Our local newspaper here in Philadelphia just did an article on the neighborhood of Miraflores in Peru, one of the towns where our volunteers stay with host families.
Miraflores is one of several districts in Peru’s capital city of Lima. It is known for its parks, shopping areas, beaches, and more. (Colin Kerrigan / philly.com)
British Airways, one of the longest serving airlines that flies into Ghana and currently the only direct flights operator to the United Kingdom, will deploy a bigger capacity aircraft onto the Ghana route, with effect from March 2014.
We just watched the 2012 film “War Witch” and highly recommend it. It’s about a child soldier in Africa. Granted, not exactly a Xmas movie, but incredible nonetheless.
Journalists Kristy Carlson and Rachel Pieh Jones write this week about Christmas across Africa:
“…the variety of ways people commemorate this holiday. And not just the traditions but the seasons, the weather, the food, the songs, the meanings.”
This verse from Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of the Open Road” is relevant to all thoughtful travelers, including those volunteering abroad:
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently,but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space,
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.
I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness.
All seems beautiful to me,
I can repeat over to men and women You have done such good to me I would do the same to you,
I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.
How do you volunteer abroad? You shut up! Journalist Katelyn Kennon explains in the Arizona Daily Wildcat.
On your volunteering trip to Ghana, you will see lots of young women selling items on the street. This young lady sold us spices in the town of Tamale in northern Ghana.
Nepal’s Department of Immigration (DOI) announced last week that they have launched a new portal where foreigners can apply online for visa.
Shambhu Ghimire, Director of the DOI, said that the new online service is “…currently under trial. We plan to completely switch to the online application system from January next year if everything goes as planned.”
To apply for a Nepal visa online:
We will all have to wait and hear from our volunteers and other travelers in the coming months whether filling out the visa form online before leaving for Nepal is worth the effort; eg makes the immigration process faster upon arrival in Nepal.
Regardless, at least Nepal is taking a step in the right direction in terms of moving the visa process to the Web.
One of our former volunteers has created a project called Operation Listen to Love — to donate items and cash in Guatemala several times a year.
The mission of Operation Listen to Love is to donate items such as new/used clothes, books, toys, school supplies, etc. to Semillas de Amor and other Guatemalan orphanages.
Operation Listen to Love is being run by Janine Kim, a California high school student, who volunteered through Cosmic Volunteers at the Semillas de Amor orphanage in Guatemala in the summer of 2013.
Cosmic Volunteers is providing guidance to Janine and her peer, as well as paying shipping costs for items they will send to Guatemala.
According to their Facebook page, this is how you can help Operation Listen to Love:
> Donate the above items and more kid-appropriate things to me or a participating club!
> Donate money directly to Semillas de Amor.
> Spread the word!!! use this project for your youth group, club, etc.
> Message Janine for more info!
Children and staff at Semillas de Amor:
