My Volunteer Trip
Donation protected
Hey Everybody,
My Name Is Gary Nicholl, I am 20 years old and living in Barrie Ontario. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to help people and make the world a better place. I moved to Barrie in the fall of 2015 to go to school for photography but after a year in the program I realized that it wasnt my true passion.
Now I have decided to follow my dreams and take a 40 day vollunteer backpacking trip to Guatemala! I am taking this trip with an organization known as Operation Groundswell. While I am there I will have the oportunity to meet people who have been effected by forced evictions, police/military harassment, and the detrimental effects of the nickel mining operations and African palm production taking place in the area. I will also get to work on community projects and improve the lives of those that call Guatemala their home.
While there, I will also have the opportunity to grow as a person and gain experiences and memories that I will carry for the rest of my life. A big part of Operation groundswell's purpous is to inspire youth to inact change both while on there programs and afterwards, and that is what I hope to do. I hope to take all that I learn on this trip and use it to continue to make the world a better place.
When I first decided to go on this adventure, I had planned to fund it myself. I was working full time hours and I was making the payments for my trip on time. I made the last payment for my trip and bought my plane ticket, and all was looking good. However, that is when I ran into trouble; due to increased staff, my hours at work were cut almost in half without warning. In order to pay for my rent (for July and August) when I am away (I am in a lease) and to buy what I needed for my trip I was going to sell my Laptop. Unfortunatly I fell victim to a scam and lost my laptop (macbook Pro) which I was going to sell for $1500 CAD. When dealing with the 'customer' through eBay I recieved an email confirmation from Paypal saying that Paypal had recieved the money and was holding it until I mailed the product. I didnt, however, realize that this was a fake email until after I sent the product. I had already payed 200 dollars to ship it and although I called the post office, the package had already been shipped. I have been trying to have my rent taken over, as I have moved in with my girlfriend, but no one has gotten back to me.
I am a big believer that everything will work out in the end, even if it isnt how you planned, so I am staying optimistic. However, because my trip is coming up so soon (July 7 to August 14) I have found my self in a difficult situation. Reaching my goal on gofundme would allow me to go on my trip and start my journey to make the world a little better.
I want to say thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this. Thank you in advance for all of your help. I am so grateful to me to have support from kind people who prove that the world is still a good place.
If you would like to learn more about the trip that I am going on, or Operation Groundswell, you can follow this link:
http://operationgroundswell.com/program/guatemala-extreme/
My Name Is Gary Nicholl, I am 20 years old and living in Barrie Ontario. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to help people and make the world a better place. I moved to Barrie in the fall of 2015 to go to school for photography but after a year in the program I realized that it wasnt my true passion.
Now I have decided to follow my dreams and take a 40 day vollunteer backpacking trip to Guatemala! I am taking this trip with an organization known as Operation Groundswell. While I am there I will have the oportunity to meet people who have been effected by forced evictions, police/military harassment, and the detrimental effects of the nickel mining operations and African palm production taking place in the area. I will also get to work on community projects and improve the lives of those that call Guatemala their home.
While there, I will also have the opportunity to grow as a person and gain experiences and memories that I will carry for the rest of my life. A big part of Operation groundswell's purpous is to inspire youth to inact change both while on there programs and afterwards, and that is what I hope to do. I hope to take all that I learn on this trip and use it to continue to make the world a better place.
When I first decided to go on this adventure, I had planned to fund it myself. I was working full time hours and I was making the payments for my trip on time. I made the last payment for my trip and bought my plane ticket, and all was looking good. However, that is when I ran into trouble; due to increased staff, my hours at work were cut almost in half without warning. In order to pay for my rent (for July and August) when I am away (I am in a lease) and to buy what I needed for my trip I was going to sell my Laptop. Unfortunatly I fell victim to a scam and lost my laptop (macbook Pro) which I was going to sell for $1500 CAD. When dealing with the 'customer' through eBay I recieved an email confirmation from Paypal saying that Paypal had recieved the money and was holding it until I mailed the product. I didnt, however, realize that this was a fake email until after I sent the product. I had already payed 200 dollars to ship it and although I called the post office, the package had already been shipped. I have been trying to have my rent taken over, as I have moved in with my girlfriend, but no one has gotten back to me.
I am a big believer that everything will work out in the end, even if it isnt how you planned, so I am staying optimistic. However, because my trip is coming up so soon (July 7 to August 14) I have found my self in a difficult situation. Reaching my goal on gofundme would allow me to go on my trip and start my journey to make the world a little better.
I want to say thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this. Thank you in advance for all of your help. I am so grateful to me to have support from kind people who prove that the world is still a good place.
If you would like to learn more about the trip that I am going on, or Operation Groundswell, you can follow this link:
http://operationgroundswell.com/program/guatemala-extreme/
Organizer
Gary Nicholl
Organizer
Barrie North, ON