All I Want for Christmas...

Many people have emailed with the questions "What can I do?", "What can I send?" or "How can I help?" I greatly appreciate the generous offers and excitement about making a difference locally and globally. I am still in the middle of determining my goals for my two years here; they are forming and changing as I get to know my village and understand Guinea. One fact I know for sure: education is the key for change. Educating Guinean students is my primary objective but I hope you too are learning a little more about life in a developing nation by reading this blog.

Some possible answers to the questions are these: give you time somewhere in your community, especially this holiday season or, if it is your style, I have a place you can send a check. If you read some of the comments (actually, most of the comments) on this blog, they are from former students of mine. I was lucky enough to take them abroad on a service immersion trip to the Dominican Republic while I was a teacher for five years at Trinity Catholic High School in Boston, MA. By engaging in this learning experience, we were all forever changed. While there they do a variety of projects including construction of homes and distribution of food to villages of Haitian immigrants who receive no support otherwise. This educational experience is priceless. The students that go are making decisions of how to lead their lives beyond high school. It is such an incredible opportunity to educate and serve. A trip like this has the purpose of serving, of learning more about our fellow brothers and sisters in the world, and about what social justice really means. Trinity is a special place that promotes "faith, hope, and love" in all they do.

So this Christmas, save your postage to Guinea for someone else, for something else. I am all set (honestly!) and packages are expensive to send. Right now, at this point in my service, I don't know what I would do with money in terms of projects; I'm still trying to figure that out and after I do figure it out I'll be following Peace Corps procedure for attaining it. If you are looking for a good cause to give your charitable donation this Christmas, consider giving to the fundraising efforts for this year's Dominican Republic service learning trip at Trinity Catholic High School. This trip is one that is making a difference in the lives of the kids that go and the teachers that lead it; their energy and enthusiasm for service and love then get passed on to their communities. There is no donation too small. Send a check made out to "Trinity Catholic HS" and in the memo: DR Trip. Send to: "Trinity Catholic HS Attn: Dominican Republic Trip 575 Washington St. Newton MA 02458"

Send them your prayers and warm wishes. They need those too! If you want to read more, check it out at: http://www.trinitycatholic.com/html/studentlife.html. There is a slideshow of photos from my three trips on this blog under the photos of Guinea.

And you can continue to send me your prayers too :)

Enjoy the holiday season; the lights, the decor, the smell of trees, the music, the holiday cheer. And spread joy and love. We can all do that, and that always makes a difference.