Emilie Stevens

Santa Cruz, California

Passionate About:

I want to be able to tell my stories in the future, and look back at all the good times I had; about all the new people I met, things I did, and about the impact I made on the world. :)

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Santa Cruz Nicaragua Spring Break 2016

Emilie's Message

This Spring Break I have the chance to go to the colonial city of Boaco, Nicaragua through an organization called Global Student Embassy (GSE). I will be participating in this program with 20 other Santa Cruz High School students. I am so excited for this opportunity, and I'm writing you this letter to ask for your help.

GSE is an exchange program that takes California high school students to Nicaragua and Ecuador, and also offers the same opportunity for students in Nicaragua and Ecuador to come to California. We will explore cultural differences, engage in public service, and create positive change in our local and international communities. In particular, we will learn environmental stewardship through organic farming in school gardens. GSE's mission statement “envisions environmentally conscious leaders, skilled at taking action and addressing local global challenges” . If you would like to learn more about GSE, please check out their website: http://globalstudentembassy.org/

On our trip, we will get an opportunity to explore the city of Boaco, a beautiful cowboy town in the foothills of Nicaragua. We will meet the residents, make new friends, and experience a different part of the world. After a day exploring the town, they put us to work at the organic garden. We will build skills such as: making organic fertilizers, learning about crop rotation and organic pest control, planting, harvesting, growing and grafting trees and general care of the school farms. It will be hard work but I’m so excited to travel to a new country and learn more about GSE’s sustainable agricultural projects.

Each student is in charge of covering his/her own costs for the trip to Nicaragua, which is several thousand dollars. I am reaching out to family and friends to ask for help in making this trip possible for me. Any donation you can make, big or small, will help so much. All donations are tax deductible. (GSE’s tax ID is #: 27-1662008).

If you are able to make a donation, please click on the link: http://www.empowered.org/Emilie-Stevens . If you would prefer to write a check, let me know. My next payment deadline of $1,000 is due January 4, 2016 so if you are able to make a donation before then, i would so appreciate it.

Thank you so much for reading my email I am really looking forward to this amazing global opportunity. I hope you can help me get there!

Thank you so much,
Emilie :)

Volunteer Activity Description

TRAVEL.
Traveling with GSE means working alongside our Nicaraguan peers, hiking up a volcano through the mist of Lake Nicaragua, and visiting beautiful colonial Leon, a center of culture and history with many beautiful murals and cathedrals. Students experience Nicaragua through discussions about the countries social and environmental history. GSE Nicaragua staff and students welcome groups to their community and share their experience working on their school farms. Participants sample delicious local cuisine served at family farms, at local restaurants, as well as meals specially prepared for us and brought to our hostel.

LEARN.
Hands-on service-learning projects and cultural exchanges provide students with life changing learning opportunities. Students develop organic farming skills, practice Spanish, and participate in grassroots international relations while building crucial 21st century skills such as cross-cultural communication and collaboration.

IMPACT.
Last year students helped to build an irrigation system for a 1.5-acre school farm, a 10 x 15 meter greenhouse, and two medium-sized school gardens. The overall focus is on expanding production, building new garden sites, and developing a capacity to harvest plots year round by installing water tanks and well systems which will increase the number of harvest cycles by 40%. 100% of the produce grown will go to feeding hundreds of local students. Crops grown include: mangos, bananas, yuca, corn, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and many others.

GROW.
Plants aren’t the only things that grow! International travel facilitates profound transformation for students. Students return home with an understanding of a new culture, with new friends, and an inspiration to make change in their local and global community.

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	Pascha Stevens donated $254.0000 to Emilie	3196 days ago
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	Misty Navarro donated $100.0000 to Emilie	3262 days ago
	David E Ramos donated $100.0000 to Emilie	3268 days ago
	Karen P Palmer donated $250.0000 to Emilie	3275 days ago

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