Joey is a Colorado transplant originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. Upon completing a National Outdoor Leadership School semester in the Rocky Mountains Joey moved to Boulder for school and to be near all the outdoor experiences Colorado and the mountains had to offer. 
Service, teaching, and creativity are at the heart of Mary’s work and play. She has called many places home including rural Paraguay. There
she served as a beekeeping and small business development volunteer with the Peace Corps. 
Erick is a native Costa Rican who enjoys the outdoors and traveling around the world. He graduated from Berea College in Kentucky where he studied biology and Business Administration. Welcome Global Works travelers, parents and friends. We are excited to share with you trip updates from around the world. As our main office receives updates from the trips we will update the page as we receive news from the field.
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Welcome from your Global Works Leaders!
¡Hola! ¿Que tal? We’re really excited to meet all of you and have a fun and rewarding experience in Nicaragua. Here are just a few things we’re looking forward to:
-Sharing the joy and adventure of traveling in a foreign land with each of you
-Making a positive impact on the communities we visit
-Improving as individuals by pushing ourselves outside ofur comfort zone
-Singing “Nicaragua, Nicaraguita” a capella style
Last summer in Nicaragua, we had the pleasure of learning a traditional song. Our host, Julio taught us the lyrics and made us sing it repeatedly! I think many of us still have it stuck in our heads. Here is a youtube video (unfortuntely we didn’t film Julio singing it, so this will have to do) with English subtitles. Que disfrutes! (Enjoy!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp7-nWslZe0
¡Hasta pronto!
Erick, Joey & Mary
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Update #1:
June 26th: As we navigated our way through the Miami airport on day one, smiles spread across our faces upon spotting a familiar green Global Works t-shirt among a sea of strangers. Since many of us arrived hours early, we shared a lot of laughs as we got to know each other. The West coast kids told the New Yorkers they envied their lively city, while the New Yorkers told the Californians that they wish they had the warm weather of the West coast. We felt like friends before we even boarded the plan—maybe because of the shared and palpable excitement that hung in the air. When we stood up to board the plane, Mary exclaimed, “Let’s go change the world,” adding to the enthusiasm we were all feeling
As we were landing in Managua, many stared out of the window in shock— a built up city with lights was not expected; we thought we would be in the middle of nowhere surrounded by dirt roads. When we went through customs, we were surprised to see that the customs forms we so meticulously filled out on the plane were haphazardly thrown in a pile. We retrieved our bags and found hundreds of people pressed up against the glass windows starting at us like we were animals in a zoo. We ventured out into the crowd and the sticky Nicaraguan night. A man beckoned us to follow him, and we were relieved to find out that it was just Erick—one of our trip leaders.
While we were waiting for our bus, we were heartbroken to see young kids trying to sell us flowers made out of palm. We thought they should be at home, not in a big city, alone at night. The drive from Managua to our hostel was our first real glimpse of Nicaraguan life—through the dim street lights we saw horse carts sharing the road with cars and animals everywhere. The Hostel Oasis, although it looked dingy from the outside, was, like its name, peaceful and charming inside. We passed by the quaint courtyard, lined with hammocks, and ate pizza for dinner—easing into our first night in this new place. Written by Maggie Moran
June 27th:
7:00 a.m.
Waking up early from a night of tossing and turning, breakfast consisted of eggs, beans, rice and an assortment of fruit awaited us in the dining room. Soon after breakfast a group bonding session was held in the living room. The early sunshine bounced off of Mary’s face as she gave us instructions for icebreakers—first we lined up by order of height without speaking or opening your eyes. After a few more getting to know you exercises, we gathered to form our contract—our secret agreement on reaching our goals and a collective morale that will carry us through for the rest of our trip.
11:00 a.m.
We were informed by Erick of the frenzy of the Nicaraguan streets but our bubbles remained intact until the hostel door inched open. The scent of horse manure rushed up our noses as the hectic crowds and vehicles came at us in every possible direction. In Nicaragua, everyone has the right of way! At the plaza, as Erick explained the scavenger hunt, we met a man who supported his family by carving maracas. Seemingly impossible designs appeared on the maracas, as shavings fell to the ground. He depicted scenes of Nicaraguan life on each maraca. We interacted with the local vendors and citizens in order to complete our scavenger hunt. During the process, we not only learned about the many facts, like the president’s name but we felt the enthusiasm that the locals showed us. They were more than delighted to answer our questions. The warm expressions of the high school girl melted our initial barrier.
