Megan Hall - Team Cambodia

Megan Hall is a student at Brighton High School, where she's on the swim team. She volunteers at the University of Utah Emergency Department. She helps at the registration desk talking to families as they wait. She chose this volunteer opportunity because she's interested in healthcare. She says that she's most excited about experiencing Khmer culture when we are in country. She's in the microfinance group and she is currently working on the logistics concerning building a garden space at the school we will be visiting in Cambodia.

Buy animals for Easter & help an impoverished Cambodian family

Picture it: Peak Sneng, Cambodia, June 2011. A simple family living in a wooden hut glimpses 40 strange creatures arriving in vans through the banyan trees. Apprehensive at first, they peek through the leaves at the visitors and decide if they should say hello. They don’t seem like the regular tourists, whom they rarely see this far from the city, especially since instead of carrying cameras; they are carrying huge duffle bags. The 40 strangers lay out the bags and start unpacking everything from pencils and erasers to Band-aids and toothbrushes to soccer balls and plastic spades. This is a strange group indeed! At this point, a smartly dressed Cambodian moves toward the curious family and beckons them to welcome the visitors. They have come all the way from the USA to work with the village for two whole weeks: to work at the local school and the orphanage, to help at the medical clinic down the road, to build bathrooms at the school, to install water filtration units for the community, and to help all of the families in the area with a program they call “Livestock Exchange.”

The Livestock Exchange program is an initiative which the micro-finance committee on the Cambodia Youthlinc team is pursuing to help Cambodian families. We are raising money to purchase animals for this community. The recipient families can then raise and breed the animals, give the offspring to other families in the community, and start making a living from the animals. Over time, each family will own some kind of livestock, such as chickens, pigs, or cows. Once they have these animals, the families will be able to use and sell the eggs from the chickens, use the cows for milk and labor in the fields, and raise pigs to sell at the market. The Livestock Exchange program is, in a way, like giving a start up loan for a business. You start with something small, put in some work, and grow your wealth. The village of Peak Sneng is in extreme poverty and worries about feeding their families from day to day, so starting a Livestock Exchange program is a great first step to get the local economy stabilized and able to eventually grow. We are also going to help them start growing gardens so they will also have fresh produce to eat throughout the year.

In order to get this initiative going, we need your help! Yes, you, blog reader! And the way you can help is very simple. We, the micro-finance committee, are running a program called Animals for Easter. What you do is, choose what you want to donate (Garden Seed Basket, Flock of Chicks, Pig, or Cow), fill out the information on the form, send a check to Youthlinc, and we will buy, with your money, what you marked when we get to Cambodia this summer. We will donate it for you. In return for your donation, we will send you three things: 1) a card in time for Easter about what you have purchased (you can donate something in another person’s name as a gift to them for Easter), 2) an update within the next year about how the animals Youthlinc donated are helping the community, and 3) a letter concerning your donation for tax purposes—after all Youthlinc is a 501(c) Non-Profit, and any donation you give is tax-deductible!

We need your help to improve the lives of the families in Peak Sneng, Cambodia! Please tell your friends and family about this program so they will have an opportunity to help as well.

Logan Gaykowski - Team Cambodia

Team Cambodia's newest featured participant is Logan Gaykowski (on the left in the picture above). Her main local service site is The Children's Center. The Children's Center is committed to providing comprehensive mental health care to enhance the emotional well being of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families (www.tccslc.org). Logan says that her favorite part about her service is helping and playing with the little kids. She also volunteers at Real Life SLC. Logan's favorite food is Italian, and she is a talented cellist. Logan also loves to ski, play tennis, play soccer, dance, and swim. Her life motto is "Be Happy!".

Win a free trip to Guatemala summer 2012: Come to our Benefit in Park City March 31

Thanks to a dedicated committee of Park City and Heber parents & Rotarians, Youthlinc will have a second annual Benefit to raise money for student sponsorships from these communities! This Service Year, 6 additional students, over and above those sponsored by Rotary Clubs in the areas, were able to participate because of last year's fundraiser.

Kimball Art Center in Park City is donating the space on Thursday, March 31 starting at 5:30pm. RSVP office@youthlinc.org by March 25 or go to our website www.youthlinc.org and Click Donate. Be sure to Specify Fund: Park City Benefit.

A ticket to the Benefit $25p/p serves as one chance to win a free trip to Guatemala in summer 2012 with Youthlinc. This will be our first service trip to our newest site, Rio Dulce.

You will be able to buy more chances to win this completely transferable trip at the Benefit (1 for $10, 3 for $20. YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN.

Youthlinc will partner with the Puerto Barrios Rotary Club and Ak’Tenamit, an indigenous owned and operated nonprofit association based on the Río Dulce, in the rainforest of eastern Guatemala.

This new site will help Youthlinc create lifetime humanitarians by giving students and professionals alike the opportunity to serve needy Mayan communities. Youthlinc will plan projects around its five core development initiatives:
- Construction
- Cultural Exchange
- Community Health
- Education
- Microenterprise and Vocational Training.

For more information about our new international service site, visit our blog http://youthlinc-blog.blogspot.com and scroll to the entry about the new site, posted by our International Service Director, Smith Monson who just returned from the site visit.

Announcing Youthlinc's newest international service site: Rio Dulce, Guatemala 2012

Youthlinc is proud to announce the opening of its newest site for the summer of 2012: Rio Dulce, Guatemala. Guatemala is one of the Western Hemisphere's most impoverished nations with over 50% of its population living in poverty. We are looking forward to the opportunity to help the people of this great nation.

Youthlinc will be partnering with Ak'Tenamit, an indigenous owned and operated nonprofit association based on the Río Dulce, in the rainforest of eastern Guatemala. Ak'Tenamit works to improve education, health, and business opportunities for Mayan communities . Ak'Tenamit was founded in 1992 by Rotarian Steve Dudenhoefer. Long time Youthlinc friend and former board member, Bruce Powell led the site visit.

After a long day's travel by car and boat from Guatemala City, we made it to Livingston, a fishing town on the eastern coast. The night was spent discussing possible projects with Ak'Tenamit representatives and dining at Buga Momma's, one of Ak'Tenamit's three restaurants that give practical experience to Mayan youth in tourism and other services.

The next morning we woke up early and took a small motorized boat down the scenic Rio Dulce River to the two Ak'Tenamit project sites. The first site was home to Ak'Tenamit's administrative offices and health clinic, as well as a neighboring community's primary school.

Meeting with Dr. Omar Ibanez, an Argentine and Swiss trained physician, I discovered the amazing efforts made by Ak'Tenamit's trained health care promoters, midwives and international health care professional volunteers, who provide health care service 6 days a week and visit over 40 communities once every four weeks. Often, it takes several days journey through the jungle to reach the villages in the area. The staff is truly dedicated to their work.

From the clinic visit, I learned that malnutrition is the most pervasive health problem in the region. Guatemala ranks fourth in the world for the highest number of malnourished children. Youthlinc can help alleviate this problem, making a significant difference in the lives of many rural Guatemalans. As part of our mission of creating lifetime humanitarians, we want to partner with Utah universities to institute studies and pilot projects to improve agricultural production in this area.

Next, I traveled another 10 minutes by boat to Ak'Tenamit's main site and secondary school. I met with the board of directors and the school's principal to discuss potential partnerships. Meeting with these leaders was the best part of the trip. Their enthusiasm was palpable and contagious.

The principal of the secondary school shared with us the change that occurred in him from working at Ak'Tenamit. I listened to him describe his evolution starting at the school years ago as an uninvolved teacher to becoming an amazing and motivational teacher/principal. I could tell that I was among one of the people in the world who continually works for personal progress while lifting those around him. I knew that Ak'Tenamit, and this inspirational man, would teach our students invaluable life lessons about commitment to service and the fruits of those labors.

That night at Buga Momma's, I met Martin Coc Caal, a twenty year old graduate of Ak'Tenamit. Martin and other Ak'Tenamit alums started a non-profit organization focused on reforestation and building wood burning stoves to improve community health in Mayan villages. Speaking with him manifested again the amazing scope of Ak'Tenamit's work and how it has changed the lives of rural Guatemalans and how Youthlinc can become even more involved advancing this work.

Reflecting on my recent experience in Guatemala, I realize that I often lose sight of what is truly important and how we can work together to make our weaknesses our greatest strengths, just as the people of Ak'Tenamit strive to make their communities self-sufficient and strong. My hope has been renewed by a humble and hard-working people and I look forward to Youthlinc's partnership with an organization so impressive and so inspirational.

Smith Monson, Youthlinc International Service Director

Reflections from February meeting

I can't believe it's almost time for the March meeting! I'm sure our flight to Cambodia will be here before we know it. We'll be experiencing all kinds of new things, and on that note, here is a quick snippet of a hilarious activity about tasting "Cambodian food" put together by Max Poth:



Thanks to Nicole Ledford for the video!

Peru 2011. The People Behind the Project.

Hey there all you Youthlinc cyberspacers! Yesterday, March 5th was the Youthlinc medical clinic provided by the University of Utah International travel clinic. Special shout out to all of the workers there who so kindly provided us with the tips necessary to keep safe in Peru. They informed us on how to avoid bug bites and malaria. I'm definitely going to keep my 50% deet around my neck at all times, not to mention spend a whole 2 months before, coating my clothing with permethrin. We learned what malaria medication will give us the least amount of nightmares, and to avoid buying food off the streets. I was grateful for this advice to avoid traps that could potentially harm all of us. I know we are going to be well prepared to give our best selves and service to the people in Palmeras.

