Almost Home

Hello all!

 

It was 24 degrees this morning when I left for work. Yikes. By noon, it had warmed up to... 33 degrees. Seriously? It is most definitely time to come home to the Sunshine State! 

I just got back from Ecuador. What an incredible experience! We visited the capital, Quito, where we saw an orphanage, heard from The Nature Conservancy, and saw microfinance projects...for starts. In Otavalo we saw an organic water sanitation project and Ecuador's largest market. In Tena, which is in the jungle, we visited a village and learned about the impact of oil companies on their lifestyles. In the Galapagos we heard from the National Park Service and the impacts on tourism and fishing on the fragile ecosystem. It was a whirlwind tour in which I learned so much. 

My experience in Washington, DC has been incredible. The Washington Semester Program is one that Stetson works with, so your scholarships easily transfer. I highly recommend it to anyone, there are programs other than International Environment and Development which might tickle your fancy. I had better go, there is lots to be done before I board that plane on Friday. May you have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year! 

I am sometimes hesitant to write. While I am having a wonderful time and learning so much, very little of what I am learning is positive. I straddle wanting to find something up-lifting to share, but yet wanting to be honest about my experiences. 

I am studying International Environment and Development, a class, in my opinion, should be a requirement for every college student. In both fields, things are pretty dismal. Every organization I visit whether it is the USAID to the Ocean Conservancy painfully admits that the last eight years have been a detriment to environmental initiatives and developmental projects on the both the international and domestic stage. While strides have been made for HIV/AIDS, every other area has fallen behind. They are currently 30 armed conflicts, not including violent gang "wars." These conflicts reverse development, halt education, and destroy the environment. 1.2 billion people do not have access to clean water and 6,000 children die a day from diarrheal diseases that are 90% preventable with clean water. 1.2 billion people also live on less than $1 a day; when people are starving education is not a priority, nor is the environment. 

And while I, and others have the tendency to dwell on this dire situation, we must remind ourselves that change is possible and great strides have been made in the past 50-100 years. People's minds can change and culture is malleable. 

Internationally, life expectancy around the world has doubled, mother-child mortality rates have more than halved and the use of substances harmful to the ozone has been almost completely eliminated. The United Nations has set forth eight Millennium Development Goals and many of them are seeing vast improvements. Domestically, a woman is a legitimate candidate for VP (legitimate in that she could actually win), when only 30 years ago this was unfeasible. Only 40 years ago, cops were setting dogs loose on African Americans, but today a black man could obtain the highest office in our country. This final example alone could also spark great changes internationally as the global community looks to the US to see where we will next step. 

There is hope for improvement if we look for it in the right places. We must also individually continue to do our little share. "What use is a fine house if we haven't a tolerable planet to put it on? -Thoreau 

Gentry

Pictures from El Convento del Buen Pastor

Crazy lil' girls

Doing some intense homework

Sarah and her mad spanish skills at work

The homework table

Crazy Julieta

Hola Bonneritos!

I hope you all are getting ready for Halloween and eating as much pumpkin flavoring as you can! For those that know me, pumpkin is my favorite, and I'm barely getting by without it. : )

Some of you may find it creepy, but I've fallen in love with the picture above, "Catrina," by one of my favorite artists, Posada. It's been a constant reminder of that recurring theme here, of making the most of every moment in life, so I thought I'd share it with you all as well. Not to mention, it carries a bit of that Day of the Dead-spirit with it. 

I've continued tutoring at the Convent along with Sarah and Meghan, but just wish I could build closer relationships with some of students. It's really difficult to build the trust between them when the girls aren't always present, there is always a surplus of volunteers, and of course the restraints of the language barrier. However, their sincere hugs and desire to learn keep me coming back. Like Meghan, I want these girls to have the opportunity to go to college and pursue their own passions. 

Speaking of passions, I have really delved into mine recently. This past June I was in Guatemala with Dr. Hallum's NGO, AIR, and after witnessing their success, I felt the need to help them expand to other needy parts of Latin America. So, I've begun the grant writing process for AIR to receive more funds to begin a new branch in the Honduran community of Mico Quemado (burnt monkey). At first I was so overwhelmed and intimidated by the amount of paper work required, but after finishing my first grant proposal I know this is what I want and need to be doing with my service. 

