After Winter 2012, two of my friends informed me about their UBELONG volunteer experience in Cusco, Peru, and encouraged me to check it out. I had always been interested in exploring Latin America for other reasons besides merely tourism and vacation, so I went on the website to see what this organization was all about. Little did I know that I would soon be applying and getting accepted to the UBELONG Teaching English project in Quito, Ecuador. I'll save that story for another time, but it was definitely a life-changing experience. I knew that volunteering abroad once was definitely not enough.
I decided to take another step outside of my comfort zone (aka my comfortable home in NYC which I know and love so much) and apply for another project with UBELONG, this time in Merida, Mexico since I remember enjoying my experience in Cancun when I visited in 2007. Above is a screenshot of my acceptance email to the project! I am so excited to be catapulting ahead and pursuing my dreams of helping communities abroad. This January 2015, I will be helping out at a food bank in Merida and I'm soooo looking forward to escaping the harsh winter temperatures and enjoying the warm sun when I go volunteer.
I have to say volunteering abroad is definitely a big step, and you should always do your research before you commit to a project. I trust UBELONG and have had wonderful, reliable interactions with the UBELONG staff and points of contact and would volunteer with them all the time if I had unlimited funds, but while I'm still an undergraduate student, I'll keep to pursuing a project every few years :)
I have so many pictures to share with you all from my volunteer project in Ecuador which I'll post when I have more time after I'm finished with all my senior year exams/papers/projects :X Until next time...
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