While we were waiting in line for our vaccinations, I decided to proceed with asking some of our team members a little bit more about themselves and their local service. After all, the local service we do truly makes the youthlinc program. Not to mention, prepares our minds and hearts for the work we will do in Peru. So here you have it, the people behind the project: (well, atleast the first bunch. don't worry..the rest of the team is yet to come, so get ready!)

Kim Gourley

From: Taylorsville

Attending the University of Utah, majoring in exercise physiology.

Service Site: Big Brothers Big Sisters

Kim loves working with a little girl named Rita, who's childhood has been anything but easy. They have scrapbooked together and gone to shows near Tuacahn in St. George. Kim loves serving because it makes her happy to see Rita get excited about something.

Kim and Paul :)

Paul Mueller

From: Salt Lake City

Attending the University of Utah, majoring in elementary education.

Service Site: Lincoln Elementary

Paul tutors at Lincoln as apart of a program called America Reads. He says that in the beginning, the children were very shy, but now they have improved so much in their learning. This improvement is very fulfilling for Paul to see. Paul enjoys being creative and trying to make learning fun for the kids.

Lindsey Miles

From: Salt Lake City

Attending the University of Utah, majoring in nuclear medicine.

Service Site: Carmen Pinagree School for kids with autism.

Lindsey works with 7 to 10 year olds, and says that for the most part you can't even tell they have it. Her favorite part is working with the kids because they are so sweet, and even though the autism worsens with age, she enjoys working there because she loves the kids so much.

Amelia White

From: Salt Lake City

Junior at West High School

Service Site: Discovery Gateway

Amelia spends time cleaning and playing games with the kids at Discovery Gateway. She loves being there and interacting with them. She says service is fun and she enjoys spending her time there!

Shannon Rose

From: Salt Lake City

Junior at West High School

Service Site: Tennis and Tutoring at Liberty Park

Shannon has a blast teaching tennis to underprivileged kids. She says the kids are hilarious and it is really fun to watch them progress and have fun!

Lauren Rich

From: Salt Lake City

Attending the University of Utah, majoring in psychology.

Service Site: The Children's Center

Lauren helps and plays with classes of 8 kids. The Children's Center is a safe place for kids who don't normally live in environment like that. Most of them come from families with social or psychological problems, and she really enjoys helping the kids get through these issues in their life.

Anna Vincent

From: Draper

Attending Utah State University, majoring in history.

Service Site: STAR.

Anna spends two hours almost every day tutoring second graders at Wilson elementary with the STAR program. She loves working with kids, and this service opportunity has made her realized that she would like to go into teaching. She believes service is easy and can really impact other people's lives without much effort.

Freddy Novoa

From: Salt Lake City

Attending Utah State University, majoring in psychology.

Service Site: English Language Center

Freddy has maybe learned more than he thought with this service opportunity. He now knows how to say "hi my name is Freddy" in Arabic. He enjoys teaching people English every week. He also likes to help people apply their English and has definitely seen improvement with the students.

Emma Stephens

From: Park City

Sophomore at Park City High School

Service Site: Park City Medical Center

Emma says its always fun to help people at the hospital and to know your making a difference. An experience in the hospital has been very beneficial to her!

Christian Earl

From: Salt Lake City

Junior at East High School

Service Site: Real Life in SLC

Christian works with this Youthlinc program that works with refugees from all over the world. They play basketball, go bowling and even had an awesome Valentines day celebration. This opportunity helps him feel grateful for everything he's been given. He feels humble every time he goes, and it has helped him gain a greater perspective on life.

Well, that concludes the first set of interviewees. Aren't they awesome? The Peru team is as qualified as they come to go out and serve. I only hope to become more acquainted with each and every member of the team. As for the rest of you, please be thinking about experiences and reasons as to how your local service has impacted your life. Adios mis amigos!

Team Mexico's Local Service at Real Life!

Real Life is an organization for teen refugees in Utah. Team Mexico has quite a few students involved in this program and we hear about how great it is all the time at our meetings. Those students involved with Real Life love that it's something fun and safe for the other teens to look forward to in their week.
Alexia Sauer, one of our 'Real Life'ers of Team Mexico, made a good friend at one of the activities.
Phillip, from Congo, dreams of becoming a doctor and loves hanging out with Alexia at the activities. One time, while he and Alexia were talking, he told her that he was a really big Eminem fan. So Alexia decided to make a CD full of Eminem songs and give it to Phillip, along with some of his favorite candy. Not only was this a sweet way to show Phillip that she cared, but it also worked as great bribery to have him keep coming to the activities!
Real Life seems to be very popular in Team Mexico and our team members that are serving with Real Life really look forward to being at the activities. When we listen to their stories at team meetings, we can all tell that they truly love the kids and cherish the time they spend with them.