

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Welcome to Uganda! We arrived on the 30th of October, and the next day we found ourselves at the home of Edirisa. Our first volunteer program was based at a place called SNEC (the Special Needs Education Centre), located just outside of Kabale Town. Here, the group mixed cement and built a side walk for kids who have physical disabilities to get to and from class everyday. The work was… Read More

Free time in Kampala

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Hello friends and family, Just wanted to give you all a quick update on the past couple days here in Kampala. Kampala is definitely the busiest city we have been to thus far on our journey. To me this is a little stressful, especially trying to cross the street, but some people really seem to enjoy city life. Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit one of the eight Baha’I… Read More

Creative Thoughts for the Peeps Back Home

Archive Central America- QUETZAL
Fiesta in Matagalpa Outlined in  a halo of light from the fireworks whistling into the air, me and my host siblings pass thorugh the couples and other families to the inner circle where the children of the town strain to see what is happening. As we approach, my younger brother perches on the highest part of his tipy toes. I turn to my host sister to tell her to help… Read More

Arriving in the Mayan Village of Pasac

Archive Central America- QUETZAL
Weary, sore and cramped after five hours stuffed in a mini bus, the beating sun created a sardined sauna as we bumped along endless Guatemalan roads. We finally peeled off the highway, winding through small villages, staring hopefully out the window at families walking down the street dressed in traditional Mayan regalia, beautiful full length skirts pleated in every color of a bold painter´s palate, sturdy intricate embroiderty exhibiting extraordinary… Read More

before the Dharma center….

Archive Southeast Asia- SABAI
When we arrived at the Dream Weaving for Peace foundation, we were greeted by several enthused youngins. Upon arriving, we were given the grand tour; what an amazing place. Almost all the plants on the property are used as food, they have large ponds for catfish, and they have frogs for food as well. They also have turtles, but they are just pets. We were all assigned by our leaders… Read More

Seasia Warriors! (photos coming soon)

Archive Southeast Asia- SABAI
This past week we headed north for a Buddhist retreat at the Pleekwiwek Dhamma center. We had no idea what a treat this would be!  It was a week packed with activities, most of which involved hanging out with the novice monks.  At the center, there were about 15 novice monks aged 11 to 18; they were some of the best kids we’ve worked with.  Every morning we tried our… Read More

Singing With the Maori

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Kia Ora! Or, for English speakers, Hello and good health! Those words were what was said to me immediately by our Maori contact when she picked us up. I was confused, clearly I am not a fluent speaker, and I was so used to Bula! that hearing a language other than Fijian or English was a bit mystifying. But I soon got used to it, as we arrived in the… Read More

Time to get our hands dirty!

Archive Central America- MAYA
Hey there all friends and family of the Maya group, Ricky and Lizza here blogging this week on our time at Bona Fide farm on the island of Ometepe, Nicaragua! We´ve been very busy here lending helping hands to the volunteers when needed. Some of our tasks have included, constructing paths out of rocks, gravel, and bricks (all hauled uphill by hand), weeding by hand and with machetes, tending to… Read More

Captain’s Log, Earthdate 20131106

Archive South America- INTI
Just in case any of you are interested, here’s the link to the google album I post all of my photos from the trip.  Uploading is sporadic, and I still don’t have everything from the beggining up (as internet speeds are very slow here) but there are a fair amount up for your viewing pleasure. https://plus.google.com/photos/104932745759355222923/albums/5933659783766729089?banner=pwa&authkey=CM6IjIa-gNqPyAE… Read More

Time traveller’s Log, Earthdate 20131102-04

Archive South America- INTI
The week of Free Travel: After two weeks, we left Arequipa last Saturday.  We had an excellent time in the city, learning Spanish, talking with our homestay families, and enjoying our first stop in Peru.  But eventually, it was time to go. This time around, we travelled in (relative) style, chilling on the top floor of a double decker bus. After ten hours (mas o menos) of bus travel, we… Read More

BMAC!!!!!

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Greetings from all of us here in New Zealand! We just finished up with our tough but rewarding week at Blue Mountain Adventure. (BMAC) During our time there we all become stronger as a group and as individuals. Throughout our trip Lord Of The Rings has been an ongoing interest due to how incredible it is and the fact that it was filmed in New Zealand. As a result our… Read More

Rwanda

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Arrival in Kigali.  We touched down in Rwanda at around 8-8:30 AM local time after having a very early start to our travel here.  Our first plane from Dar left at 5 AM, so we were up and ready to go at 3..  We had two short flights, with a leighover in Nairobi, Kenya.  Right off the bat, Rwanda was a great place for me to practice my French, although… Read More

Edirisa (by Kellie)

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
When I was younger, people used to ask me what it was like to have special needs brothers. Some people would even ap0logize, as if their presence was a burden on my life. I never really understood it.  To me, they have always been perfect. I think it took me a very long time to even realize that there was something different about them. So yes, they might not have… Read More

Zuni

Archive Indigenous America
When our group arrived at Zuni, we immediately went to the museum to meet with Jim Enote, the man whose land we were going to be staying on and who would be hosting us for our time on the Zuni reservation. After a fantastic tour of his museum as well as getting to learn of the Zuni origin story we were allowed to see a ceremonial dance before setting off… Read More

Guat`s up?

Archive Central America- QUETZAL
  Hi world! We are in Guatemala! It´s really quite exciting to have yet another new country to explore. (: We said goodbye to Camaronal, Costa Rica and our precious sea turtle hatchery. We took a nice bus about 5 hours to Alajuela (just outside of San Jose and the airport) and stayed in a backpackers hostel for the night. We found our new European style home exceeding our expectations. Rustic… Read More

Safari!

Archive East Africa- NKULA
Hey everyone! We just got back to Iringa after our 3-day safari with Warthog Adventures at Ruaha National Park. The experience was amazing, and we were able to see the “Big Five” (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino). We’re moving on to Mufindi Orphanage tomorrow, so look forward to seeing some great safari photos and hearing about our time at the orphanage in about 10 days! -Becca… Read More

Adventures in NZ

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Greetings all! Becks here with the weekly update! Right now we’re in Wellington exploring the city and preparing for free travel.  We just finished up at the Blue Mountain Adventure Centre (BMAC)! Dan and Meghan, our activity leaders, lead us through some awesome activities this past week! BMAC is in the small town of Raurimu right on the edge of the Tongariro National Park, so our first adventure was trekking… Read More

Trek Or Treat!

Archive India- SHANTI
Namaste family and friends! We have just arrived in Rishikesh in time for Diwali after an amazing two weeks of exploration in the Himalayas. We started out in Gangtok, the beautiful capital city of Sikkim, at a lovely homestay nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. We spent our mornings taking long uphill walks to the Serenity Home to volunteer with men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. We all… Read More

Bios!

Archive East Africa- NKULA
Since we didn’t have the world’s most interesting week (and we know that you all depend on us for your weekly dose of excitement), we’ve decided to spice this blog up with short bios of everyone on the trip, so you have an idea of who all these people are that we talk so much about. In no particular order, here are the members of Carpe Diem Nkula, Greta and… Read More