Ignorance was Bliss

June 26, 2012

Living outside of America for the last two months has really cleared up some of the ignorance I had about the world. There are two I want to mention because they came as a surprise to me. I recently met a German man who was educated in the states because of the opportunity a basketball scholarship afforded him. This may not sound like much but this man was black. I never knew or even thought that black Germans existed. Unfortunately I was unable to ask him questions about his background. When I sat down and thought more about the encounter my level of surprise went away. I just began to think about slavery and how the range of blacks must stretch far and wide throughout our world.Because of the magnet...

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Alternative Community Development

June 25, 2012 | 1 comment

Haiti Communitere, Haiti
Sahadia Auguste

Haiti carry’s a certain stigma, one that produces a similar image in the minds of masses whenever mentioned. The image is not a pretty one, with unpaved roads littered with debris and a desperate population, searching for shelter and comfort (disclaimer: this does NOT truly represent Haiti, I am only referring to general assumptions). Now, to imagine a place in even more despair than previously described would be to imagine Cite Soleil. Cite Soleil is a densely populated impoverished community within the Port Au Prince metropolitan zone. The area is regarded as the biggest slum in the Northern Hemisphere and one of the most dangerous in the West. Its has the reputation for good reason, Cite Soleil's history is not one of progression and pleasantries. In fact, the city had...

Cite Soleil Community Building

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A Typical Day at Los Pibes

June 25, 2012

Voluntario Global, Argentina
Taryn Cutrona

 A typical day in Los Pibes, the community center in La Boca, Buenos Aires, where I've worked the past 4 weeks begins at 4:30 PM.  I walk into the community center, am greeted by the wonderful workers at the desk where I sign in.  Then I walk upstairs into the classroom for "Apoyo Escolar" (After school Support).  Usually the kids don't arrive until 5, so I  spend some time hanging out with Berta, the very upbeat and welcoming program coordinator.

Most of the time, the kids arrive together in a huge, sometimes overwhelming, wave of laughter and chatter.  They take turns greeting Berta and I, as well as any other volunteers that are there that day.  Some of the older students will tell me they have English homework due the following...

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Day 1 "So tell me about us"

June 25, 2012

 “So tell me about us.”I was so surprised to hear it, but I knew that I had been waiting on it this whole time. It was my first night in San Salvador and after being whisked through so much unfamiliarity, I was in a bar watching the Mexico El Salvador home game with a group that made me feel right at home. Some of the group, friend’s of another volunteer’s host family, spoke English in varying degrees and one particularly fluent guy was asking us why we came to El Salvador.

The girl that I was with stammered through her knowledge of the civil war and the eternal war of the government against its people. She saw that the reception hadn’t been going well on Armando’s end, and...

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Preflection

June 24, 2012

 Going to El Salvador will be my first time leaving the United States and I am very nervous and ecstatic. I am excited to see the climate and eat great food and teach English and learn so much more about the history and people. I am absolutely petrified at the prospect of the language barrier, being alone, and all of the sensational reporting that places El Salvador at the top of most dangerous country lists. All that I know about El Salvador has come from three basic sources: academic coverage in my Latin American Civilizations course or in some of the texts that I have been reading to prep for research, reading the daily news on ElSalvador.com, and hearing from a fellow Florida State student that was...

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Off to Potrero!

June 24, 2012

Abriendo Mentes, Costa Rica
Jillian Buckley

It's sunny in New York City, but I'm making sure to have a poncho on hand, some extra plastic bags and some waterproof shoes, because I know in Central America, it can get wet.

I leave tomorrow for Playa Potrero, a small community in the northwestern corner of Costa Rica's Guanacaste region.  As the recipient of an Omprakash Travel Grant, I'll be responsible for filming the presentations at the Cross Cultural Education Workshop at Abriendo Mentes, and the conference is fast approaching!  In preparation, I've been gathering my equipment, tying up loose ends and steadying my brain to get ready for a week of diverse presentations.  From Language Teaching Strategies to Community Development, I'm sure I will come away from the workshop with more than just the abundance of video-...

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Porvenir, Pico Bonito, and Pizza

June 24, 2012

Honduras Child Alliance, Honduras
Stephanie Martin

 Weds, 6/20: No kids showed up to the morning Reader’s Club, so I sat in with Iris’s class. They are learning “There are [type of food]. There isn’t any [food]. There is [food].” etc. For the afternoon classes, I had the kids as a group come up with words (separated into verbs, nouns, and adjectives) describing a superhero, and then after we came up with a good list, each of the kids created their own superhero and drew a picture of it. After class, I used the internet for a little, and in the evening, watched part of “Funny People,” but ended up falling asleep partway through…and waking up because there was a cockroach crawling on my face! (right on my mouth…)

Thurs, 6/21:In the morning, I hard boiled some eggs...

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Cross Cultural Workshop in Costa Rica!

June 24, 2012

Abriendo Mentes, Costa Rica
Lacey Worel

I'm so excited to be a part of the Cross Cultural Education Workshop hosted by Abriendo Mentes in Playa Potrero July 2-6. omprakash.org/crossculturaleducationworkshop2012

 This five day conference offers the opportunity to collaborate with diverse members of the network. Directors, volunteers, experts, educators, film makers and more will examine how we can make cross cultural education mutually beneficial and mutually educational.

As a Regional Coordinator for Omprakash, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to meet network members face to face (outside of the skype world) and begin to build real human relationships. Spontaneous conversation, handshakes, hugs, a shared meal... all of which will inevitably lead to amazing ideas and growth!

I'm ready for this week of inspiration and look forward to tackling some of the more difficult questions posed by...

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First Two weeks

June 23, 2012 | 1 comment

Social Development International, Cameroon
Micah Ludwig

My first two weeks in Cameroon have gone very well. I am enjoying the food, and the rich culture that Cameroon has to offer. My volunteer work has found me working in a health clinic in Buea. I have been able to assist with taking vitals, and also some work in the laborartory. One of my goals at the health clinic is to learn about the different health issues that are facing the people living in Buea. I will then be able to use this info to help me plan for the community health workshops that I will be doing while here.

A couple highlights for me these past two weeks have been attending a workshop about NGOs in Cameroon, specifically NGOs addressing the needs of orphans and vulnerable children....

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On my way...

June 22, 2012 | 1 comment

Casa Verde, Nicaragua
Sara Bernard

I head to Nicaragua to help document Casa Verde’s environmental and educational work in less than a week. As usual when I’m about to get on a plane and magically appear in a different country some handful of hours later, I’m both giddy and incredulous. Imminent international travel is always a bit surreal: it never feels like it’s actually happening until it is. It’s pretty spectacular how we can dream up and manifest our own futures, and yet, despite all our imaginings and projections, how stubbornly blank that future remains until we actually get there and start filling it up.

So, of course I still have a million questions, half of which will probably get answered through my first impressions of people and place. Most importantly, though, I’m wondering what environmental,...

Omprakash Grant Listing on Edutopia.org

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