And we're off!

Upon returning home from Spain, I was desperate to find a way to leave the country again. That way came in the form of K-State International Community Service teams! The K-State Community Service Program sends students around the world each summer. The sites change occasionally, as do the projects at each site. This summer, students are going to Botswana, Africa; Brazil, South America, and Mexico. There are 6 students each in Botswana and Brazil, and 6 students in Mexico, but at two different sites. Myself, my friend Leshia (with whom I went to Spain) and Patrick (an 06 K-State grad, Americorps Vista volunteer and future med student) are on our way to Z, Mexico, a small town in the Sierra Negra mountains of southern Mexico, in the state of Puebla.

I am friends with several people who are alumni of the program and they all rave about it. I'm excited to experience another Spanish-speaking country, to live in a poor area and learn about Mexican agriculture!

We will be working with agriculture and public health, and possibly teaching English. We'll live with host families, and work with the Community Foundation in Z, which is run by both the Mexican government and la Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla, or UPAEP for short. The foundation has many projects in Z, including community gardens to grow food, infrastructure development, they serve as a bank because there isn't one in Z, and they work to get government funding for new houses and bathrooms for the families in the area.

After landing in Mexico City, we're taking a bus from the airport south to the city of Puebla, where we'll meet officials from the university, reunite with the other group from K-State who have been there about 2 weeks and get more information regarding our service projects. Thursday we'll leave Puebla and head up to Z.

*Note - since internet access in Z was limited, most of these blogs have been taken from journal entries I made during the summer. Please excuse any discrepancies in tense, as I may add things here and there while I'm typing.

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Part of trip: Community Service Summer in Mexico

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