Posts Tagged:

Central America

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We love to feature the projects that keep our instructors inspired and busy when they aren't leading Dragons trips. Read on to learn about REISA (which stands for Independent Network of Educator for Food Sovereignty) from Erick Torres, one of Dragons Central America Instructors....

Hello Dear Dragons Community and Friends!


I want to share with you all a project I have been working for the last four years, between Dragons and my time in Central America working with SERES organization. (I have been working with SERES sharing Permaculture and Agroecology intensive courses and workshops for young community leaders from Central America since 2014.)

Now I am working and coordinating a project with four other Guatemalan educators and one from the US, to offer more educational programs to our young people, mostly in Guatemala and El Salvador. We have created REISA, which stands in Spanish for Red de Educadores Independientes por la Soberania Alimentaria or Independent Network of Educator for Food Sovereignty in English.

This project has been created by the need to offer and share safe spaces of environmental and agroecology education for our young people. In this way, they can have tools and alternatives to develop and manage Agro-ecological projects in their communities and generate more opportunities for work, economic income, and environmental awareness. We hope that they won't leave their communities trying to go to the US. We all know how difficult that situation is and we need those young leaders staying in our countries in order to improve the life of their families and their communities.

I want to invite you all to visit our REISA website, to see what we have done and what we want to do this year. We already start a crowdfunding campaign and I would like to ask you a huge favor, if you could please help us by sharing the project with your family, friends, and coworkers via Facebook and Instagram. We will deeply appreciate it and we will be grateful for your help to aiding us to share more Agroecological education for young community leaders in Central America!

Un abrazo grande! Les deseo lo mejor para el año 2019!

Maltiox Chawe ! Urpillay Sonkollay !
Muchas Gracias! Thanks !

Erick Torres

Head on over to the REISA website for more videos and details on the project. And here's the crowdfunding campaign if you'd like to financially support this good work!



 
    [post_title] => Featured Project: REISA - The Network of Independent Educators for Food Sovereignty
    [post_excerpt] => We love to feature the projects that keep our instructors inspired and engaged when they aren't leading Dragons trips. Read on to learn about REISA from Erick Torres, one of our Central America Instructors....
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    [post_content] => It was extremely hard for the committee to choose only three winners, but we've posted the 1-minute videos selected as our three top #dragonsvisualstory contest winners on Instagram this week.

You can watch the videos on instagram by clicking on the videos below...

[caption id="attachment_153754" align="aligncenter" width="460"] 1-minute visual story video by Katherine Marcus of Dragons Guatemala: Community in Action program.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_153752" align="aligncenter" width="460"] 1-minute visual story video made by Jenna Einhorn, a student on Dragons Summer 2018 Nepal - Traditions of the Himalayas Program.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_153753" align="aligncenter" width="459"] 1-minute video from Vanessa Payne with imagery and sounds from this summer’s Guatemala Spanish Language Intensive 4-week course.[/caption]

Congratulations Vanessa, Jenna, and Katherine!

And thank you to ALL those who put love into their beautiful video contest submissions. They were an honor to watch!

Sincerely,

Dragons HQ
    [post_title] => Announcing our Three 1-minute "Visual Story" Video Contest Winners!
    [post_excerpt] => It was extremely hard for the committee to choose only three, but we're thrilled to announce and share with you the top three 1-minute videos selected as the #dragonsvisualstory contest winners...
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    [post_date] => 2018-09-24 10:46:44
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One of our dear friends and a longtime Dragons instructor, Gina Collignon, has started a campaign to help bring our friend Sandy Pinto, one of our Bolivia instructors and a well-known Afro-Bolivian activist and organizer, to Honduras as part of a delegation supporting human rights, feminist initiatives, and awareness-raising surrounding violence against women under the Honduran dictatorship and in the wider region: Building Bridges of Solidarity.

This effort is part of an initiative to help make these delegations availability to a wider demographic, specifically supporting women of color from the Global South to be part of these kinds of delegations.  As Gina writes:





I am part of an amazing community of people who understand the power of travel. What can happen when we use that power not just for our own personal growth, but to also grow connections between amazing organizers who might not otherwise have the chance to meet? I would love to find out.

Please consider contributing to this cause, even a small sum can go a long way!





    [post_title] => Supporting Bridges of Solidarity between Bolivia and Honduras
    [post_excerpt] => A longtime Dragons instructor, Gina Collignon, has started a campaign to help bring our friend Sandy Pinto, a well-known Afro-Bolivian activist and organizer, to Honduras as part of a delegation supporting human rights, feminist initiatives, and awareness-raising surrounding violence against women...
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    [post_content] => We recently asked five people what they love about Guatemala and why they return year after year.

