Hey guys!
Welcome to my first post of many!
My expectations for this class are, of course, primarily to prepare me for our trip over Spring Break. In order to do this, I am looking forward to the assigned readings that we have from Muhammad Yunus, the found of the Grameen Bank. Already, I've read a few chapters ahead in the first book, and I am loving it! Even though we are not required to read more than selected chapters, I will probably go ahead and read the whole book. I hope we have a lot of time to read and discuss the country and its people in our class meetings. I think the experiences that a few of our classmates have already had with the program will be a valuable asset. Like someone mentioned in our last meeting, I also expect us to become friends and get to know each other before we go to Belize. I think that our small group size gives us a unique opportunity to work as a close unit. I hope that we can take advantage of that.
As far as the trip is concerned, at this point I honestly don't know quite what to expect. I would love to meet some of the people whose lives are changed by this program, as well as to see how the program really works.
The one concern (or shall I say question) I have regarding this trip is the amount of fundraising we are doing to prepare. Aside from talking about a few events that we have planned to raise money (most of which will take place after we come back), I am concerned that we may not be doing a lot of fundraising. Considering that this project is capital-intensive, I would love to raise a ton of money to help out as many people as we can! Maybe in the next couple of class meetings we can more clearly define plans and goals for fundraising.
As far as what I will do to contribute to Team Belize this year, I will be mentally and physically present and prepared for all meetings. I will be actively involved in class discussions, and I will take the initiative to research independently outside of assigned duties to be as prepared as I can be for this trip.
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Stephanie-
ReplyDeleteTo answer your questions, we won't be needing to do any fundraising before we leave. We have some funds still in the pot from previous years. In addition, we work with some groups such as the Downtown Rotary Club and Women's Council who have been very supportive of the project in the past and we hope will give donations towards loans again. Plus we will do some fundraising later in the Spring to continue to keep our loan bucket full. In the past we have been very fundraising focused and have missed the chance to do some of the academic exercises the class will provide. Hopefully this will be a good balance of both!
-Jessica
I was wondering that also. I know we will be fundraising for the loans, but I wasn't sure how much money we were trying to make. And also, depending on that amount, would there be a way of fundraising for our own benefit as well? Just a few thoughts to help make the trip cheaper, but of course funding for loans first...
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