While I Serve...

This blog was started a year ago as a way for my to chronicle my time with City Year Orlando. I wanted to answer the question every City Year volunteer is asked, "Why do you serve?" And I found the answer, I serve because it's what make me happy. After my year of service in Orlando I embarked on my next adventure as I Peace Corps volunteer serving in Madagascar. This blog is no long dedicated to why I serve, but rather while I serve. Stories, quotes, pictures, reflections as I work for two years as an education volunteer here in Madagascar. The views and opinions expressed on this page are solely mine and do not reflect the attitudes or opinions of City Year, Peace Corps, or the United States Government.

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When a local says something snarky about my language skills

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To avoid going insane, one had to learn to stop caring // Barbara Demick.

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On January 19th, I met a young man on the street named Vidal, and I asked him to tell me about the person who had influenced him the most in his life. He told me about his principal, Ms. Lopez, and he explained how she had taught him that he mattered. Over the next two weeks, I learned the story of Ms. Lopez and her school, Mott Hall Bridges Academy. By hearing the stories of MHBA students and educators, my eyes were opened to the unique challenges facing a school in an under-served community. Ms. Lopez taught me that before a student is ready for academic training, they must be made to understand that they deserve success. And that can be the hardest battle in education. Ms. Lopez always said that there was no place her students did not belong. Recently we received an invitation that proved just that.

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Wishing A.A. Milne (author of the Winnie the Pooh series) a happy *belated* birthday (b. Jan 18, 1882)!

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It is also good to love, because love is difficult // Rainer Maria Rilke.

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Youth are the innovators, creators, builders and leaders of the future. But we must let them thrive. Hundreds of millions of young people confront social, economic & other obstacles to their well-being. Governments, communities and families all have a role to play in tearing down these barriers.  UNFPA share how to promote the power of 1.8 billion youth in the State of World Population 2014: http://bit.ly/SWP14 #SWOP2014

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MY THOUGHTS ON RETURNING HOME:

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WHEN A LOCAL COMMENTS ABOUT MY BODY SHAPE:

 - Thailand

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You can never be overdressed or overeducated // Oscar Wilde.

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"You and YOU ALONE are in charge of what happens in this story.”

-“Choose Your Own Adventure” co-founder R.A. Montgomery has died at age 78.

Learn about his life here.

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Some advice from your good friend, Dr. Seuss.

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This holiday, pledge to Give Books! For every reblog of this image with the hashtag #GiveBooks, Chronicle Books will donate a children’s book to a child in need through First Book. More at http://givebooks2014.com.

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Do it! Give books, give all the books!!

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Then she wished more rationally, that she could love him without needing him. Need gave him power without his trying. Need was the choicelessness she often felt around him // Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

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In Vienna on Monday, Ban Ki-moon met Conchita Wurst, the Austrian winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, to highlight the importance of mutual respect and tolerance, and to raise awareness about the rights of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community.

“Conchita is promoting respect for diversity. This is a core value of the UN Charter, along with our commitment to tolerance,” said the Secretary-General.

Find out how you can support ‪#‎LGBT‬ equality from the UN’s Free & Equal campaign: www.unfe.org/