Saludos! This is Team San Juan de la Maguana 2 sending a personal bienvenida your way! We would like to start by introducing ourselves:
Program Coordinator: Vania Michelini
I am 28 years old and I was born in Mexico but grew up in the United States. My educational background focused on political science and African American Studies. After finishing my Bachelor’s degree, I decided to focus on working, volunteering and traveling around the world. Once, I found the opportunity to travel and study with the help of an Erasmus Mundus scholarship; I pursued my Masters in Lifelong Learning in the UK and Spain. These experiences have allowed me to visit 34 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. I have always believed in education as a tool to empower communities through intercultural dialogue. Hence, I searched for an opportunity to put into practice my worldview, experiences, knowledge and skills to help build bridges. I think Global Glimpse is a perfect opportunity to connect youth from the developed world to the rest of our global village. Most of all, I hold true our responsibility to uplift one another, in order to build a more just and equal society. While the Internet and social media provide platforms to communicate with one another, experiencing different ways of living have a bigger impact on our thinking. When we know better, we can do better.
Program Coordinator: Sixto Cabral Contreras
My name is Sixto Cabral Contreras and a native of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic. I am studying Modern Languages (English) at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. Also, I graduated from an English Immersion Program in 2014, which was an opportunity that the government provide students who are low income to study without any payment. My passion for participating in social and educational programs inspired me to join Global Glimpse in the summer of 2016 as a local Youth Ambassadors program in my hometown of San Juan. Thanks to all the leadership lessons I gained from that volunteer experience, in 2017 I became a Program Coordinator. This year (2018), I am very happy and proud to return as a program coordinator to continue inspiring young people who want to do positive things for themselves and be more responsible and valuable citizens. I am looking forward to using my experience as an Ambassador and an experienced coordinator to demonstrate to all youth that passion, perseverance, and hard work are important to achieving their goals and be an example to follow in their communities as well as for the rest of the world.
We have been working diligently on your summer itinerary and are very excited to share it with you and see your critical perspectives unfold. Here is a a glimpse of a couple of the activities that you and the students will be experiencing!
One activity that we’re most excited about this summer is our “Living Like A Local” theme day. On this day, we will have the chance to live and work alongside one of our most favorite community, Suarez. We will be visiting many of the families’ homes, who are part of the Women’s Association La Bienvenida. The local Women’s Association was founded in 1993 by Matilde Montero, one of the members. Currently, there are 25 women as members. The Association emerged from the need for an organized group to bring the voice of the community to the mayor’s office. Another activity that we’re equally excited about is our Community Action Project (CAP) and will be partnering with the same community, Suarez! In the span of three days, we will create and carry out a community project to benefit the local youth as a team under the guidance of the Women’s Association. This project will remain in Suarez, even after all of us have gone, so we hope to make it as impactful and sustainable as possible.