Saludos mis amigos!

Welcome to my blog! This is a first so bear with me as I get into a groove. I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with those of you who read this. I’ll indulge you in a bit of personal background, some information about the program and then a peek into my experience so far. I hope you enjoy and thank you for tuning in!

I am in my second year here at the University of Waterloo, registered in Honours Arts at St. Jerome’s University. I am planning to graduate with a major in political science, a minor in Spanish and complete an option in international studies. What am I hoping to achieve with this degree? I would really like to live in South America and work with an NGO (non-government organization) as my end goal. However, after school I hope to work for the Canadian government in the general area of diplomacy to get an idea of the field and stabilize myself before going off on my adventures. I am a born and raised Canadian but I have always loved learning about cultures elsewhere in the world. I have been lucky enough to travel multiple times before. I went to Florida, England, Dominican Republic and Venezuela with my family. I also travelled to Guatemala as a volunteer, which confirmed my interest in an international service career. In grade 12 I was able to go to Guatemala for a week with Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village program to assist in constructing a house which was the best experience ever. All of these experiences have led to my desire to join Beyond Borders.

I discovered Beyond Borders in my first year here at St. Jerome’s. I was talking to my academic advisor about changing programs and what I wanted to do and she gave me a pamphlet about the program. She was part of the first Beyond Borders group when she was doing her undergrad here at St. Jerome’s and didn’t even have to convince me -- I was hooked. Beyond Borders is a service-learning program that is offered through the Religious Studies faculty at St. Jerome’s but is open to all University of Waterloo students from all faculties. I took RS 283 this past term (Fall 2009) and am now taking RS 383. During our classes last term we discussed theories of development and were challenged to think very differently. These courses try to prepare us mentally, emotionally and physically for what we may encounter on our trips this summer, which is a unique aspect of the Beyond Borders experience in comparison to other international volunteer programs. If you are at all interested in service work, volunteering, travelling or a challenge I would advise you to check out this program.

Originally I was scheduled to go to Peru this summer. I would have worked with the Pura Vida foundation in Cusco, Peru. Pura Vida was founded by Nathan Beninger who is a Canadian photographer who packed up his Canadian lifestyle and moved to Peru. Pura Vida opened a shelter in 2009 that supports women and children who had been sexually exploited. The women and children could stay for a night but the goal was to have them move in permanently. The shelter would provide them with courses to learn life skills and provide a loving home. However, this arrangement fell through unfortunately. It is best not to dwell on the past though, especially when I have been offered a wonderful alternative: Argentina! Hiccups like this are to be expected because of the types of issues we are participating in and the areas of the world to which we are travelling. Their environment is unpredictable and therefore so is my journey. For all I know it could change again (although fingers crossed it won’t). I only found out about my new placement a couple of days ago so I’m not yet an expert on the topic but I’ll share what I have discovered thus far. I will be in/around the city of Cordoba, which isn’t the capital but is a major city in Argentina. The organization I’m working for is Fundación iDeas (iDeas stands for Instituto de Desarrollo Educativo y Acción). The website is http://www.id-as.org.ar/ if you would like to go check it out. The description that I received from Joanne about what I will be doing is that I will be working “with the local indigenous people promoting artisan activities and running programs for youth”. Unfortunately I don’t know too much else, and I agree that this seems like I’m leaving you with a cliff hanger, but I’m on the edge of my seat too!
Until next time...Adiós!