6 30 p.m.
When we were young our parents always told us not to waste food because of the starving kids around the world. Tonight, they were right behind us. Though each bore different expressions, their eyes exposed dire hunger. The kids and the dogs alike begged for food. In such poverty-stricken areas, survival and the welfare of the family seems to come before pride and dignity. It was rewarding for us to give away our leftovers that would have otherwise gone to waste.
8:00 p.m
“Uno, dos, tres.”As Martin’s passionate voice resonated in the spacious ballroom, the chandelier just above us dimly illuminated the room, as we fumbled through basic Salsa steps. Some people were uneasy at first, but in the words of our contract we had to step outside of our comfort zone and be fearless, so eventually we all did. As the lesson carried on, we graduated to the balcony above, where we received curious glances from the local passing by. We danced in partners and had a lot of fun. We were only two days into the trip, but we had more fun than we’ve had in a while. Written by Chaz
Update #2:
A couple of us went in the market to do some shopping. We were approached by a man named Martin who was selling beautiful maracas and carving them right in front of us. I bought some and took a picture with him. Later, we went to dinner in small groups but we all ended up at the same place—the only restaurant with air conditioning.
The trip to El Sauce was filled with exotic landscapes. We mostly saw spaced out houses, cows and horses. It rained on and off but the gloomy weather couldn’t keep our spirits down. The conversation flowed between all of us. We got settled in to Hotel Blanco and had a great meal. Tomorrow we go to the community where we will be working. I already like this hotel because there are no bunk beds! By Samuel Drummonds
6/29: Today was the first day we weren’t in Grenada, and it was a very hard day. We thought the people in Grenada were poor—until we came to Sauce. People are actually living in shacks on their farm. It really struck me that these people had absolutely nothing and they were just used to it because that’s all they ever knew.
When we pulled up to the Reserva Madronos, where we will be working, we met our guide, Noni is tall, thin and sweet with a thick foreign accent. I’m not sure where he’s from—he’s not Nicaraguan and he’s not American. Noni took us on a bush-whacking hike through the back end of the reserve—it was the longest hike I’ve ever done in my life. I’m from New York City and I don’t go on hikes like this. The forest was full of life and beautiful. Noni showed us a graph that displayed the amount of rainforests in Nicaragua over the years. It was sad and frightening to see how little forest is expected to still be here in 40 years. Although it was gorgeous, it was hard for me to fully appreciate because there were spiky thorns poking us along the way, and the fuzzy centipedes kind of gave me chills. However, the point of the trip was not to complain about the negatives, but to absorb all the positives Nicaragua is giving us so we can give positives back. After the hike, we started the real work on the reserve. We took baby trees and planted them under the blazing sun. We all worked on this with the goal of planting 2,000 trees before we leave Sauce.
I really miss home— the small luxuries like hot showers and air conditioning, and my family and friends too. I especially miss my mom but I keep thinking about how proud she would be of me if she could see me here. Sometimes the work is really hard but I know we are making a difference and that makes it all worth it. By Nikki
Update #3:
6/30: The morning started off with the beep beep beep of my alarm clock, which I begrudgingly turned off. However, just like back in the states, when you turn an alarm clock off, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get up. I slept for 15 minutes more and was ready for breakfast by 7 a.m. Breakfast consisted of a pancake-like omelets, sweet cookie bread and fake orange juice—think Sunny D. Work in the morning started with painting a sign for the reserve and planting. The planting makes me want to come back to the Madronos Reserve in 15 years and see all the trees. Lunch came as a relief and we all filled ourselves up on amazing beef and a “different” drink, reminiscent of bubble gum-flavored Pepto Bismol. After lunch we hiked to Paula’s house. Paula, her husband Juan, and their children all work to save the reserve. Paula also prepares our lunch every day. The baby chickens were the first thing I noticed and we all started chasing them and trying to pick them up. The Nicaraguans were much better at this than we were. They were soft and fluffy and possibly the cutest chickens I’ve ever seen. At Paula’s house, we met Ricardo, her grandson. 8-year old Ricardo quickly set up an impromptu game of futbol for us with his friends. He used sticks for goal posts and a deflated ball. The game was a little crazy but we were having fun and sweating buckets (Except for the Nicaraguans who seem to be immune to the heat). It’s humbling to see how happy these people are with how little they have. Dinner was grilled chicken, rice, a pineapple drink and pasta with sauce. Going to bed full and tired makes me see how happy a simple life can be. By Danielle McDonald
7/1/: I woke up at 6:55am on the first Friday of our trip. I shifted tiredly downstairs for breakfast with my friends. Soon after, we were at the work site for a long day of trail building, hole digging and fence-making. About half way through we stopped for lunch. After finishing my food, Juan continually offered me more. This was a surprise to me, as it shattered my initial impression that Nicaraguans had limited resource. After lunch, we decided to play a quick game of soccer with the kids in the neighborhood. It was amazing to see that although they had so little they seemed to be having a great time. Their faces radiated an infectious joy. The group had just much as fun playing with a little baby named Mari. As soon as we finished our day of work, we ate dinner. We were all anxious to find out the secret activities we were going to be doing that night. Soon enough, they announced that we were going to play a game of King Crab in which everyone had to crab walk and grab the slippers of each person. The last man standing or crawling, wins. Although the group was already close we became more of a family. We laughed, we cheered and we smiled together. We were able to enjoy an intense game and it bonded us even closer. Our second activity was the Lying Game in which two people say identical statements but one of the 2 is lying. The group then asked details to determine the liar. This activity brought about more stories and more thing to talk about within the group. Every individual shared funny and illuminating tales. After talking a bit more, we all went to our rooms to prepare for yet another interesting day. By Randy Emens
Photos coming soon!
Update #4:
July 2nd - By Cara
My day started off earlier than most people with a 2 ½ mile run through El Sauce with Hallie, Maggie, Joey and Mary. We returned hot and sweaty to find that both the fans and showers were not working at our hotel; a typical happening in Nicaragua. After breakfast we spent the morning at the reserve, laying rocks for the trails, digging holes for posts and planting trees.
Following an agonizingly slow two hour lunch at a small local restaurant, we learned that we would be participating in the Amazing Race: El Sauce. In groups of three we raced around the town to discover clues and complete tasks. In the beginning we had to eat some gross cheese, which we immediately spit out all over the street. Some tasks required to buy unusual items, such as soap and raisins. Other clues required us to pose with the locals. Unlike in America they didn’t question why and were glad to help and give us things for free. However they did seem a bit confused as they laughed with us as we completed our task. Later we had to stuff our faces with donuts and picos (a breakfast pastry) and carry a delicious but sloppy burger all the way to the finish line. At one point we rushed into Eskimo, a local ice cream shop. We dashed out each with a dessert in hand and sprinted to the steps of the Iglesia (church) which were wet from rain. Corey began by shoving a crunchy ice cream cone into his mouth. His cheeks were stuffed out like a chipmunk’s as he forced more of the cold treat down. Next Lindsey inhaled her ice cream sandwich like a vacuum, and I followed with a freezing gross fruit bar which stung my throat. We were transported from stores to churches to restaurants in caponeras (bicycle taxis). The bumpy ride became more exhilarating with every dip in the ground. Every time we passed a caponera with other global works people inside we would shout, “¡Hola!” and cheer. Tension increased as time went on and we all had our eyes on the finish. My group finished first, and then we anxiously awaited the other groups to arrive. We shared stories about our adventure and laughed together and looked forward to hearing the results at dinner. Back at the hotel each group presented their purchases and how they procured them. The results were in and my team had won! Our prize was that the leaders would be our servants for an entire day, and also plan a day of activities at our next destination on Ometepe. The Amazing Race gave us a deeper insight of life in Nicaragua, and we had a fantastic time experiencing it!
July 3rd – By Belinda Beqo
On a typical Sunday morning in the states, you would wake up, and watch some cartoons while enjoying a nice lovely breakfast. On a Sunday morning in Nicaragua, we woke up at five-thirty a.m. to go hike up a volcano. Cerro Negro was mind blowing as I stood at the top I watched the group run down the volcano which consisted of rocks that looked like crushed Oreo cookies. I developed a fear of heights as my heart started beating faster and my mind shouted “I can’t do this.” It reminded me of rock climbing in North Carolina last summer, when I had to climb up cedar rock mountain I remember standing a long a ledge crying because I was too scared to climb up the rest. My legs felt like blocks of ice. I got that same feeling at the top of Cerro Negro. But if I was able to climb up that rock I knew I was capable of running down this volcano. Step by step and with the help of my leaders and group members I ran down and overcame my fear. The one thing I would never recommend is to go out to eat in Nicaragua. A long bumpy bus ride followed by a long wait for food was not my definition of a happy day. However, exploring the empty and lion-themed city of Leon and seeing the views on the top of the volcano made it one of the most memorable days of my life.
July 4th – By Lisa Weingarten
We woke up this morning looking forward to our final day at the work site. It was hard to imagine that after all the work we had done it could end so abruptly. Time flew by as we engaged in a variety of activities including digging ditches for wooden poles that would support a barbed wire fence, planting trees, creating a trail through the reservation, collecting tarnished barbed wire, and finishing a sign to ward off hunters and those who would cut down trees. Although the scorching sun beat down on us, we continued to work full force without complaint so we could ensure a lasting impact accompanied with a positive attitude. As the work day winded down we shared a bittersweet goodbye with Bismarck and Noni who coordinated and dedicated themselves to this project. They were so appreciative of all our hard work and we thank them for inspiriting and encouraging us throughout this experience. They will forever be in our minds and hearts and we can’t wait to hear about the future achievements of this project. We took what would be quiet bus ride back to the hotel and injected with it some silly humor—singing a song about peeling, picking, eating and then GOING bananas. At times the bus would have to stop wild bulls, pigs and goats pass, but we hardly noticed it anymore.
We kept asking our leaders how we could celebrate the 4th of July in a foreign country, but they kept us in the dark to keep it a surprise. But, the best surprise would have to be when we returned to the hotel and the cold showers were actually working! Dinner was an appreciated attempt at a classic 4th of July dinner with burgers and fries. Sure, it didn’t tastes like something off of our Dads’ grill but it was still a sweet gesture.
After dinner, we walked in the comfortable night air and received a special ice cream treat. Maybe it was because of the sugar high induced by our sweet treat, but we were so excited as we walked through the streets of El Sauce, laughing and giggling looking forward to the fireworks that awaited us. Once we reached the courtyard it was so incredibly hilarious watching our group leaders with their headlamps attempt to ignite the fireworks. Originally, we were the only ones, watching the sparks in the sky, but soon, an entire crowd cheering and laughing with us. It’s safe to say we all enjoyed our 4th of July in a foreign country.
July 5th – By Grace
Through the course of my journey in Nicaragua, I have discovered the beauty within the relationship between man and nature. Sometimes we forget the things our ancestors used to do before machines in order to stay alive. The simple things people do here such as milking cows rather than using machines reminds me of that man and nature relationship that should be so deeply cherished but is so easily forgotten. As we approach the small farm of Paula and her family, the differences between the way she lives and the way I lived are extremely obvious. I struggle to wake up at 6:45 while she struggles to push her daily chores forward 3 hours. Milking the cows was a completely new experience and I’m so grateful Paula allowed us to experience it. Although to her it may have seemed like a small gesture, it opened a completely new way of looking at life and my interactions with what surrounds me everyday. After milking the cows with Paula and her family moved on towards the school. Everyone on the trip was excited to interact and communicate with the children in the community. To our surprise, the children learned the small amount of English we taught them rather quickly. Deciding to move on to something they would enjoy more, we brought them outside and allowed them to teach us the games they played regularly with their friends. They were eager to include us as much as possible. The small things they do again remind me the differences between my community and theirs. Unlike the games played among children in the U.S, where we have a winner and a loser, the children in the Nicaraguan community play a game where you give a person you like the most a hug or a kiss on the cheek. This demonstrates the closeness in the community and the comfort they feel with teach other. As our day comes to an end we prepare to say our goodbyes, I feel sadness in knowing I won’t be able to see them again. But, what I learned from these children and their families is something I will remember and carry with me for the rest of my life.
Video Update!
Update # 5:
July 6 - By Lindsey McDonald
Changing hurriedly in the bathroom, I couldn’t hold back my excitement to sprint out on the sand towards the clear and surprisingly warm water. The perfect break from a full week of hard work and cold showers was the freedom to unwind or do absolutely nothing onthe beach of San Juan del Sur. After the leaders outlined the boundaries, our troop of 18 stormed the beach. It was awesome. I lied back in the water letting the salt buoy me up like a rubber ducky in a bathtub. From my view, I could see the quaint houses and shacks surrounding the crescent shaped beach. As the current turned me around, I experienced what had to be themost variety of boats I’d ever seen. Small, turquoise tug boats were docked next to large, peach sailboats. I hope I forever remember this mental image. After lunch, we saw the natives hoisting up some volleyball nets so we went over and asked if we could play. Though no one called me out on it, I soon learned that I’m not as good at volleyball as I thought I was. After peppering (a volleyball warm up) for 20 minutes or so, a Nicaraguan man in an official-looking blue polo, asked us if we wanted to play. With 5 Americans on our side, and 2 Nicaraguans on theirs, the game began. They served first and we all watched as the ball made a thud by our feet. 1-0 Nicaragua. The game continued like this with an odd point or two on our side. Despite our lower score, it was a lively match and both teams walked off the court smiling. The day concluded with a serene ferry ride to two volcanoes, where our new home and roommates awaited.
July 7 - By Jake Kent
Today on the far side of the long but fun travel day, we arrived in our new community on Isla Ometepe called Los Ramos. We were no longer surrounded by our past loves of Paula, Ricardo, Juan and the rest of the crew at La ReservaLos Madronos en Santa Rosa, but we were received by such a bienvenidos from our new friends, that our broken hearts began to mend. Immediately after beginning to leave the main road of the community, we were quickly ushered off the bus by the community, that had been anxiously awaiting our arrival along the ruta. Now complete with drums, horns and masks, they proceeded to march us down the long but seemingly short distance to the center of town to take part in more celebrations. These celebrations included, much to our excitement and wonderment, the red and yellow tinged dance of Nicaragua, the almost commercial Ometepe anthem, HimnoNacional de Nicaragua and a mime comedy of a hungry man trying to get fruit from a mime tree. The true comedy of the mime show was the mix of slapstick and a trademark attempt to seem hilarious, the result being only mildly funny. Thankfully, the happiness from this spectacular show was not tempered by our fear of embarrassing ourselves by singing an impromptu, acapella Star Spangled Banner and eating an entire table of locally-grown fruit. This fruit included everything from the most basic watermelons and cantaloupes to the exotic and unnamable such as a branch with green, grape-like fruit which when opened produced a massive inedible seed surrounded by a Sour Patch Kid-like goo that tasted delicious. Finally, at the end of a long day of replacing the old (Paula, Ricardo, Juan) with the new (El President of the village and the dancer in the scarlet dress), we swam in the sparkling warm water of Lago Cocibolco, with Volcan Maderas posted up like a tropical postcard.
July 8 – Coming shortly… By Jeff McDonald
July 9th – By Alyssa Plavetic
As I sit here pondering on what to write, a swarm of nats fly around me. Normally I would get very frustrated and do something about it, but Nicaragua has taught me to deal with it. One thing the Nicaraguans are very good at is being late. This can turn out to work with you or against you. This morning, I was very much like a Nicaraguan, as my roommate and I slept through the alarm and showed up to breakfast late. Even though we showed up later, the waiters gave us their usual warm and fuzzy smile, carrying our food with grace and poise. They kindly laid down our smoothie like drink with a grin from ear to ear knowing we would enjoy our blended fruit. It’s a great drink to start a long day of work. Today started our first day of work at the new village. We spilt up into 3 groups that consisted of paining a school, doing activities with children and building a wall to protect the community’s water filtration system. In the morning I had the opportunity to work with the children. The children are very adorable with that innocent looking face that makes you want to wrap your arms around and give a warm hug. The children ranged from age 1 to ten. They sat around the table as we taught them basic English, from numbers to letters. Once we figured they were getting a little restless, as children do all over the world, we taught them games that we grew up with in America. These games included duck duck goose and ring around the rosie. It was touching to relive my childhood all the way over here in Nicaragua. Regrouping in lunch was refreshing especially for the wall builders as they underwent hours of hammering cement walls in the blazing heat. The afternoon went by similarly, working hard to help the community to the best of our ability. On the short bus ride back, we saw a group of cows crossing the road. We have immersed ourselves in the culture so well—the cow crossing didn’t seem as shocking now as it did in the beginning. We wrapped up a tiring day with a refreshing swim in the lake, followed by dinner, which was a unique take on American cuisine.
