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| Officially launched my fundraising page! |
I finally launched my fundraising page last night and began the process of writing letters to my friends and family. Within a few hours I was able to raise over $50! :) Thank you all for your continued support! I intend for this blog to be an interactive project between my friends, family, donors, and anyone that would like to follow my volunteer experience to the Sacred Valley. Really, it's my way of saying "thank you". I am so grateful for the opportunity to volunteer in the Sacred Valley and your support helps this vision come to life. I can't wait to share all of my experiences with you so please follow my blog. I'm updating my blog frequently so don't miss out!
These upcoming posts are going to talk about the volunteer organizations I will be working: Alternative Breaks @ UCSD and UBELONG. Today, I'm going to talk about Alternative Breaks, or as we refer to it on campus "AB".
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| Alternative Breaks @ UCSD |
Each team is made up of 10 students, 2 site leaders, and a faculty advisor. My team meets every Wednesday in order to prepare for our service in the Spring. During our weekly meetings we usually discuss volunteer logistics, plan group fundraisers, and even practice our Spanish! (I know I need to brush up on my Spanish before I go to Peru!) This academic quarter, members facilitated presentations about Peruvian life including the history, government, economy, and other subjects. This gives us a more informed perspective before we head off to Peru. My presentation was on Peruvian culture but I'll write more about that in a later post. AB@UCSD really puts emphasis on getting educated prior to the service project and reflection after the service project. I guess you could say this blog is also a form of personal reflection throughout my volunteer experience.
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| AB Peru @ Winter Retreat |
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| Grabbing lunch before heading off to retreat |
Just a few weeks ago, the entire Alternative Breaks @ UCSD Collaborative hosted its Winter Retreat in Chula Vista. Since our service teams were formed late fall, Retreat allowed us to bond as a group and get to know other UCSD students who were involved with AB. Of course, a service organization can't get together without doing some kind of volunteer work! Groups were designated to various locations throughout Chula Vista to help pick up litter. Although we'd hope our efforts were able to eliminate pollution in San Diego, I realized that pollution encompasses a larger socio-economic issue that cannot be solved just by picking up trash.
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| Members of AB Peru, AB Guatemala, and AB Puerto Rico cleaning a creek |
AB is sponsored by an organization called Break Away. (Check them out here). Essentially, the philosophy behind both of these organizations is to inspire life-long active citizens through direct service. At UCSD, these trips use education of social justice issues combined with strong direct service to have a lasting impact on students and the communities they work with. If I wasn't involved with AB, I don't think I'd ever hear about the issue of pollution in San Diego.
WOW! That's a lot. I could go on to talk more about AB@UCSD, but I'll leave it there for now. :) Check out the links below for more information!
LINKS
AB@UCSD | abatucsd.org
Break Away | alternativebreaks.org
In Service,
Jeanie :)
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