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GIVE: Healing Our Planet

Written by: Ashley Brand

4/3/2014
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I’ve always thought that it is important to find an organization you can connect with and get involved. There are so many varieties of sustainability related organizations and so many opportunities to reach out to any number of communities. It is essential to the success of the environmental crises front that we remember we are one planet, and if you are able to give help to a community in need, you should.

I connected with Growth International Volunteer Excursions (GIVE). I went on a service project trip to Nicaragua during the summer. For the first half of the trip in Jiquilillo, we worked hard to build the walls for a new school in the community. Instead of using normal bricks, we filled up three liter plastic bottles with sand to make sustainable bottle bricks. Not only did we clean up the town, but also created something positive: a school, while educating the community on sustainability techniques along the way. We experienced the happenings of the local community, learning about a whole new culture and adding to our new perspectives of the world.

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GIVE pushes you out of your comfort zone in a way that opens your eyes to the bigger picture.

GIVE ALLOWED US TO ENGAGE IN “WORK HARD, PLAY HARD” ACTIVITIES AS WELL. 

They know the importance of involving yourself in foreign communities in more ways than one, so you can learn something from a different culture. We had down time in between working to surf and enjoy the scenery as well as free time at night to relax or experience a new type of nightlife. We climbed a volcano, ate local foods, danced with the locals, and went to a local marketplace all before we traveled across the country to spend the rest of our trip on Little Corn Island. Here, we spent our days participating in local activities (I played a lot of volleyball) and teaching English in a local school. This side of Nicaragua exposed us to an almost completely different culture with new things to learn and new ways to grow.

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I met some of the most amazing people and I did things I didn’t expect, discovering new things about myself.

GIVE pushes you out of your comfort zone in a way that opens your eyes to the bigger picture and teaches you how to play an effective role in making a positive impact. I could talk about this trip for pages and pages and that is why I want more people to experience something like it. Trips like this one, or projects similar, are the ones that will change your life and see the world with a different outlook. This trip showed me how much of a difference I could make with my own hands, and if more people got to feel that, I think we would be a lot closer to healing our planet.

“This trip showed me how much of a difference I could make with my own hands, and if more people got to feel that, I think we would be a lot closer to healing our planet.”

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