Cosmic Volunteers will have a table this weekend at the White Flint Mall Camp & Summer Programs Expo in Bethesda, Maryland.
So if you’re in the area, please stop by and say hello to Cosmic’s Director Scott Burke and some of our former volunteers and interns.
What: White Flint Mall Camp & Summer Programs Expo
When: Sat January 28 from 10-5 AND Sun Jan 29 from 12-5pm
Where: White Flint Mall
Address: 11301 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, Maryland 20895
Our Alternative Spring Break Programs for 2012 are available now at our website.
Our trips in 2012 are available from February 1 to April 30.
See you abroad!
Glad to see the NBA will start its season soon, after the lockout.
Speaking of basketball, check out our Basketball Coaching Program in Ghana.
(Thank you letter from Elsa High principal, regarding the one-week volunteer trip to Vietnam in 2010 by 27 of her students, chaperoned by Scott Burke and 6 of her teachers. Original letter)
May 10, 2010,
Dear Scott,
On behalf of all of us at Elsa High, including our parents and the Governing body, I would like to thank you very much for indeed your part in the wonderfully successfully first educational visit for our G6 & G7 students. All the feedback I have received has been positive, and I know you worked way beyond the call of duty in more than one area in order to ensure the best outcome.
Michael and the rest of the staff very much enjoyed working together with you and I would be more than happy to recommend your organisation to other schools.
It was great meeting you and I look forward to welcoming you back to Elsa High School in the future.
Warm Regards,
Mrs. Rachel Friedman
Principal
Carmel School Association
Elsa High School
From: Janny Jang
Date: Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 10:33 PM
Subject: Re: Cosmic / Janny
To: “Cosmic @”
Hi Scott,
It is amazing here [in Guatemala]!
The masons, who we work with at the construction site, are incredible people.
I am very excited for the new volunteers because they have unbelievable experiences ahead of them.
I get picked up with another volunteer in the morning and we head to the construction site, which is a very thrilling ride since we are on a pickup truck. The work we do each day is incredible because since everyone is determined and hard working, time flies while progress is also being made in amazing speed.
The stay here at the host family is great.
I met so many amazing people here!
I’ll talk to you soon!
Janny
Lauren Grimanis, a former Cosmic Volunteer, started her own charity to help people in Ghana. It’s called The Akaa Project, whose latest efforts include raising over $4,000 for the expansion of the Asiafo Amanfro Community School in Eastern Ghana. Way to go, Lauren!
Here is the PDF version of a book written by Andrew and Teresa Allen about their experiences volunteering at an orphanage in Cape Coast, Ghana in in 2009.
Our volunteers have a new teaching placement available in Kathmandu, Nepal at the Emmanuel Secondary Boarding School.
Their principal has invited Cosmic Volunteers to send teaching volunteers to their school, in order to help the students with their spoken English and to share any teaching methodologies and experiences you have.
The details of the program:
Kathmandu, Nepal
From: Rebecca <——–@oxy.edu>
Date: Thu, May 12, 2011 at 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: Cosmic / Becca & Sabrina
To: “Cosmic @” <info@cosmicvolunteers.org>Hi Scott!
So far it’s been absolutely incredible. We are loving every bit [of Delhi] (even coming to tolerate the extreme heat). Our coordinators and host mother are really kind and welcoming. We couldn’t ask for a better introduction to such a new and vivid country. Thank you for ALL of your help, and we’ll be in touch with you as the trip goes on. Sorry we haven’t written to you sooner! We’ve been so busy exploring!
Best,
Becca & Sabrina
Beach Resort in Ghana!
As USA Today wrote yesterday, hotel websites are notorious for having photos and descriptions that don’t match reality.
I’ve heard this a lot from volunteers over the years traveling to Vietnam, Ghana, India etc:
> In Delhi last month, I walked by one of the hotels I browsed online before leaving home. The hotel’s website photos were so misleading – the building was run-down in person and was located right next to a large trash-dump.
> I once talked to a hotel owner in Ghana whose website had photos of a resort hotel, while the reality was that his hotel was basically a run-down brothel in a dumpy neighborhood in Accra.
> In Vietnam last year, one of our volunteers booked a beautiful-looking hotel in Saigon for several weeks, only to find on arrival that it was a small hotel located down a cramped and noisy alley.
My advice: