In my experience, the topic of volunteering can be a highly contentious issue. This is mainly due to the fact that there are so many different models for such programs. So, I have recently been thinking about what makes a great volunteering programme and how to implement this at Latin American Fou[...]
Archive for August, 2011
August 29th, 2011 - 6:00 am § in Guatemala
Locals, Wanna-be Locals, and Tourists: No Competition Needed
Though it pains me to admit it, I am sometimes guilty of the foreign development volunteer snobbery directed at tourists. Working or reading on my balcony in Sololá, I often see tour groups who have come to experience the town’s market day, one of the biggest in Guatemala. I know that I am not as[...]
Reinsertón: the Frente de Artistas del Borda Fights for Desmanicomialización and a better Buenos Aires
One of the best things about rehearsing in IMPA is that there are always interesting things going on in other parts of the factory. Be it circus training on the third floor, dance classes in the machine room, or chess in the lobby, my friends often make fun of me for getting caught up in [...][...]
Don’t Cry for Me Argentina! A Volunteer’s Last Day
Yes, you might as well picture me as a brunette Madonna crooning from a balcony “Don’t cry for me Argentinaaaa, the truth is I never left yoooooou.” Because it’s true, I didn’t leave. I am still here. As much as I complain about Buenos Aires being a massive city, the booby trapped sidewal[...]
August 24th, 2011 - 10:07 am § in Ecuador, In the Field
Loan Sharks, Microloans and the Highest Interest Rates Around
Small business owners in Ecuador, like Marcia Suqui in the video below, can use their microloans to move forward with their businesses and improve their quality of life. After all, this is the idea driving Kiva.org, my current employer here in Ecuador- that small loans can change lives. But not all [...]
Saudades
Between semesters at ICBEU, the binational school where I have been living and working since February, I spent a few weeks at home in Philadelphia. When I returned to Manaus, all of my Brazilian colleagues and friends (I can’t remember any exceptions) asked one of two questions: 1) “Estava[...]
August 19th, 2011 - 10:08 am § in Uncategorized
DH Urbano en Guapulo
Back in Quito and the first thing I do, of course, is go watch a downhill bike race. No sooner had I stopped near one of the smaller jumps to talk to a friend, when one of the racers took a terrible nose dive off the jump, doing a face plant and twisting as his [...][...]
