*Click on the person’s name to see all their posts. Click here for a list of former contributors.
CURRENT
Amanda Patterson (manzlpatt)
Chasing Chile
Age: 31
Hometown: Christchurch, New Zealand
Current location: Santiago, Chile
Web presence: Blog
Status: Volunteer with Corporation for the Development of Learning (CDA) teaching English and public speaking – presently outsourced to the Municipality of Peñalolén
Amanda comes from the land of the long white cloud – Nueva Zelanda as it’s called en español! An aviation professional for the past 12 years, she’s taken leave from the corporate world to fulfill her dream to travel, write, and assist developing communities as a volunteer throughout her journeys. Her interests range from adrenalin activities (you name it, she’s keen to try it!), to flying, writing, fitness and dancing. She believes everyone has a story to tell and that it’s the people you encounter along the way that make traveling and volunteering so exciting and enticing. It’s her hope that through her own adventures she can inspire others to do the same – to experience a different way of life that’s so rich with living and learning.
Andrew Garberson (agarberson)
DETOUR AHEAD: Please use the road less traveled
Age: 25
Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Current location: Antigua, Guatemala
Web presence: LinkedIn, Facebook
Status: Director of Communications for Transitions Foundation
Andrew stemmed from a deeply rooted Midwestern family, preceded by four generations of respected attorneys. Plagued by a Generation Y attention span and unquenchable curiosity, he diverted from the road to success to plot his own course. He spent a summer in Italy while a business student at the University of Iowa and a year in China teaching English following graduation. He dabbled in entrepreneurship and marketing domestically but remained unfulfilled. He has chosen to pursue work with a Guatemalan nonprofit organization, where his work will have a direct and meaningful impact on something wonderful. Andrew loves to travel but hates being a tourist. To counter his fear of Lonely Planet books and American stereotypes, he opts for residence permits instead of 30 day visas, which means he speaks Spanish like a kid, writes Chinese like a child, and comprehends French like a toddler.
Bridget Barry (bridgeterin)
Learning the value of the invaluable
Age: 22
Hometown: Grayslake, Illinois
Current location: Nebaj, Guatemala
Web presence: Facebook
Status: Program Associate with Limitless Horizons Ixil in Chajul, Guatemala
Having started college as a Pre-Dental, then Classics, then Journalism, then Fruit Crop Production, then English major, it took a while for things to finally click with Bridget. After aligning her passions with Environmental Studies and Spanish, at long last she became overwhelmed with the sudden desire to save the planet from all things awful. It became clear that this new path was going to be filled with lots of time abroad and little money, if any. But as a fresh, young idealist, she was immediately ready and willing to be pulled to any corner of the world. A stint in Europe infused her with the swagger of a traveler, and a placement as an international volunteer seemed to kill two birds with one stone. Building on her invaluable experience in Central America, Bridget hopes to return for her masters in sustainable development. In her spare time, she satisfies her cycling urges by riding a single-speed beach cruiser on the partially-paved Southern Highway of Belize. She is also a master of flicking bottle caps and enjoys impersonating accents poorly.
Caitlin McHale (camchale)
Living on faith, esperanza, and love in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Age: 25
Hometown: Winchester, Virginia
Current location: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Web presence: Facebook, Blog
Status: Co-founder and executive director of Project Esperanza
Backing out on her plans since childhood, Caitlin McHale withdrew her application to Virginia Tech’s vet school as an undergraduate Junior in order to fully focus on the growth of a student organization she and a friend had recently founded. From this point on in 2005, her life was completely absorbed by fundraising, planning volunteer trips to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and soon overseeing several programs that work toward social change in both Puerto Plata and Blacksburg, Virginia where Virginia Tech is located. She was also soon neck deep in all of the responsibilities that an executive director of a nonprofit organization has. Since 2008 she has lived permanently in Puerto Plata and works with the large Haitian immigrant population there – the population found to be in the most need. She is now married and gave birth to a son in August 2009.