There is an essay, called "To Hell with Good Intentions," by Ivan Illich, that was a major factor in my decision to help AIR or not.  Who knows if it was meant to be a satire or not, but it sure does provoke some controversial questions concerning Americans' "voluntary" involvement in Latin America. He claims American volunteers hurt most of these places more than help, because our attempts to do good are corrupted by our values of democracy, equal opportunity, and free enterprise. With different values than us, Latin Americans are incapable of profiting from our 'help,' and we ultimately just cause them  more problems. AIR's unique approach to conservation is that their staff is all native; therefore, before larger American organizations cause more disruption, I think it's important to promote AIR and other native run, American funded programs.

I'll step off the soapbox now. But, if you all want to read the essay I mentioned, you can here at http://www.swaraj.org/illich_hell.htm

Miss you and I send my B-love!

Heather

P.S. Here's the first couple lines from a Pablo Naruda poem that I hope is a bit of motivation for us all...

Muere lentamente quien no viaja,

Quien no lee,

Quien no oye música,

Quien no encuentra gracia en sí mismo.

Muere lentamente quien destruye su vida propia,

Quien no se deja ayudar. 

Hey! How is everyone? I know you all just had a Fall Break -- while you were enjoying your break, I was having my own little mini Fall Break with some friends, here in Mexico. We went to Puerto Vallarta, sorry I have to rub it in. It was heaven on earth, the best 2 days I've spent since I arrived (I mean Mexico, in general, is pretty cool, but Guanajuato is in the dead center and the nearest beach is 10 hours away, so I was beyond happy to see the ocean).

Well I have 6 weeks left in the G-T-O it's amazing to think about that considering I arrived on July 27 and started classes in the beginning of August. Some of my classes are finished in November --- beyond excited! It's bittersweet though, as much as Guanajuato has changed me for the absolute best I do miss home, miss the little things. Like I posted in my first entry, you walk everywhere here, yeah there's public transportation but the majority of the locals walk walk and walk. And so do I. Therefore, it's obvious to say that I miss the luxury of having my car. And some days I just want to throw in the towel (no not from walking) but I always pull myself together, cry on the inside or vent to a friend and move on. Besides, it's not perminent, I will return to the great US of A. And once I do calm down, breathe in the air and look around, I can't help to think how LUCKY I am to be abroad, to experience and see all the wonderful things Guanajuato has to offer. This experience has been absolutely life changing!

I have a quick little story about my work site, I would love to share. First the convent is far from my house, so the days I go, I miss comida (lunch) with my host family and eat around 4 (meals here are at really weird times, 7:30 breakfast, 3:00 lunch and 9 pm dinner) by that time I'm starving. ANYWAYS ... once I get to my work site, I'm so happy. I love hearing the girls say my name, some of them can't say Meghan instead they say Maggie. They're excited to see all of us and I'm excited to see them. They brighten my day! Well one day, I met a girl there we started talking and sharing basically our dreams and passions. I told her how I was a student at the Unviersity of Guanajuato and she went on telling me how she sits on the steps of the university and dreams about the day when she's an university student. Of course, me being very sentimental had to swallow and hold back the tears. But I couldn't help but think how this 15 year old girl in front of me, who does not have the financial means or family support to go onto college sharing her ultimate goal in life with ME ... a complete stranger. At the end of the day, she wrote me a letter which basically said how much she enjoyed our conversation and how she's never met anyone who cares about HER. I did not write this story to brag but simply to make all of you realize that you could be the most important person in someone's life, even if its just for a minute! And I truly believe our organization is the epidome of what mentors and leaders should be. I hope and pray that she finds away to get to college.

I hope all is well in good 'ol Deland.

BONNER LOVE SIEMPRE
-Meghan

Hola Todos!!



This is Sarah, not Meghan. I'm kinda a dinosaur with this stuff so I have to use her profile lol. I'm studying abroad in Mexico this semester and loving every second of it... I'm already dreading when December comes even though I miss all of you and can't wait to meet the new Bonners. I studied here in Guanaujato last summer and came back to spend more time here and its defeintly "vale la pena por seguro" (worth it for sure!).

