Glenda's Volunteer Trip to Tanzania
Donation protected
My name is Glenda Sanchez. I am a 22 year old senior at Hofstra University and this will be my first volunteer experience abroad and I am more than excited to have this experience with Operation Groundswell .
I'm super excited as I have always loved to volunteer and pay it forward. However, I have never had the opportunity to do it abroad but I do not want that to hold me back from giving back to others in another country.
Operation Groundswell provides a volunteer experience that is very different from others. On this 40-day volunteer trip, OG has daily excrusions, educational programming and an overall imersive experience. Specific to the Tanzania program, I will be getting an inside look at the hotbed of social innovation and entrepreneurship taking place in Tanzania’s urban areas, running entrepreneurship and leadership workshops while getting a firsthand view of a women’s microfinance organization in rural Tanzania, engage with NGOs and local groups, as well as government departments regarding issues of gender and entrepreneurship both in urban and rural areas, I'll be spending the majority of our time partnering with Femme International (whose co-founder is an OG alumni!) Femme works to advance the rights of women and girls through programs that address sexual health, menstruation, and feminine hygiene – topics that are largely stigmatized and taboo in the region (Besides learning about the upstream factors affecting these issues, we’ll help Femme execute workshops in the area and engage with other actors focused on social entrepreneurship and youth empowerment), from urban to rural Tanzania, we will make our way to the village of Ngongongare. The village sits in the foothills of Mount Meru and is the home community of our second partner, Jifundishe. Jifundishe is a local non-governmental organization focused on providing access to educational resources for all ages (I will join them in running entrepreneurship and leadership workshops in collaboration with their women’s micro-lending program and other groups in the community), among other things.
The program fee comes up to $3,475.00 which is broek down into $2,860.00 (which covers lodging and accomodations, three local meals a day, all group tours, entrance fees, and excrusions, etc.) and $615.00 as the community contribution. The community contribution is broken down as follows:
-82% goes straight to the partners OG works with in these countries to put towards the work they do!
-10% goes to an organization called PlanetAir based in Canada; they do awesome work in carbon offsetting. I’ll be flying to East Africa and plane carbon emissions are not minimal. PlanetAir’s projects work to offset these emissions and include things such as wind farms, creating energy from waste gas and heat, and reforestation.
-8% goes back to OG for administrative costs, and this is all they ask of the entirety of my costs.
The program fee + the community contribution comes to $3,475.00, however I am trying to fundraise $4,775.00 which also includes the cost of the flights.
Being able to take part in this program would mean the world to me. I know that I do not need to go far to help someone else, however I would like to pay it forward and give me time and energy to help those in another area in the world. This experience will not only allow me to give back to others by helping them improve their lives but also learn about myself through those I encounter while learning about a different culture, which is something that I am very passionate about.
If I am unable to fundraise the whole amount, I will not be able to take part in this life-changing, once in lifetime opportunity, I will be donating the amount fundraised to the organizations that I would have been volunteering with.
I appreciate any and all donations.
I'm super excited as I have always loved to volunteer and pay it forward. However, I have never had the opportunity to do it abroad but I do not want that to hold me back from giving back to others in another country.
Operation Groundswell provides a volunteer experience that is very different from others. On this 40-day volunteer trip, OG has daily excrusions, educational programming and an overall imersive experience. Specific to the Tanzania program, I will be getting an inside look at the hotbed of social innovation and entrepreneurship taking place in Tanzania’s urban areas, running entrepreneurship and leadership workshops while getting a firsthand view of a women’s microfinance organization in rural Tanzania, engage with NGOs and local groups, as well as government departments regarding issues of gender and entrepreneurship both in urban and rural areas, I'll be spending the majority of our time partnering with Femme International (whose co-founder is an OG alumni!) Femme works to advance the rights of women and girls through programs that address sexual health, menstruation, and feminine hygiene – topics that are largely stigmatized and taboo in the region (Besides learning about the upstream factors affecting these issues, we’ll help Femme execute workshops in the area and engage with other actors focused on social entrepreneurship and youth empowerment), from urban to rural Tanzania, we will make our way to the village of Ngongongare. The village sits in the foothills of Mount Meru and is the home community of our second partner, Jifundishe. Jifundishe is a local non-governmental organization focused on providing access to educational resources for all ages (I will join them in running entrepreneurship and leadership workshops in collaboration with their women’s micro-lending program and other groups in the community), among other things.
The program fee comes up to $3,475.00 which is broek down into $2,860.00 (which covers lodging and accomodations, three local meals a day, all group tours, entrance fees, and excrusions, etc.) and $615.00 as the community contribution. The community contribution is broken down as follows:
-82% goes straight to the partners OG works with in these countries to put towards the work they do!
-10% goes to an organization called PlanetAir based in Canada; they do awesome work in carbon offsetting. I’ll be flying to East Africa and plane carbon emissions are not minimal. PlanetAir’s projects work to offset these emissions and include things such as wind farms, creating energy from waste gas and heat, and reforestation.
-8% goes back to OG for administrative costs, and this is all they ask of the entirety of my costs.
The program fee + the community contribution comes to $3,475.00, however I am trying to fundraise $4,775.00 which also includes the cost of the flights.
Being able to take part in this program would mean the world to me. I know that I do not need to go far to help someone else, however I would like to pay it forward and give me time and energy to help those in another area in the world. This experience will not only allow me to give back to others by helping them improve their lives but also learn about myself through those I encounter while learning about a different culture, which is something that I am very passionate about.
If I am unable to fundraise the whole amount, I will not be able to take part in this life-changing, once in lifetime opportunity, I will be donating the amount fundraised to the organizations that I would have been volunteering with.
I appreciate any and all donations.
Organizer
Glenda Sanchez
Organizer
Roosevelt, NY