Celeste Hamilton (cellyham)
Editor
Age: 30
Hometown: Levittown, New York
Current location: Portland, Oregon
Web presence: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
Status: Community Outreach Coordinator for Idealist.org
Celeste grew up in the first suburb of Levittown, NY. After 18 years of living among cookie-cutter houses, she realized there was more to explore and pursued her love of literature at Boston College and University College Dublin. Lured by the desire to help people and the prospect of having a pet monkey, Celeste joined the Peace Corps upon graduating. In Guyana she taught reading at a high school, dreamed of finding a baccoo (just ask—she’ll tell you all about them), and perfected her karaoke skills. From the equator she moved north to Chicago where she worked with gay youth and pretended to be a music journalist. Her time in the Midwest was brief; cacti and chili peppers drew her to the desert of Arizona where she found a job in HIV prevention. She later returned to her home state and began working with Action Without Borders. She’s now living in Buenos Aires, where she is working on media projects and facilitating connections between foreigners and local NGOs. Celeste is also a freelance journalist who has written about various subjects from dancehall to bowling, and is currently working on fulfilling her dream of becoming a Bollywood star.
Dan Malin (danmalin)
Plan B: Move Abroad
Age: 22
Hometown: Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Current location: Cotacachi, Ecuador
Web presence: Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
Status: Intercultural Coordinator for Casa Interamericano
Ever meet someone from the class of 2009? While they are generally smart and capable young people, they also face the worst job market in a quarter-century. This has forced many recent graduates to brainstorm alternatives to finding that dream job straight out of college. As you might have guessed, Dan is one of them. He left Brooklyn and his part-time jobs behind to volunteer as an Intercultural Coordinator for Casa Interamericano, a nonprofit based in Northern Ecuador. Dan is thrilled to be back in the country where he studied abroad, which he swears has the best selection of fresh fruit found anywhere in the world. Dan is also a graduate of the George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs.
Emily Mew (emily337)
Pro-activista
Age: 30
Hometown: Northampton, Massachusetts
Current location: Camoapa, Nicaragua
Web presence: LinkedIn
Status: Program Assistant for Hogar Luceros del Amanecer, a project of The Sunrise Foundation
Emily first fell in love with Latin American culture back in 2001 after taking her first trip to Guatemala during her senior year of college. However, after graduating with a degree in cultural anthropology she went straight into the social service field working mostly with at-risk youth and their families in Western MA. Too many years of this caused her to get burnt out dealing with the oppressive social systems in which she was operating. Rather than resigning to a life of banging her head against the wall within these systems, she decided to do something about them. She returned to UMass, Amherst to get her Masters degree in Public Policy and Administration so that she could have a hand in possibly changing what it was that was making her so frustrated. She graduated this past May and decided to take a very low paying job in Camoapa, Nicaragua in order to take the very first step in changing the world. There she works in program development at a small nonprofit organization for children. Other than deciding to take on this ominous task, she also likes to let loose and have fun by playing sports, spending time with funny people and dancing.
Flora Lindsay-Herrera (vidauruguaya)
Counterpoint: Theory, Practice, and La Vida Montevideana
Age: 27
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Current location: Montevideo, Uruguay
Web presence: Blog, LinkedIn
Status: Fulbright Fellow; volunteer with Liceo Jubilar Juan Pablo II school
Flora first boarded a plane when she was just three weeks old and has accrued miles and guilt about carbon emissions ever since. For the past two years as she managed volunteer teaching programs in Latin America for WorldTeach, a Cambridge, MA-based international education non-profit, she spent the whole time trying to convince friends that she really did live in one place, with signed lease in hand. Since her protestations were futile, Flora finally conformed to expectations, packed up five boxes of books (her second vice), and moved to Uruguay (without the books…well, most of them). For the next nine months she will be implementing a research project about environmental education initiatives in addition to volunteering at a middle school in one of Montevideo’s most underserved communities. In the off-hours, Flora can be found at choir rehearsal, in a used book store, or puzzling out new ways to cook a boniato.
Gena Thomas (genalou)
Pursuing a wall-less, box-less calling
Age: 26
Hometown: Concord, North Carolina
Current location: Mexico
Web presence: Facebook, CouchSurfing, Blog
Status: Faith-based coffee shop co-manager with her husband and women’s coop laborer
Ready to see God outside of a box, Gena and her husband, Andrew, moved to Mexico in mid-2009 to simply help. The definition of that verb has become less obscure and more defined every new day outside of a normal comfort zone. Gena — a writer, teacher, reader, climber, self-proclaimed photographer, and lover of machine-less arts and crafts — wants so badly to teach men and women to fish and watch them eternally find satisfaction. She and her husband are involved with several projects: a coffee shop, a women’s co-op, a school library and advancing an English program at a local school system.
