What better time to give back than on Thanksgiving? I spent Thanksgiving 2014 in Paraguay volunteering with Habitat for Humanity‘s Global Village Program, the second time I chose to volunteer internationally on this important American Holiday.
We had a wonderful time. We build for the family of Victor and Edith and their three children. It was a short stay, but we got so much accomplished. It was HOT and despite the fact that one day was completely rained out, we made good progress. The farewell ceremony was as touching as ever, with the family making impassioned speeches while tears streamed down everyones faces.
Perhaps the most unexpected moments of the trip came on Thanksgiving itself, when the family, neighbors and Habitat for Humanity staff prepared a fantastic lunch, complete with hand-turkey and pilgrim decorations for our team.
It was an experience I won’t soon forget and look forward to sharing more stores with you!
This is it! My first trip as a team leader from start to finish… Pressure? No. Just an immense amount of fun – awesome people and a beautiful place. 🙂
When I was deciding where to plan my first trip as a team leader, I was overwhelmed by the choices. So many places, so little vacation time… I’ve never been one to do the “popular” thing or to steer away from a challenge, so I picked one of the remotest and challenging destinations I had heard of – rural Kyrgyzstan. I reasoned that it had good reviews from my volunteer friends and I might as well put that Russian study to use. Right? Right.
I had a long runway for recruiting and managed to put together a fantastic group of 11 very “normal” volunteers…haha, maybe you had to be there to get that joke. 🙂 But seriously – it was fantastic. We stayed in a local home and despite sharing one working toilet, one outhouse and every possible minute together for 2 weeks, we managed to not only tolerate each other but become fast friends very quickly.
The stories abound – vodka and mustache nights, the bikini model in Lake Issyk Kul, the quote book…not to mention the incredible kindness of the family and community during our stay in Barskoon. This is location that I highly recommend. Then you too will be able to say “I don’t know anyone else who _(fill in your favorite memory here)_ in Kyrgyzstan!”
Whew – back to back weeks! Details coming soon.
When I returned from Kenya in August, I was happy and satisfied. Traveling always gives me a feeling of adventure, but I was ready to “settle down” for a while! However, that was not in the cards…
Shortly before I went to Africa, a good friend called with a request: would I be willing to take over leadership of a team she was planning to lead to Thailand in October? Wow. A 14,000 mile journey in August followed by a 17,000 mile trip in October? Could I survive? Well, might as well try. 🙂
This was a great way to get me “out of Africa” and into volunteering in additional destinations! I’m thankful that it turned out as it did. We had a small but mighty team that spent 2 weeks in Phuket building, helping, touring and taking it all in. It was also the first time I had “repeat volunteer” on a trip – what a great experience!
