Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
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Class Year
Country
More Than a Stove
Mariela Garcia
2011-04-15
It’s not exactly a Kenmore, but it provides just as much as any brand name could to those who receive it. To qualify to be a part of the project, the family must already be cooking with wood and prove their commitment to using the stove, by providing 45 Reais worth of material to build...
Read MoreDear Mr. Booker and Mr. Watt
Erin Lang
2011-04-15
A year ago, I was sitting in both of your classes, anxious to graduate, anxious to become something…dying to find a purpose and a fulfillment in my life that was never satisfied in my high school career. I was never a student teachers could seem to understand, one minute I succeeded beautifully on an assignment...
Read MoreHambi Wasi Vertical Birth Center
Alberto Servin
2011-04-14
I’d like to talk about maternal health and the vertical birth center recently created here at Hambi Wasi. This center was created primarily to prevent maternal deaths at childbirth, which unfortunately happen all too often among the indigenous population. Majorities of indigenous women give birth in their homes, without doctors or medical attention, and often...
Read MoreCast of Characters
Gus Ruchman
2011-04-14
About two months ago I moved to Noflaye and a new family—a wonderful family—that, among a bit of Senegalese dance and other things, has taught me the true meaning of teranga. My living situation is now divided between to places: my family’s home and the Village de Tortues/Kër Mbonat Yi, a small but important sanctuary...
Read MoreI am a Lebu
Erin Lang
2011-04-14
I came to Senegal with the name Erin Elizabeth Lang. In less than a month, I will be leaving with the name Kiné Mariama Ndoye. Ndoye is a last name of the Lebu background, meaning that in history, the Ndoye family were fishermen. Although my family in Sébikotane is not made up of fishermen, they...
Read MoreDrop By Drop, Child By Child
Gus Ruchman
2011-04-13
Polio has been eradicated in the United States and many other countries, but not in many developing countries.
Read MoreSeeing a Different Side
Peter Saudek
2011-04-08
During the recent holiday, Carnaval, I traveled with my host family to visit our grandparents for the weekend in Carchi, which is the most northern province of Ecuador before Colombia. My host mother’s parents live in a small community called “Sixal” that has a population of about one hundred people. Sixal sits on the top...
Read MoreA day in the life of the Aula Móvil
Peter Saudek
2011-04-08
Here is a short video I made to show you what a normal day is like with the Aula Móvil – a part of my GCY apprenticeship.
Read MoreUp the Nevado
Cameron Kaufman
2011-04-06
I’ve been living in Cayambe, Ecuador for about five months now. The small city is located in a valley nestled in the shadow of the volcano after which it is named: Nevado Cayambe. On a good day (although this is rare), the ever-present cloud veil lifts, and for once you can see the absolutely stunning...
Read MoreOpen Your Ice
Naomi Wright
2011-04-06
My family in Senegal supplies the surrounding community—the village of Leona, about 1,000 residents—with ice during the hot months from April to November. It’s not the family’s main source of income; we only make 100CFA ($0.20) per block of ice. In fact, we probably wouldn’t sell ice at all, but we’re the only family in...
Read MoreThe Keys to my House
Liza David
2011-04-05
It is a bit funny to me how much time and effort is put into security in the United States. Although robberies do occur, they are often infrequent events where I live. From my experience, in Long Island, NY, a house robbery occurs maybe every few years. Then again, we have alarm systems, video cameras...
Read MoreOn the Road
Naomi Wright
2011-04-05
Every morning I finish breakfast by 8:15 and change into my running clothes: a baggy t-shirt and spandex capris. My attire rides the line between cultural appropriateness and physical comfort (my knees must be covered yet I live in the hottest region in Senegal, where even early in the morning, the heat begins to waver...
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