Jamie Worms (Acoirac)
Keeping it Rio: From Researcher to Volunteer
Age: 25
Hometown: Bedford Hills, New York
Current location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Web presence: N/A
Status: Contributor and volunteer for Catalytic Communities and Calle
Jamie Worms was born and raised in a Hamlet located just north of New York City. In college, she spent a great deal of time caving and backpacking while attending Syracuse University, University of Maryland, and the George Washington University. Under the guise of a geography student, she traveled across the US, and also to Canada, Spain, Italy, Australia, England, and Brazil. So far, Brazil has proven most interesting, and Jamie has returned six times. Last year Jamie spent six months in Rio de Janeiro studying how social capital affects development in lower income communities. Clearly, Jamie has an obsession with traveling. For this reason, she finds herself recently graduated with a master’s degree in Geography, once again living in the neighborhood of Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Kati Mayfield (katimayfield)
Cultivating oases of entrepreneurial spirit in poverty’s arid lands
Age: 22
Hometown: Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Current location: Santiago, Chile
Web presence: Twitter, Facebook
Status: Kiva Fellow
Eternally curious about the human condition, Kati wants to write her own life story about the stories of people she meets on her journeys. Serving as a Kiva Fellow (currently in Honduras and soon in Chile), she interviews recipients of micro-loans and shares their historias with the worldwide community of Kiva activists and investors. Kati feels honored to be a binding link between under-represented entrepreneurs and their sources of capital, and to be given an intimate view of poverty and inequality in Latin America. Using her time abroad to reconcile her ideals with reality, Kati challenges herself to be an “evolving idealist.” Still, she remains convinced that empowerment and opportunity are the keys to sustainable development, and is excited to contribute to this blog which inspires readers to explore their own vida idealista.
Kimberly Friedland (KFriedland)
Building Girls’ Self-Esteem through Athletics
Age: 22
Hometown: Oakland, California
Current location: Cusco, Peru
Web Presence: LinkedIn, Facebook
Status: Program Manager for GirlSportWorks
Kimberly graduated from UCLA in 2009 with a B.A. in political science, a Spanish minor, and a drive to see the world and make a difference. Having worked extensively towards equality and social justice in the legal sector and with children, Kimberly has had an “idealist” mindset for about as long as she can remember. She thinks it might have something to do with the Bay Area drinking water. Kimberly is currently serving as Program Manager for GirlSportWorks, which seeks to enhance the lives of Peruvian girls through athletics. With one co-worker, Kimberly runs all on-the-ground operations, including sports classes and English teaching. They have also expanded the GSW curriculum to include a book club and work in a safe-home for teen mothers who are victims of sexual abuse. In her spare time Kimberly volunteers for Kiva, where she interviews microloan recipients. Kimberly loves the Cusqueñan life, living among Inca walls and tasting every rocoto relleno and lomo saltado the city has to offer.
Leah Giesler (leahgiesler)
Photography with a Purpose
Age: 24
Hometown: Aston, Pennsylvania
Current location: Bogotá, Colombia
Web presence: Blog, Website, Lightstalkers, Facebook
Status: Traveling across South America as part of the 25twenty-five project
Leah was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia, daughter to an inventor-father and a mother addicted to reading science fiction novels. After a childhood instilled with unfettered imagination and absent boundaries, Leah put herself through art school where she studied photography and discovered anthropology along the way. College began and inspired her ability to travel the world, allowing her to live abroad in Italy and India. But upon graduating, Leah felt an itch to discover the southern hemisphere as well as do something good with her camera. This combination formed the idea for the 25twenty-five project, where she will be traveling across South America to photograph for 25 NGO’s while she is 25 years old. Departing the United States and headed for Bogota, Colombia this Valentine’s Day, Leah can’t wait to help tell all the stories waiting to be told.
