Archive for 2009
Report shows increase in teen travel to Africa
Very interesting report issued this week by the Family Travel Forum Consulting (FTFc) about trends in teen travel.
You can read the report here.
The survey of 5,700 teens showed that:
– 48% of teen applicants have traveled outside the United States by their 18th birthday.
– 29% of teens who vacationed with family traveled outside the U.S. and Canada
– 8 out of 10 teens seeking cultural enrichment joined study abroad programs while nearly 20% studied U.S. history and culture within their own country.
– Africa-Middle East saw the largest increase in outbound teen travel — 48% — as 4.3% of the 2009 applicants wrote about the region compared with just 2.9% in 2007.
This is extremely encouraging, especially considering that approximately 85% of Americans do not even have passports.
Not only has the drop in airfare (since deregulation in the 80′s) made international travel, but the choice of destinations is trending toward non-traditional destinations.
We interpret the rise in travel to Africa and volunteering as part of a much larger mega-trend of students caring more about international issues such as poverty and public health as well as a reduction in fear of traveling to unknown parts of the world.
Global Leadership Adventures has re-doubled its commitment to teen volunteer summer programs in Africa by offering programs in Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa.
Let’s hope this trend continues!
Tis the Season for Global Education
We just formed a new Facebook group called Fund for Global Education. We are a group dedicated to learning about and embracing other cultures. The goal of this group is to raise awareness and money for The Fund for Global Education to sponsor children who could not otherwise afford to go on an international program, such as Global Leadership Adventure.
Hopefully, with the help and generosity of the group’s members, we can sponsor deserving students on the trip of a lifetime! By donating to this cause you will be helping to inspire the next generation of global leaders.
In the spirit of the holiday’s I ask everyone to find a way to contribute to this cause; whether it is a monetary donation given tohttp://fundforglobaleducation.org/ or inviting people to and promoting this group. Please join, here is a link http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=215303506072#/group.php?v=info&gid=215303506072 or just search us on facebook!
GLA alumni donates 300 pounds of school supplies to Ghana
Global Leadership Adventures alumni Allison Hoffman was featured in the Patriot Ledger newspaper for collecting 300 pounds of school supplies to donate to the school she volunteered at in Ghana during her GLA program.
Often students ask me about donating supplies to the organizations that they volunteer at and I normally reply by saying that it’ll cost more to ship the donation than it would to simply buy the materials locally.
However, Allison was able to obtain a donation of shipping from the owner of a logistics company. I also like how she turns down the offer to send electric pencil sharpeners. She’s smart and aware enough to just collect supplies that can be used by the local community and use appropriate technology.
Kudos to you Allison for staying involved!
Wind Power in the Australian Outback
Since the Australian outback is pretty remote, there’s a chronic problem with providing its residents access to services. There’s a cool program called “School of the Air” that offers classes to remote communities by broadcasting classes over the radio. On the Global Leadership Adventures program in Australia, we’ll visit the School of the Air and other innovative social programs serving isolated communities.
This article about a wind power project in Australia’s Northern Territory is really encouraging. Not only with this wind turbine replace an old polluting diesel generator, it will save $80,000 a year in fuel costs and should also provide a model that can be replicated throughout remote parts of the country.
Sleeping under the stars in the Australian Outback
Our new 2010 catalog just came out and I’m especially excited about our program in the Australian outback. When I was in college I remember looking for programs in Australia, but was disappointed that most programs stayed on the coast – Sydney, or to the eastern side of the country (Canberra and Melbourne).
So, the new Global Leadership Adventures program is innovative because we’re flying deep into the heart of the Australian outback where we’ll volunteer in aboriginal communities and learn about their traditional culture. High school students will have the chance to learn about aboriginal spirituality, dot-painting, traditional herbal medicine and how to survive in the bush.
Since we’ll be out in the bush, we’ll be camping as we slowly make our way from Darwin, down to Alice Springs. I can’t wait for the first group to go, I hope to join them. Sleeping under the stars far from civilization sounds perfect as we head into winter here in the USA!
Tension in the Galapagos: development v. conservation
The Global Leadership Adventures summer program in the Galapagos is focused on learning about the conservation efforts in the Galapagos Island. This archipelago where Darwin formulated his theory of natural selection is a living classroom and one of the most unique places on earth.
However, its fame is also bringing massive tourism and foreign currency and is creating an economic boom attracting migrants from the mainland. This is putting development up against conservation.
This slideshow and narrative from the New York Times perfectly captures the situation. It’s a beautiful slideshow that is totally worth watching!
Being Global, Locally
Continuing on the thread of being a global citizen during the year (and not just on an international summer program)… there are a few great organizations that offer high school students a structured program to make a difference on key global issues. In most cases, the organization supports student clubs with materials, training, trips and resources to help raise awareness and funds to support international causes.
New Global Citizens has been a partner of Global Leadership Adventures for a few years. They are a great organization that helps students set up clubs in their school and even sends a representative to your school to help train the team. Each club picks an international NGO that they’ll support over the course of the year.
Global Citizen Corps is a project of Mercy Corps. They also have resources for high school clubs. But what’s really cool is their year-long Leadership program that includes a Leadership Summit with a select group of teens to New York and sets up meetings at the UN, with NGOs and teleconferences with other global leaders. This articles tells more.
Amnesty International is probably the best known human rights organization. There are thousands of Amnesty groups on college and high school campuses that engage in letter writing campaigns and petitions to governments to release political prisoners or improve human rights around the world. Register your school group online and you will receive a toolkit to get started. Or, if you’re a 1-person movement, use their great online activist toolkit and get started today.
Beyond Teen Summer Programs: Being a Global Citizen
After a great summer of programming, hundreds of teens volunteering abroad, and thousands of unforgettable memories, it’s now time to return to school. My hope is that the pressures of school, sports and college admissions will not dilute the impact of the student’s summer experiences. In fact, now is the time to begin to really take action.
I have always believed that international volunteer programs like Global Leadership Adventures are really a starting point for young global citizens.
So, I was thrilled to see GLA Tanzania alumnae, Brittney Calzone, featured in an article in the local newspaper in Redding, Connecticut. Brittney started a drive to collect books for the Himo Secondary School that GLA works with in Tanzania. If you read the article, you’ll see that Brittney is trying to figure out how to ship the books to Tanzania – if anyone can help, please contact us and we’ll connect you with Brittney.
In the coming weeks, I will continue to post stories about students who are staying involved in global issues and new opportunities that exist for teens right in their own backyard!
Volunteering during Summer Vacation
Interestingly, while many of our students are excited about the idea of spending their summer vacation doing community service, many of their parents seemed perplexed by this concept. It seems that among some adults there just isn’t the understanding that volunteering abroad is a great way to connect directly with the local people in a country. However, this seems to be changing as adult “volunteer vacations” seem to be gaining in popularity. Here’s an article from the CBS Early Show about Volun-Tourism.
