Alli Shamushka, Bienvenidos/as, Bienvenu(e)s, Welcome!
Here Emily & Nacho, your soon-to-be coordinators! We hope that you are excited about this trip and getting ready to share awesome adventures and experiences with us.
We have been working hard on your itinerary and want you to have the best time here!
But first, let’s introduce ourselves:
I am Emily! I was born in a little village of the east of France where the winter is freezing cold (-4 F) and the summer really hot (86 F). I started traveling very young, mainly to North Africa. My first intercultural memory is the smell of mint tea in a Moroccan market while enjoying the voice of a muezzin singing from a nearby minaret. I have loved traveling ever since. I decided to study tourism and languages while working as a leader in different European countries during every holiday. My studies led me to Mexico and to Bolivia. My path has crossed many inspiring people and I ended up staying in Bolivia for two years. I enjoy learning new languages, spending time in nature and exploring new places. Global Glimpse’s mission really inspires me and makes me want to go back to education and working with groups. We had an amazing experience with our two first delegations and we are really looking forward to receiving you! I am excited to get to know all of you and share your stories.
I am Ignacio Peralta, but you can call me Nacho too, I am from a small island in Nicaragua called Corinto, I started to do volunteering with different organizations since I was 15 years old about sexual education programs, I met many young people from Nicaragua, Germany and United States doing great things and I decided to study social work, because I felt passionate about working in social program with young people. I started working with different NGOs in education and environment programs, and during this period I traveled a lot in my country Nicaragua to many different communities and worked with different people. I also went to Colombia and Ethiopia with the program, and my wish to know more and more places and people grew even more. I think that education is the key to change and that the most revolutionary action we can do is to create more spaces for education. My fuel to work with Global Glimpse is the education program, I am convinced that educating young people can make a change for the future and that by offering opportunities for more critical thinking we will create a better society.
One of the activities we are really excited about is the Indigenous Worldview Day. In order to learn more about the local Indigenous Cosmovision, we will visit the craddle of the Puruhua culture: The Cacha community and its ceremonial center, Pucara Tambo. We will be surrounded by breathtaking landscapes and experience a traditional cleansing ceremony. After the ceremony, we will share a lunch called “Pamba Mikhuy” in Kichwa, the local indigenous language. And there will be a surprise…
We are going to visit plenty of other interesting places that will help you get a better idea of what Ecuadorian culture and customs are.
Riobamba can get pretty cold, especially at night so don’t forget to bring warm clothes. We are also going to get relatively high (15,700ft!) when we go to the Chimborazo volcano. Gloves, hats, and scarfs are highly recommended.
Also, if you have working gloves for our Community Action Project, don’t hesitate to bring them, they are always useful!
Don’t hesitate to ask us any questions you want, we will be happy to answer them.
We look forward to reading your presentations on the blog and meeting you all in a week and a half!
Saludos,
Emily & Nacho