Last summer I had the distinct pleasure to help teach a course on community development initiatives in partnership with Global Brigades. This was a pilot course, the first of its kind, my students had an absolutely amazing experience. They were able to learn about both quantitative and qualitative data, implement an action plan with a community, get a real-life live internship experience in a foreign country, and work with leaders in a different culture. It was an amazing opportunity for my students to learn about real-world problems and implications in a setting that did not feel like it was fake or manufactured. They felt like they were making an impact. Their reflections after the course showed just how meaningful the experience was for both their academic and professional careers. I loved getting the opportunity to learn about other cultures and to guide students through this experience. It was not a simulation, it really was a real-world applicable experience for my students. They took away such great meaningful experiences. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with Global Brigades and look forward to participating in this course and hosting another program in the future. It really was a powerful experience for me as an educator to see how my students’ lives were transformed as they felt like real, authentic changemakers, and they felt like they made a real impact on a population in need. I look forward to future collaboration with Global Brigades.

Working with Global Brigades has brought to life new virtual opportunities for our students, providing access to international education from their homes. We currently have three virtual projects, including an honors community development program in Honduras, a public health graduate program in Honduras, and an entrepreneurship program in Panama. These programs have had a great impact on our students teaching them responsible global citizenship while meeting a rural community live during class.

The modules are organized well and scaffold learning to support students understanding of the content, it has been a pleasure working with global brigades and we look forward to the continued work with them while internationalizing in a new curriculum.

I know that the chief purpose of my experience was to empower those without opportunity. But my trip to Honduras, and later trip to Panama, created a multitude of memories that have changed my perspective of the world and in a grandiose way, humanity. This is not to say you won’t change the landscape of opportunities for the individuals you meet, but you may come away with more than you ever expected.

My trips to Panama and Honduras transformed my image of volunteering. Volunteering is not charity, volunteering is much more in line with empowering those with will. In each and every case I witnessed these programs didn’t throw money at problems but rather gave individuals the means to develop their own community. In turn, slowly, but surely, they changed the communities they engaged in.

Now I am in shock with how much my trips have impacted me. My advice to you is to take the chance and go. I promise you that after all is said and done the worst part will be leaving.

My classmates and I held a financial literacy clinic, where we implemented a shareholder model in the community development fund and sold 500 shares to community members. For me, witnessing a concrete change in the community, along with awesome enthusiasm for the undertaking from all sides, reinforced my belief that sustainable development through microfinance is completely possible. This experience me the opportunity to meet and learn from incredible people–students, community members, and in-country staff–an experience that has been incredibly rewarding. My involvement inspired me to pursue my interest in development both in and outside of the classroom and has undoubtedly enriched my experience living in a city as diverse as New York.

Before I visited the community of Tomatin, I was skeptical to say the least. This opportunity to help others by educating them in the language of Microfinance almost seemed too good to be true. I was expecting more like a show and tell, something along the lines of being guided around and being instructed every step of the way. However what I experienced was much different. As soon as we landed in Tegucigalpa, our objectives were laid out and it was up to us to complete them. After a week, not only did we change the Caja, we changed their lives.

The opportunity to not only instruct but to educate is invaluable. In the end we set up bank accounts for the children of the community, instructing them that they were not to withdraw cash until they turned 12 years old. The hope being that by this time they will have seen their money grown and have decided to keep the money in the Caja, allowing them to spend more in the future. This valuable lesson in saving is a message we hope that the children will carry on to their own kids when the time comes. This tradition will be instilled in the community, and without a dime of American financial support, and a wealth of financial knowledge, the community of Tomatin will pull itself out of poverty.

However while this teaching experience was directed at the population of Tomatin, it was us as students who left learning about the culture of Honduras and about ourselves. My experience was unique, with the fluency of Spanish I already had, becoming friends with everyone in the Caja was a very rewarding experience. I had the opportunity to share my life with them like they shared their life with me. Every day quickly turned into a treasurable memory, every minute was an opportunity for a shared laugh. I learned from the people of Tomatin that life is only lived once, so why not be thankful for it. They continuously thanked us and when in the end, it should have been us thanking them.

Personally, my most enjoyable experience was designing and introducing new spreadsheets with the women to organize their books for the agriculture store. Their readiness to learn inspired me, as did the tone of the teenagers I talked to during our final community fiesta. As they shared their hopes for studying business or computer programming in the university in Tegucigalpa, their infectious spirit and drive convinced me that the work was real – change could be sustained.