Wordless Wednesday

A trip to Ecuador and Back

My trip to Ecuador with the volunteers from Park City was a wild success. We worked in two communities that we loved. We adopted a dog, worked on two school, had locals dare us to climb a 20ft greased pole and watched a little something called the Vaca Loca (crazy cow). We only had one near-death experience and only one of the crew came home with scabies (me--yuck). It was a wonderful trip. Tonight I am heading to the reunion. We're going to hear a band play, eat delicious food, watch a slide show and remember the good time we had.

Just in case you don't believe me that we had an excellent trip, here's a video to prove it (Video courtesy of Caleb Braley--one of our excellent Ecuadorian interns)

Wordless Wednesday

I Tube, Youtube, We tube...

Summer at the Ascend office is always fun. People are getting in their vacations and it's our last relaxing moment before we swing into full-scale panic mode before our annual fundraiser. Summer is also a good time because the office is buzzing with interns. This year we decided not only to test the prowess of the interns in our work environment but we also created a special challenge. Interns could break into teams of 2 and make a youtube video about what we do to post online. They would have 2 weeks to get as many views as possible. The winners would get a killer prize (which I promised would not be from the dollar store as the majority of my prizes are)

3 sets of interns took the challenge. Watch the videos. You decide who wins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahFUTn_sFWA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX0G2Lslgxo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxx0yWMGl3o

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Fulfilling Dreams

I am a “sucker” for charities; anything that requires me handing over money to some kind of charity organization has me sold and asking, “Whom do I make the check out too?” Perhaps not the most fiscal responsible habit for me to have, being a poor college student and all, but I hold to the belief that there will always be other people in the world who need my money more than I do. I may not have all the riches in the world, but every time I open my mouth to complain I remember that there are billions of people who really have it worse than me. Be they in the Salt Lake area, in the ghettos of Detroit, crossing the border from Mexico to America, struggling day in and day out in villages in Bolivia, or living in refugee camps in Africa, I can’t get any of them out of my mind. Forget my dream of buying an overpriced iPhone. What about the dreams of Palestinians to live in a home instead of a tent? What about the dreams of Ethiopians to be able to feed their children? What about the dreams of Mexicans to send their children to college? What about the dreams of Bangladeshis to leave the sweatshops? I realize that everything I do and where my money goes can make a difference. If my money can make someone else’s dreams come true, then it’s worth it to put off my dreams momentarily. I know I have things that I take for granted that other people in the world only dream about, like running water, a job with benefits, and enough food. As long as others have these dreams, I will always be working to grant them.

Written by: Nicole Rasmussen
ASCEND Alliance Intern