Lindsey Chapman (lindseychapman)
Elementary Experiences
Age: 26
Hometown: Elk River, Minnesota
Current location: Santiago, Chile
Web presence: Facebook, Wordpress
Status: Full-time volunteer for VE Global
Lindsey grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN and went on to earn a degree in biology from Bethel University. She put her degree to good use by moving to the thriving metropolis of Cedar Rapids, IA to work as a sales rep for a large paint company. After three years of entry level sales experience she needed a change of scenery. Recently she’s chosen to volunteer for a nonprofit in Santiago, Chile called VE Global in hopes to add purpose to her own life and bring meaning to others. VE partners with eight different institutions and orphanages within Santiago. Lindsey will be working with young kids over the next three months at Colegio Anakena, which is an elementary school for disabilities. She has three years experience working as a PCA for a boy with downs syndrome so this is a great fit and she embraces the challenges ahead in working with disabilities. This is her first time to Chile, but her second time to South America after taking an interim course in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Lindsey will tell of the life lessons she learns from traveling, working at Colegio Anakena, and partnering with VE, as well as provide comic relief with stories of misadventures with the kids.
Lisa Hetzel (Lisa Hetzel)
Tropicalizándose: From Temporary Volunteer to Permanent Resident
Age: 31
Hometown: Oak Park, Illinois
Current location: Antigua / Guatemala City, Guatemala
Web presence: N/A
Status: Human Resources Director for Common Hope / Fundación Familias de Esperanza
Lisa studied Sociology and Gender and Women’s Studies at Grinnell College in Iowa, including an eye-opening semester of research in Costa Rica. Longing to get back to Central America, in 2003 she made a quick transition from government statistician in Washington, D.C. to full-time teaching volunteer in San Salvador, El Salvador. There she had an amazing experience through the Organization of American States, teaching computer courses to adults with physical disabilities. Later the same year she became a long-term volunteer with Common Hope in Antigua, Guatemala, a nonprofit with an innovative approach to helping low-income children succeed in school. Lisa fell in love with Common Hope’s approach and work environment during her year as a volunteer and became the Human Resources Director, her current position, in 2004. She currently braves Guatemala’s highways during her daily commute between Guatemala City and Antigua, her time for catching up on This American Life and Idealist.org’s latest podcasts.
Matt Aaron (mabogota)
From Profit to Nonprofit
Age: 25
Hometown: Silver Spring, Maryland
Current location: Bogotá, Colombia
Web presence: LinkedIn, Home Page
Status: Volunteer for FuturoJuvenil
Matt is new to the Idealist.org community. Born and raised in Maryland, he received a degree in marketing from University of Maryland – College Park in 2006. That summer, he moved to Houston, where he worked for an interactive marketing agency. In May 2007, Matt started an internet consulting business. A fan of traveling Latin America, Matt has spent time in Buenos Aires and Panama. Now, he is living in Bogota, volunteering with FuturoJuvenil. In his free time, Matt enjoys attempting to learn Spanish, reading, sports, and meditation.
Megan Wood (megawoo)
To Paraguay and Back
Age: 26
Hometown: Waupaca, Wisconsin
Current location: Tavapy Dos, Paraguay
Web presence: N/A
Status: Vice president of The Complete Leaf Company, a fair trade Yerba mate company
Megan was cautioned her very first day in training as a Peace Corps Volunteer that Paraguay gets under your skin. Duly warned, she nevertheless spent two years as a Youth Development Volunteer. While in Paraguay, Megan applied the skills she learned as a Social Work major and intern at Planned Parenthood, teaching everything from family planning to oven construction in her rural community. She finished the requisite two years of service and then headed to Asia with her husband to enjoy the luxuries of spicy food and sandy beaches, all the while maintaining her love of tereré. More like an omen than a warning, Megan’s now back in landlocked Paraguay, helping her husband start a fair trade Yerba mate company with her former neighbors. When not insisting she isn’t pregnant, Megan can be found in the garden, reading, or doing Pilates on the dirt floor in her house.
Mira Pope aka Mira Talbott-Pope (mirapope)
Untiring Retiree
Age: 73
Hometown: Chico, California
Current location: San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala
Web presence: Facebook, blog
Status: Volunteer with Pedagogia Basica, Estamos Listos, and Ayudame Escribir Mi Futuro
Formerly a teacher, social worker and psychotherapist, Miranda first came to Guatemala on the evening of her 70th birthday and has been living there for nearly three years, first near Antigua and now at Lago Atitlan. Her current house—a rental with the project leader—is in San Pedro la Laguna, a smallish mostly-indigenous town with a long history of foreign influence, as it is one of the most studied areas of Guatemala. Thus it has an interesting mix of elements: traditional (clothing and cultural events) and modern (internet shops, restaurants and hotels, some cable TV.) Miranda is by constitution a writer. She has just published her first novel, set in Guatemala, which was an opportunity to write about her discoveries of the country’s history and culture. Her current interests are developing more interactive education in the schools, helping to preserve Guatemalan culture through murals and stories for children, and dancing salsa.