Here's what they said:

ON LEARNING SPANISH

"As an intermediate Spanish learner, I love traveling to Guatemala because it's a great place to practice my speaking and listening skills. The people are friendly, laid back and patient. It's also a short flight from the States and since Guatemala is on the same time zone as Colorado, I can dive right in without needing to recover from jet lag." - LIZ WIIG, Partnerships Program Coordinator





ON THE BEAUTY OF THE EVERYDAY

"Guatemala is a place that holds so much history, tragedy, joy and renewal in one land that it's sometimes hard to take in. Waking up to the smell of woodsmoke and the sound of tortillas being made is my idea of home, a sensation I get no where else in the world. The small beauty of the everyday held within the bigness of her story is what makes Guatemala a land I will always return to in my heart." - LUIS ALVARADO, Guatemala Instructor





ON ART AND CULTURE

"From turquoise blue hot springs to riotously painted chicken buses; from cemeteries color-coded in symbolic pigments to celebrating the dead with enormously vibrant kites; from ancient tales of the underworld to modern weavings of exquisitely patterned textiles... It's impossible not to be inspired by the people, land, spirit, and culture that make Guatemala so uniquely prismatic." - ERIN KING, Graphic & Multimedia Designer

Guatemala & Nicaragua Dragons Gap Year Program



ON COMMUNITY ACTIVISM

"Movements towards social and environmental justice are alive and thriving!  Communities actively resist the commodification of land, water, and culture and are working to reshape the globally dominant narrative of materialism, wealth, and poverty." - SIMON HART, Director of School Partnerships

To heal a land scorched by 36 years of civil war, this man planted 20,000 trees by hand. Meet Armando Lopez, founder of the Chico Mendes Reforestation Project in Pachaj, Guatemala. Photo by Cate Brown, Guatemala Summer Program.



ON HOMESTAYS

"In my weeks traveling to communities around the country and staying with host families, I was introduced to concepts of hospitality and generosity in a way that I had yet to witness in the world. These lessons in the meaning of connection ended up having a lasting, powerful, and profound affect on my perspective and worldview." - CARA LANE-TOOMEY, Director of College Study Abroad





Did you know we are offering a 10-day journey to Guatemala for Adults this fall?

October is the perfect time of year to venture to Central America. It marks the beginning of the dry season and yet avoids the hustle of peak tourism. So, if slowing down and taking the time to experience an authentic cultural exchange in Guatemala sounds enticing, we have an special offer just for you.

SAVE 25%*


(Tuition was $3495, with 25% discount, Now $2621)


ON GUATEMALA: LAND & SPIRIT
USE YOUR DISCOUNT
BY SEPTEMBER 25, 2018
* 25% off tuition only. Airfare not included.

 







WE'RE HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS













We know you're the kind of person in search of a meaningful adventure. We also know that busy schedules, financial responsibilities, and other real-life obligations can hinder your ability to make planning for international travel a priority. That's why we've created Dragons programs for adults, and you're exactly the person we've created them for.


-


Let us know how we can help you plan the experience of a lifetime.




































































303.413.0822 EXT. 124


































SHANNON HARRIMAN


303.413.0822 EXT. 118












    [post_title] => Reasons to Love Guatemala
    [post_excerpt] => We recently asked five people what they love about Guatemala and why they return year after year. Here's what they said. "Guatemala is a place that holds so much history, tragedy, joy and renewal in one land that it's sometimes hard to take in. [...] The small beauty of the everyday held within the bigness of her story is what makes Guatemala a land I will always return to in my heart." - Luis Alvarado    READ MORE...
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    [post_date] => 2018-08-16 10:56:40
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    [post_content] => [caption id="attachment_152682" align="aligncenter" width="431"]Guatemala Program Photo by Sydney Yang, Guatemala Summer Program.[/caption]



A lovely landing-home reflection from Guatemala Summer Student, Rose Fitzgerald:

As my final flight touches down, the bump of the wheels shudders through me and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

It’s over. It’s all over.
I’m home.

I step off the plane, down through the airport and into the waiting arms of my family. Pressed against my mother’s chest, I cry unashamedly. In a flurry of moments, we’re picking up my bags, walking out of the airport, piling into cars- real cars! – and driving away.

In the New York night, surrounded by air conditioning and English, Guatemala feels like some sort of fantastic and hazy dream. I can’t quite tell what is fiction and what is fact, like maybe I made it all up in my head.

At home, I stumble into the apartment and promptly dump everything into the washing machine. I shuck off my clothes, reeking of travel and sweat, and once I remember how to turn it on the shower feels like being reborn.

