Nicaragua, Morocco, & Tanzania

Love, Respect, and Resilience is what this community and culture stand on. Not only do they live by this but the people here display these traits at every waking moment. No matter what a family or someone has gone through, they choose to come out as a better person, filled with love and respect. These qualities are the first words to come to mind throughout our whole group when describing anything here. Whether it’s in the classroom, on home visits, or little things in our daily routine we have received more of these qualities than we could have ever asked for. This year I have gotten the lucky opportunity to teach Class 5, which is mainly made up of 10-11 year olds. From the moment I walked into the classroom, I knew love was a staple. I saw it in the first couple of days from the teachers going the extra mile and checking in on the students even when they had ten other things to do, to  the kids taking care of David who is on crutches because of a broken toe. But for me, I...

           10 months and 40 hours of travel, and I am finally back in the place that stole my heart.  Leaving Arusha a year ago, I would have never thought that I would get the opportunity to come back to the place the left a lasting impact on me. Landing in Kilimanjaro and not being able to shake a smile off my face made me remember how lucky I am to get the chance to come back. With the chance of a life time in my hands, I will be pushing myself to be the best possible me from start to finish.                  The first day walking the cramped streets filled with smiles and laughter made me feel more at home than ever before. As we walked through the markets in Arusha, it started coming back to me how vibrant and wonderful Arusha, and its people, truly are. Shortly before our tour through the town, we learned about the history here. Although t...

My first trip to Nicaragua in two words, eye opening.  When I was 14 years old I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua from the Vail Valley,  going from my small town with very little poverty to some of the most severe poverty I have ever imagined.  In staying a part of CGA I traveled on three more trips that have opened my eyes to a whole other side of life across the ocean. From the home visits to driving around every country and seeing little things, piles of trash on the roads, little girls walking with gallons of water on their head because there was no other way to get water. All of the countries that Children’s Global Alliance travels to are severely stricken by poverty. Every time I travel I try to think how can this just happen, how does the cycle of poverty begin in a family, and why is it so difficult to get out of that cycle.             In every place that I have traveled t...

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”- Tony Robbins         Reflecting on 2017 I have realized what a crazy year it was, full of visible things that happened right in front of our eyes. Whether it be all the hate that has seemed to overcome the world or all the love that was spread across the nations. Last year was also full of invisible things that occurred outside of our small little bubble. The invisible things are what inspire me daily to participate in CGA’s trips. Traveling to places that I could have never imagined and to places where people told me not to go, has given me a sense of global awareness. CGA has given me the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than myself, to push myself to make daily goals that benefit not only me but the other people in my life.         When I got the call that I was lucky enough to get to travel back to Tanzania, I was ov...

“There are different kinds and degrees of love, and they change over time, ripening and deepening and changing us in the process.”- Cassandra King. Over the past three years I have gotten the chance to experience this first hand. Since 2014, I have traveled to Nicaragua, Morocco, and Tanzania with Children’s Global Alliance. In the summer of 2018, I will get the opportunity to travel back to Tanzania.         When I got the call that I would be lucky enough to travel back to the place that has by far impacted me the most, I was speechless. All I could do was look at the note that one of my students, Esther wrote me that was hanging above my bed and smile. I was going to get the chance to see all of their beautiful faces again. As I am sitting here trying to write my blog, it is hard for me to put all the emotions together when Tanzania is on my mind. Like any other trip, you take away different lessons from each place.  Nicaragua taught me...

Arusha, Tanzania where happiness is the first choice. Where love is found around every corner. Arusha there will always be a place for you in my heart. This journey has taught me to never dwell on life, to love and accept everyone no matter what they have been through or where they have come from. I was constantly being reminded of this during our final moments with the kids.             Our last days at LOAMO were not easy. Saying goodbye to Prep Class was like saying goodbye to kids you have known your whole life, when really it was only two weeks. Prep Class was filled with love and laughter the moment you entered the room; whether, it was the teachers or the students, I knew that they took every moment we spent with them to heart. As the minutes dwindled down, I cherished every high-five, knuckles, smile, and talk with the kids. Even though the kids were only five or six years old and probably wouldn’t remember us for lon...