Rebecca Stumpf (beckarie)
Empowering communities, one photo at a time
Age: 28
Hometown: Longmont, Colorado
Current location: Copey de Dota, Costa Rica
Web presence: Website, Peace Corps blog, Photo blog, Food blog, Facebook
Status: Peace Corps Volunteer (Children, Youth and Family program)
It all began with a high-school exchange trip to Japan. That’s where Rebecca discovered her desire for something beyond the ordinary. From that first trip, to now, it has been quite a circuitous route. To sum it all up…it went a little like this: Psychology, Photography, Psychology, Photojournalism, Journalism, Intercultural Youth Development, Peace Corps (in which all of the above is currently combined into one). Her true passion is photography and youth work – i.e. sharing her passion for photography with kids, allowing them to share their view of the world through images. Rebecca’s personal photographic work is humanitarian-focused because she believes in the power of images for social change. Rebecca is obsessed with all things food related and cooking, and she could eat breakfast for every meal, 365 days a year. Yoga, hiking, painting, gardening, and killing very large, black spiders in her house are also on her list of usual activities.
Rob Packer (robpacker)
Kiva Fellow on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast
Age: 27
Hometown: London, England
Current location: Barranquilla, Colombia
Web presence: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, CouchSurfing, Blog, Kiva Fellows
Status: Kiva Fellow in Colombia
Rob is originally from London, England. He studied modern languages at university and then moved into an investment bank, passing through London and Hong Kong before deciding to make the jump and move into something more philanthropic in Latin America. He joined Kiva as part of their Fellows Program in October 2009 and spent his first placement in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia—his Russian skills were more in demand than his Spanish ones. Now in Latin America, he is currently based in Barranquilla, Colombia and will be working with the Fundación Mario Santo Domingo, a completely new Kiva partner and foundation looking at the development of the Caribbean Coast region.
Sebastian Kindsvater (sebastiankindsvater)
Age: 24
Hometown: Vancouver, B.C. Canada
Current location: San José, Costa Rica
Web presence: Facebook, Twitter
Status: Kiva Coordinator/Loan Officer for Fundación Mujer
Sebastian has many friends back home who simply don’t understand what he is doing in Costa Rica! He seemed to be on a perfectly normal path in acquiring his commerce degree from McGill, and now he’s turned into some kind of social “misfit” with long hair, identifying with injustices in all parts of the world. Although he craves human interaction as much as any of us, he tries not to let his peers drag him down into the trap of complacency and premature cynicism which is so often used to justify non action. Sebastian is unhappy with the general level of acceptance that exists among his peers in the West regarding global poverty and social problems in general. At the same time, he is very excited to be alive in a time when so many amazing individuals and groups are spearheading the charge for social change, and achieving impressive results. Many people see problems and feel it should be up to someone else to solve them. Sebastian feels it is up to all of us.
Sheethal Shobowale (LethalSheethal)
Age: 29, but really 7 1/2 (Leap Year)
Hometown: North Woodmere, New York
Current location: La Paz, Bolivia
Web presence: Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Leap Work company blog
Status: Kiva Fellow in South America – Kiva, Loans that Change Lives!
A native New Yorker, Sheethal attended Columbia University for both her undergraduate degree in Economics-Mathematics and her graduate degree in Strategic Communications. She has worked in investment banking, investment management for Columbia’s endowment, and managed the data, analytics and research group of an online media agency. Combining her passions for social change, technology and community building, she founded Leap Work, a consultancy that works with non-profits and small businesses in their online marketing communications. Sheethal teaches financial literacy to youth and adults and coordinates her local block association. Beginning her dream of working in microfinance, she has served as a Kiva Fellow at microfinance institution Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru and is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow with Emprender in La Paz, Bolivia. She speaks a bit of seven languages, from French to Kannada. Sheethal is also an avid rock climber, rooftop gardener, foodie and international travel fanatic.