In the hot water, I lather up my hair and body with soap and shampoo, caring for my countless cuts and bug bites and cleaning the last remnants of dirt from under each nail. Curled up on the shower floor, I silently wonder if my host mother from Cotzal has ever had a shower like this. I think of the square-meter shack of a bucket shower, laundry soap and a torn curtain hung so low I’d had to crouch. I have to keep myself from crying a second time.

When I emerge from the shower, dripping wet and gloriously not-dirty, I pass the mirror in my room and have to stop and stare. I do not at first recognise the person staring out at me. While the changes are minor, they are changes all the same, and my eyes gobble them up, reading differences like a book.
There are new scars on my body- long thin scrapes up my leg from a fall while swimming, now-permanent rub marks on my ankle from when I was too stubborn to tie my boot right, a single line on my right arm- a burn from an iron, the very first night in the Miami airport.

Along my stomach, thighs and back, hundreds of fading bites dot my skin and I grimace, remembering the flea fiasco in Cotzal. And all over my body is the patchy, uneven tan that comes with wearing a strange mixture of swimsuits and hiking pants every day.

The final thing I notice is that the way I hold myself has changed. I can picture the me of a month ago, probably stooped beneath the weight of a bag, wringing her hands and talking everyone’s ear off from nerves. Now, my back is straight, and when I squeeze my thigh I feel muscle, most likely from carrying that same heavy bag every single day. I feel stronger than I’ve ever been.

My family ushers me to the table, eager to hear my stories and force food down my throat, regardless of the late hour. On the table in front of me they lay out toast, corn flakes, cookies, tea, a slice of cold cheese pizza- a veritable American feast. They grill me for details, asking about my host families, the food, the other students, the trek, on and on and on.

It’s nearly one A.M. by the time I go to bed. I am wrapped up in clean clothes and cozy blankets and surrounded by everything that I love and I am so deeply exhausted but I cannot seem to sleep.
I am startlingly aware of the ridiculous excess I find myself drowning in.

There is wi-fi at my constant disposal, and a phone and a computer and a TV to use whenever I like. Our kitchen if stuffed to the brim with food, food and more food, some of which we will never eat. I own more than twenty different products, lipsticks and concealers and eyeshadows and liners that I can press over freckles and dark circles, to hide my face away, and I own more clothes than I could possibly need. Again, I am reminded of my family in Cotzal, who I did not see change their clothes once during my visit.
I am disgusted with myself.

In the dark of my room, my mattress soft and springy beneath me, the night is eerily quiet. Even the ever-present hum of the AC cannot replace the trucks and wagons and barking I expect to hear in the street below.

It feels like there is a hole in my chest, aching and raw. Where there once were butterflies, nervous and bright in my chest there is now an empty ache. I want to feel them again, fluttering against my ribcage, their wings whispering adventure and yes.

I am still Rose. I am still that same person, silly and impulsive and alive.

But in my heart, I know that everything has changed.

~Fin

Read more featured student reflections on our Yak of the Week board.

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    [post_date] => 2018-08-07 16:01:32
    [post_date_gmt] => 2018-08-07 22:01:32
    [post_content] => 
This week, at Boulder HQ, we're passing around this poem written by our Summer 2018 Guatemala Instructor, Raquel Wigginton.  And we are collectively, sighing...


We have journeyed
into a history
as dark as
the depths of Lake
Atitlán—el más profundo
de las Américas
The depths have
felt overwhelming but
necessary as the reminder
of the pain that lives
in each of our bloodlines
the bones that hold us
up like a ladder
are dense with the
memories of time
and are buried
in the soil we
occupy with strong
and reaching raíces.

Roots we need to
continue to explore
in all directions.

We have ventured
into the verdant lands
of Guatemala—land of trees
and like the Lorax
we must be careful
of the greed and power
that run like currents
of flames in our
nation’s veins
We must tell the story
of deforestation, of
pollution, of dwindling
natural resources before
it’s too late
We must plant the seed
that will revive the
forests and inspire
the birds of the
trees to keep on singing
We must care
and maintain the
precious seedlings
of our siembra and
never give up.

You are the seeds
of the trees that
will grow into
grandes problemáticas
or soluciones transformativas.
We want to sew
the fruits of our
labor of love
During our adventure
the garden of love
has been planted
let’s see what it’s
beauty holds and who
will hold it up to
the light that
illumines dialogue
and understanding,
patience and tolerance,
caring and challenge.
Raíces profundas y duraderas.




Be sure to head over to Raquel's blog for more.

    [post_title] => A Poem by Raquel Wigginton, Guatemala Instructor from Summer 2018
    [post_excerpt] => This week, at Boulder HQ, we're passing around this poem written by our Summer 2018 Guatemala Instructor, Raquel Wigginton.  And we are collectively, sighing... 
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