It is with great delight that I share Children’s Global Alliance in its entirety with you. CGA’s mission is “to infuse the next generation with a sense of global responsibility, promote and foster character and integrity among teenagers, and provide relief and education in developing countries.” As of 2015, we now travel to Nicaragua, Cambodia, Tanzania and Nepal. Starting in September each year, we host our informational meetings at middle and high schools throughout the Vail Valley. Our program is open to students between the ages of 12 and 16, and although most of our participants live in Eagle County, we do have nationwide student interest and participation.
To apply, students are required to compose an essay and fundraising plan which meet specific guidelines. Once received, an interview is scheduled with 3-4 of our chaperones. These essays, fundraising plans and interviews help us determine whether or not the applicant has the level of maturity, responsibility and passion that we require to participate in our program. We expect our students to raise the necessary funds for the travel portion of their service trip; the amounts vary by country and cover flights, housing and food. We firmly believe that our service trips are so much more valuable to the students when it is worked for and earned; student fundraising will forever remain a part of Children’s Global Alliance. Upon culmination of applicant interviews, we make our final volunteer selections per country. There are occurrences where a student is chosen for a different trip than they originally applied for. As chaperones, we must build a team of students, using everyone’s strengths and areas for improvement to create the strongest group. Some applicants are not chosen their first year of applying, but most come back a second time, more mature and better prepared for a trip. Once the teams are formed, we guide students in their fundraising efforts, as well as team building, blog writing and country knowledge and language.
The months leading up to the trip are just as important as the trip itself. Our students are expected to work for their experience, whether earning their funds with a well written donation letter, hosting fundraisers, or working at jobs like tutoring or babysitting. Local community service hours are a non-negotiable in our program.
While on the trip, the students blog about their experiences, and our expectations, rightfully so, are quite high. Blogs are an effective way for our students to document and process their feelings, as well as communicate their experiences to family, friends and donors. We urge the students to be creative and “dig deep” when writing their blogs, to tell a story and paint a picture of this life changing experience.
As these developing countries are poverty-stricken and very different from Vail, or anywhere in the United States for that matter, understanding the culture and history of the countries we visit is critical. Because Children’s Global Alliance values awareness and an understanding of the struggles of the people that we encounter on the street, in the orphanages or in the schools, our students are required to understand the basics of the local language, as it shows respect and effort on our part as volunteers.
Monthly meetings and chaperone guidance are priorities for Children’s Global Alliance. Relationships start forming the second the students are chosen; we need to ensure that students adhere to prerequisites and rules before embarking on a trip around the world. Every student is required to bring a 50 pound bag of donations and supplies on our trips, so we host donation drives to collect school supplies, clothes, medical supplies and other items that are not readily available to the children we serve.
Annually, we hold one main event to raise funds for all service projects. Our generous host, Bol Vail, has functioned as our Brunch & Bol event venue the past few years. This fun-filled, community building event includes bowling and brunch, as well as a live and silent auction; we raised $36,000 this past March! On prior trips we’ve built homes that provided shelter for 56 orphaned children in Cambodia (the students actually helped build the homes under the supervision of a local professional), funded surgeries and ongoing medical care, dental work, school tuition, planted crops, and fed hundreds of children and families around the world.
Once we arrive in the country, the real fun begins! There is nothing quite like being completely out of your comfort zone: different food, different smells, different language, different culture, different faces. Personal technology is prohibited, allowing students and chaperones to immerse themselves fully into this new world, connect with their team, and learn more about themselves.
In Nicaragua, we work at a school for children with disabilities. Our students tutor one-on-one, assist teachers, and visit the homes of children too disabled to attend school. In Cambodia, we work at an orphanage and teach English at a nearby school. We improve the orphanage in whatever way is most pressing at the time: fixing plumbing, building homes, planting crops and deep cleaning. In Nepal, our students work at a humble school for children of a nearby slum, helping to educate and empower. They also complete manual labor projects that include making repairs to the existing structure. While in Tanzania, our students work at LOAMO, an English medium school where the staff have hearts of gold. Our students assist in the classrooms, where they see firsthand the value of an education, something that they typically take for granted. Our students also participate in valuable home visits, spending time with families of five who live in homes smaller than the students’ bedrooms. These people are happy, proud, and love sharing their stories with us.
Through CGA service trip participation, our student volunteers’ perception of life is beautifully and drastically altered. They come home with a greater respect for family, education and the lives they live. They are shown how little effort, money and love it takes to make an enormous impact on lives around the world. These students will go on to be teachers, doctors, parents and leaders of our community and more. These experiences will continue to shape their leadership skills, their relationships, and their impact on the world they live in.
Children’s Global Alliance has grown every year through the generosity and faith of our community. Although our chaperones are all volunteers, they are dedicated to continuing to grow and improve our programs. We appreciate you taking the time to read about our organization. We hope our passion and love for our volunteers and our service projects is palpable through this letter, and we welcome any questions you may have.