I'm volunteering at La Casa de Buen Pastor, its a convent that runs a home for girls that have a lower economic status. It's really cool. I was nervous at first because I was afraid the youth would be so use to volunteers coming and going for short time periods that they wouldn't really take to us, but it has turned out really well. We're there on Monday and Wednesdays in the afternoon tutoring. Sometimes in can be really hard because of the language barrier and sometimes their homework is a little harder in Spanish than I can do. i really like working with the elementary school youth, especially since I can rock that kindergarden Spanish homework! There's one little girl Julieta that I try to do homework with, but she's not very into doing her homework so that can be quite the challenge. The girls are all really nice and its a fun position to have here in Mexico. It is definetly harder finding volunteer work than I thoguht it would be, like Heather had said also.

Besides volunteering, I am on the intrafalcon (intramurals) basketball team for la escuela de idiomas. oh, and do we represent La Idiomas! We lost our last two games por un masacre... pero fue divertida! It's fun playing basketball and trying to speak spanish running up and down the court... its pretty entertaining to say the least:) i'm also taking lots of dance classes trying to learn how to have rythm and its getting better. and besides that I'm enjoying just exploring the city, trying spicy food on the streets, and spending time with Mexican friends (and International too!). I think I may be learning more spanish slang than formal spanish, but that's ok. it's all a part of the expereince and so far it has been an incredible experience!

I hope everything is going great in DeLand and with each of your service sites!

Hasta Luego,
Sara con hache (Sarah)

It's thunderstorming. Florida style. I just got up from my desk to open the windows a bit, to better hear the rain, sat back down and thought of you, my friends at home. All is well in the capital city, it's a little charged, like the current weather conditions, but mostly optimistic. 

Stetson has a wonderful little community of students now calling this home. We get together less often than we should, but with Matt and Darash's very short sojourn we collected ourselves for a wonderful dinner. I was envious when I heard Matt and Darash visited you in DeLand and I missed them, but I got my chance eventually. 

I've been working with the Amazon Alliance, an NGO which supports the ecological and cultural vitality of Amazonia by making sure the indigenous peoples and their organizations have a voice and power in decisions and provisions which affect their land, communities and way of life. I spend a lot of my time researching and learning about the threats and challenges facing the Amazonian inhabitants. In November, I get to return to the Amazon, this time to Ecuador. There I will meet with indigenous organizations and get to do some sightseeing, including snorkeling in the Galápagos. Working with this organization, my love of the rainforest has once again be re-ignited. When I was in 2nd grade, my sister, a 5th grader, came home with stories of deforestation and habitat destruction. We both were very struck and began making posters and t-shirts warning Americans of the problems in the Amazon. But the fervor died down, and Americans even thought that the problem was solved. This is not the case. 

I have been learning about activism: There is a village on a river. One day, babies started floating down the river, crying and struggling against the current. Some villagers jumped in, and rescued the babies. The town organized and some people agreed to care for them, while others did the rescuing. The babies didn't stop coming. One day, two townspeople stopped their work in the river and offer to go up river to stop the people who must be throwing the babies in the water. The other villagers didn't understand and didn't all agree. They needed those two people to help pull babies from the water. There are two types of activists in this story, those that prefer to help on a one-by-one basis and those that go "up river" to the source of the problem. It was interesting to debate in class why people choose one type over the other. The motivations for the individual approach include instant gratification, the feeling of having a purpose, to alleviate the feeling of guilt, to act on human instinct to help and to build community around a common project. Why wouldn't the villagers want to go up river? There is fear surrounding the unknown, if you achieve the goal of stopping the babies then what do you have to live for, trying to fix the real problem make take precious time for serving individuals and you may run into conflict. These are just some ideas. What type of activist are you? Both are important, but take some time to think about your motivations and what goals you hope to accomplish. 

I look forward to meeting you in January. Keep up the good work. Every week I meet people who make your hobby their life's work. Some days, it's an inspiration and other days, disquieting; but those are the ups and downs of service. I do hope all is well in your lives. 

Gentry

Don't Worry ... Be Happy ... (No te preocupes ... estar feliz)...

Hola Todos!

I miss all of you -- I can't wait to see all your lovely faces in January. But as of now, I am enjoying my time abroad. Hi to all the new Bonners. I've heard a lot of awesome things about you.

So I guess I am suppose to share my adventures here in Guanajuato. Let's just say, everyday is a new adventure -- I seriously have to train my brain to think in Spanish and sometimes it can be extremely difficult. I volunteer along with Heather and Sarah. I am pretty sure we're all enjoying our volunteer site. Some days can be very boring and its disheartening at times, because I want to do more but there's only so much you can do in 2 hours. The girls at La Casa de Buen Pastor (a foster-home run in a convent) can be great and productive but there's times when they're stubborn and won't do their homework. However, I do like visiting them 2x a week -- besides its the best way to practice my Spanish.