Update #6:
July 10th – Today is Monday, a day for a break from work and a day for relaxation. We had much planned for the day and it had turned out much better than expected.
After a tiring morning run for those of whom chose to wake up early to do so, the group has breakfast. As usual breakfast is plain but tasty and fulfilling. With the first meal of the day finished, we board our private yellow bus and embark upon our adventure to the waterfall.
As we pull up to our destination and apply our usual doses of sun block and bug repellant, the beginning of our trail, a yellow and white paved road comes into view. Buildings line the sides of the walkway, some with hammocks and others with various other decorations. Not even half a mile into our ascent, we begin to sweat – it was as if we had decided to take a shower in the middle of the hike and forgot to dry off. As we get closer and closer to the waterfall, we begin hiking over rocks and streams and it begins to rain. It was the perfect premonition that we were getting closer. Finally we see it. The black-faced wall has tufts of forest-green moss growing like a blanket on either sides of the falling water. We begin to wade in the pool beneath and let the water hit us with the strength of what seemed like that off hail. After we finish, we head back to the bus, hungry and ready for lunch.
After lunch, we end the day with a couple of activities that include the tangled mess of the human knot and the quick-handed game of Ninja. The bonfire took a while to get started but everybody had fun waiting patiently. To top it off, Eric and Lindsey write “Global Works!” with helmet lamps using a long exposure setting to capture the words in the night sky.
Tomorrow will be Tuesday. It will be another great day of work on the exciting and rewarding Global Works trip to Nicaragua.
By Corey Emens
July 11th - As we near the end of our service in Ometepe I have noticed many things. For one I have realized that you haven’t driven until you have driven with a Nicaraguan. And two, I have noticed that no communities in the United States know each other as well as these people know one another. On our way to the community after breakfast I was riding shotgun and on the 30 minute drive our bus driver waved to four different people. When we arrived the group split up some of us working on the water project and the other were sand papering and playing with the children. For almost the entire three hours I worked with two other people on chiseling away old cement to make the foundation of a wall. With every little chip of rock and cement I got out, I felt so accomplished with myself. I was actually surprised at how happy I was at chipping away such a little amount. It felt so good to know I was making a difference in the community. After lunch some of the girls went and danced with the Nicaraguan boys and they taught them the Nicaraguan dance they performed for us. When our lunch break was done I stayed down where we had just had lunch and worked on painting the school building. During our work the community put on a show/dance that explained how Ometepe was formed. That is when I thought that a community in the States would never come together to do something like that. It’s so interesting to see the differences in our cultures and everyday life. After arriving back at the hotel we swam in the beautiful, glassy lake then showered and had dinner and med checks. Some of us really wanted ice cream so we ordered a couple banana splits. After waiting about 45 minutes we all were so annoyed so we just left before getting our expected dessert. By the time the people who were patient reordered and got the ice cream, those of us who had left weren’t even that hungry anymore. At the end of the day there is no electricity and there are bugs swarming all around us. Yet like our typical day in the united Sates we all went to bed with a smile on our faces and looking forward to our next day in Ometepe.
By Lauren Quinn
Update #7:
Tuesday, July 10th: Today started out as a normal work day in Los Ramos. We divided into two groups, one group painting and the other working on constructing the protective wall. I chose to work on the wall. It was our last day in Los Ramos and all of us wanted to give the extra effort to complete our projects before we leave. We made a lot of progress on the wall project in the last couple of days, so today we only had to construct a few more bar columns before we could lay the cement. We worked at a fairly rapid pace as we completed two bar columns in now time. Unfortunately, work on both of the projects was cut short due to lack of supplies. All of us were disappointed when we learned that this setback would keep us from finishing the project, but Joey reminded us that we still helped the community with the work we did, and helping the community is our main goal.
We returned to the hotel to relax. Because it was a beautiful day, some of us went swimming in the lake. Lindsey created a game that involved throwing a coconut—it was a mix between ultimate Frisbee and Monkey in the Middle. Even though the game was a lot of fun, the highlight of the day was writing a letter to ourselves. Through writing this letter to myself and internally reflecting on the change that this trip has made in me, I was able to see the long lasting benefits of this experience. Mary had us self-address the letters and she will mail them to us in 1 year. I know I’m speaking for everyone when I say that these letters helped us sum up the amazing experiences of this trip and capture them so that a year from now they will be as fresh in our minds as they are now.
By Hallie Horvath