Iggy's Volunteer Trip To Cambodia

I grew up in a city that has repeatedly been labeled the "murder capital" of New York State; this impacts residents’ feelings of self-worth and certainly tainted how I felt about my city growing up. Newburgh residents have experienced first-hand the effects of deindustrialization, the lasting impacts of crime and violence, and the ensuing poverty, all of which left scars on our city that people are working hard to try to heal.

My classmates and I founded an award winning organization, Global To Local, and traveled to a poverty-stricken area in Quito, Ecuador.  We spent ten days at Casa Victoria, which serves as a home to a women by the name of Alicia, who founded a grassroots program to serve the youth in her neighborhood. We were able to learn how Alicia identified and addressed a problem in her community, and witness how she persists in building her program.

We embraced this mindset about addressing issues and are currently working to replicate it back in Newburgh, NY. As I am learning more about some of the forces working against the residents in Newburgh (deindustrialization, failed urban renewal, gentrification), I am coming to understand the complex issues of equity and access and how they can occur all over the world.  I now feel empowered to use this learning to help others come to this realization.  I want to mentor youth and teach others about how we can work together to support one another and our community. I am currently fundraising to travel with Global To Local to Cambodia, where survivors and victims’ families are struggling to heal from the Khmer Rouge genocide. We will visit sites and meet with organizations who are memorializing the genocide, with the goal of understanding how public spaces can be used as shared community resources for healing, replicating a similar idea upon our return to Newburgh. Your support will go a long way in enabling me to achieve this goal.