Ok besides volunteering my days are spent touring Guanajuato ... I have a 15 minute walk from my house to school. Guanajuato is all hills!!! My legs are receiving the best workout. Despite walking all over, I do like it -- the buildings here are so colorful and the people are really nice. My host family rocks ... they have so much patience. Sometimes I feel so bad for them because my Spanish at times isn't up to par! ... but they understand.

Lets see...my favorite adventure thus far...too many to name but one of my favorite memories is walking down my callejon (alley way) eating a warm quesadilla at 10:30 at night with my housemate. I don't know what that's so memorable but it is. We don't eat dinner until 9 or 9:30 here.

Alrighty that's it for now. Sorry I have nothing else to say this time around... Nos Vemos, Hasta Luego!

BONNER LOVE
Meghan!

En Vida, Hermano, En Vida

Hola mis Bonners!
First, I just have to say that the one thing I miss the most about Stetson is you all. The thought of returning is kind of depressing, seeing that the workload here is almost zilch, but I can’t wait to meet everyone new and catch up with everyone else back on campus. México has been incredible so far: the excursions, tutoring at the Convent, getting to know my host family, and most of all dancing! My favorite and the most adventurous excursion had to have been the 6 hour horseback ride up a volcano. 3 people got kicked off their horses because their was a hail/rain/lightening storm!
But I’m beginning to think that my journey to find a service opportunity has been my biggest adventure yet. I came with a couple environmental organizations in mind, but soon found out that they were too far out of the city to travel to weekly. Then, within the first week, I happened upon a protest and met “the director” of an environmental organization and he graciously invited me to a meeting that night in a hotel. Luckily I had the wits to ask our advisor about the hotel and organization, and she was quick to tell me not to go because the hotel didn’t have a meeting room, and she had never heard of his “organization.” So, just as a warning, don’t trust anyone you have just met abroad. Even though they may seem like they have a great heart, it may be filled with bad intentions.
So now, I am volunteering at El Convento del Buen Pastor, only 5 minutes from my house and I look forward to it every Monday and Wednesday. At first, I was a little skeptical because I didn’t want to be another temporary person in these little girls’ lives and hurt them even more. But, as I’ve come to learn, these girls look forward to our coming more than I could have imagined, and without us there to encourage them, It’s hard to believe that they would get much of their homework done. Today, I worked with a girl named Julieta, who has the biggest attitude for a 6 year old (More than last year’s Pearson kids combined : )), but when I got ready to go she wouldn’t let go of me. It just goes to show that no matter how they act they appreciate our being there, and it makes me love it even more.
I feel like this theme of living in the present has summarized my trip so far. I am doing things I would have never imagined myself doing, and making the most of the moments I have with the girls at the convent. My friend Felipe introduced me to a poem that has been on my mind ever since and I just thought I would share it with you all. For those of you that don’t know Spanish, it pretty much says to not wait to do anything your heart desires, but to do it in life.

B-LOVE, Heather G.

EN VIDA, HERMANO, EN VIDA 

De: Ana María Rabatte

Si quieres hacer feliz, 

a alguien que quieres mucho, 

dícelo hoy, sé muy bueno ... 

en vida, hermano, en vida. 

Si deseas dar una flor 

no esperes a que se mueran, 

mándala hoy con amor ... 

en vida, hermano, en vida. 

Si deseas decir : ‘Te quiero" 

a la gente de tu casa, 

al amigo cerca o lejos ... 

en vida, hermano , en vida. 

Tu serás muy, muy feliz, 

si aprendes a hacer felices, 

a todos los que conozcas ... 

en vida , hermano , en vida. 

Nunca visites panteones, 

ni llenes de tumbas flores, 

llena de amor corazones ... 

en vida , hermano, en vida.

Welcome!

This semester, Stetson University's Bonner program has committed itself to exploring Web 2.0 technology. By using these new resources, we hope to have students who are studying abroad maintain a more active presence with students on campus (and vice-versa). So far, this has been accomplished through the posting of online training and enrichment on the Bonner program wiki and through Skype conversations. Blogging will join the ranks as another way to keep in close communication.

Presently, Bonner students can be found in Guanajuato, Mexico and in Washington DC! Check back frequently for updates from each of these places.