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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Highlights from the mid-year retreat
Meg Healy
2011-03-28
Every month the Fellows get together for a two or three day meeting in which we talk about our living situations, apprenticeship progress, and various cultural, historical and social issues. I’ve found that the most important aspect of the monthly meetings is the opportunity to spend time with the GCY-Brazil team, and that’s exactly what we...
Read MoreSongs From My Stomach
Gus Ruchman
2011-03-25
At the Senegal Fellows’ most recent monthly meet-up in Dakar we had an entertaining art competition in which we each tried to represent, through a medium of our choosing and 30 minutes of preparation, our feelings towards Senegalese cuisine. Johannes, a brilliant Fellow stationed in the Millennium Village Project in Leona, won for his unique...
Read MoreNancy’s Skin
Michaela Kobsa Mark
2011-03-24
“If you could, would you be white?” I asked my grandmother, Nancy. I like getting reactions out of her and I was expecting a very strong reproach. “Wow de” she answered, her eyes on me. The affirmative makes my jaw drop in shock. “Quoi?!” Why? “Look at this..” I think she is picking at invisible...
Read MoreA Hambi Wasi Community Visit
Alberto Servin
2011-03-24
Hey there! Here is a video I recorded of one of the community visits Hambi Wasi and I did during February. I hope you enjoy the video!
Read MoreBrave New World
Naomi Wright
2011-03-24
I’ve read many books over these past few months, including Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Madeleine Balchan, another GCY Fellow, had read the same book in high school, the following is an excerpt from a discussion we had about the parallels between the book and our GCY experience. Naomi: Brave New World is set in...
Read MoreFirst Weeks in Dakar
Michaela Kobsa Mark
2011-03-24
A post written in October… Had someone given me the chance to return to California today, I may have taken the person up on her or his offer. There were a few things I could depend on today: the fact that I would be going to school, the intensive heat, and my body’s capability of...
Read MoreOld Posts
Michaela Kobsa Mark
2011-03-23
A post written in October… “Life is not in the pulse, but in the heart” “La vie n’est pas dans le poulse, mais dans le Coeur” Today, I was nervous for the first time since I began my GCY experience. This feeling of uncertainty hit me as I sat at a table in ACI Baobab...
Read MoreFutures
Michaela Kobsa Mark
2011-03-23
Aïsha, a little girl who attends the school across the street, is not part of my family, but as she lives in the next village over she eats lunch with us on school days. She is a reticent pair of open eyes that stares unabashedly and eerily never seems to blink. Sometimes I try to...
Read MoreSouvenirs
Michaela Kobsa Mark
2011-03-23
A post written in October… As my first month’s supply of malaria medication comes to an end, I am becoming aware that I have been living in Senegal for almost a month. I’ve been living in Senegal for a month, and I still cannot make up my mind how this change has warped my perception...
Read MoreThrowing Away Your Identity
Chloe Bobar
2011-03-22
identity – the set of characteristics that somebody recognizes as belonging uniquely to himself or herself and constituting his or her individual personality for life Imagine that your identity was taken from you. Specifically, imagine that five defining factors of your identity were taken from you: your gender, your age, your economic status, your...
Read MoreSenegalese Soccer
Michaela Kobsa Mark
2011-03-22
A week ago, I was selling crème glaces and frozen ginger juices for my work at a soccer tournament. The first game had the local girls team, Mama Nguedj, playing against a team from Mbour. What struck me is that during the game the girls were laughing. They seemed to be sacrificing competitiveness for enjoyment....
Read MoreCi École Bi
Johannes Raatz
2011-03-22
Lundi, le 20 Décembre 2010 It’s 7:56. I’m heading towards Léona’s primary school to observe the educational system. Stepping onto the dirt road connecting Leona with Thiowor, a neighboring village, I join a flood of children pressing to reach the school yard on time. I suddenly have a thought: “What if I were here in...
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