“Here were these poor people, living on the edge of a mountain with a million-dollar view,’’ she says. “But they needed the basics, food, shelter. It was such a moving experience.’’ The Peace Corps’ decision to leave Honduras, she notes, is “heartwrenching.’’ “I thought about t[...]
Archive for the ‘Op Ed’ Category
December 11th, 2011 - 11:33 am § in Op Ed
To Hell With Good Intentions?
Ladies and Gentlemen: For the past six years I have become known for my increasing opposition to the presence of any and all North American “dogooders” in Latin America. I am sure you know of my present efforts to obtain the voluntary withdrawal of all North American volunteer armies fro[...]
Why I Volunteer Abroad
Before I volunteered as a Kiva Fellow in Sierra Leone (May of 2011) and Bolivia (September 2011), I was living in Santa Barbara, California. Imagine: Santa Barbara beaches saturated with color, mansions with the smell of jasmine twisting through the air, and a pace of life only to be set by the sun[...]
The Adventure Illusion or: how I learned to stop thinking and just ride a bike
Today’s guest post comes from Casey Link. Casey is a software engineer who just can’t seem to stay in one place. Between stopovers at oases of Internet necessary for his work, Casey finds himself compelled toward that mysterious blue horizon. That compulsion has taken him across the USA,[...]
What’s God got to do with it? Volunteering for Faith Based NGOs
For the past several months I have been volunteering with a non-denominational Christian NGO. If you are like me four months ago, you may be asking yourself, “What the hell does that mean?! …Does that mean I can’t say hell?” What this means is that families do not need to be religious to re[...]
Rural Poverty in Costa Rica: A Local Farmer’s Perspective
As the world spins into the year 2011, groups are battling for control. Countries, companies, NGOs and their various public relations departments are focusing their energies on how to look good in an increasingly ugly global economy. Everywhere you look, every product you pick up, whether it be an a[...]
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Buenos Aires
The Good The people: Argentines are some of the warmest people I have ever met. Whether you are lost on the street, confused about the subway, or even need a place to sleep I have found most of the people in Buenos Aires to be helpful, accommodating, and very friendly. I think that [...][...]
Dueling Realities
Patrick Furlong attended Loyola Marymount University, where he was the co-founder of a popular service organization called Magis. As graduation neared, he became a bit too obsessed with Peace Corps infomercials asking how far he would go to answer life’s calling and before he knew it, found h[...]
The Well-Planned Life or The Summoned Self?
I recently read in the New York Times an article that helped articulate the confusion I’ve been feeling lately regarding “the next step” once my job in Peru is over. The op-ed piece by David Brooks is entitled The Summoned Self, and outlines two ways of thinking about life. The first is the We[...]
