冒险

2023年夏季荣誉学院希腊之旅

电子游戏试玩 students explored Greece as part of an 荣誉学院 course led by Marilyn Bisch, 专攻拉丁语和古希腊语的高级教员, 文学, 和文化. 除了探索这个国家, each student was tasked with completing a research project based on a site or topic explored during the trip, 然后在课程结束时展示他们的发现. 阅读更多

蒂米全球健康:厄瓜多尔医疗服务之旅

2020年寒假:危地马拉

望着飞机窗外, 级联, 苍翠的森林覆盖着生机勃勃的山脉，从白色的天空中升起, 动画的云. The sight was breath taking and offered the grandest welcome I have ever received. 最重要的是，冒险才刚刚开始. We were greeted at the airport with typical Guatemalan hospitality, “Buenos Tardes! 比恩维恩多危地马拉!翻译过来就是下午好，欢迎来到危地马拉! 我们12个人, 10名荣誉学生和2名荣誉校友, were then shuffled into a minivan and whisked up the crowded city roads that would eventually lead to San Miguel Escobar, 这个小镇距离危地马拉城一小时车程.

San Miguel Escobar is a small farming community located within the valley of multiple mountains and volcanoes. 圣米格尔埃斯科瓦尔不仅拥有一些最美丽的景色, 还有德拉琴特的位置, 我们这周合作的非营利组织. De La Gente, 翻译过来就是“来自人民?,” works with a cooperative of coffee farmers and offers “opportunity in every bean.“他们确保了咖啡在农业社区之间的公平交易, 提供财务资源和产品的全球运输, as well as the opportunity to educate the outside world of what it takes to go from bean to cup. 我们的第一个机会就是去体验!

这是我们8天探险的第一天, we started off our morning in a local farmer’s coffee field picking coffee as farmers do every day in Guatemala. A typical day of the farmer starts between 4 and 6am and ends at 3pm with a small break for lunch. By the end of this day, a typical farmer can pick 100 plus pounds of beans. We started much later than the typical farmer, and we did not exactly reach the quota. We were given a basket that the farmers generally use to hold the picked beans. 农民们通常在半小时内把篮子装满. 我们大多数的篮子还没有装满一半, but collectively we filled one basket and were able to process it just like the farmers. Picking the beans was followed by placing them in a processor to pull the beans from the “cherry” casing. The beans then were placed on a drying bed and would be dried for about 3 weeks. We then had the opportunity to grind, brew, and taste coffee along with the farmers.

The rest of the week we would have the opportunity to work side by side with farmers to work on projects that would benefit their coffee production. 我们主要和咖啡合作社的总裁合作, 蒂莫, 在他的指导下，我们建造了一个雨水收集罐. The tank we built out of cinderblock and cement will benefit multiple farmers in the area by allowing them to water their coffee crops without having to haul gallons of water up the steep volcano where their farms are located. 农民们通常要步行两个小时才能到达农场, often times carrying their crops down the hill after their work day is over. 在我们和提莫一起研究火山的时候, it was not uncommon to see farmers tracking back down the rough terrain with their crops loaded on their back. 因为我们时间紧迫, we got to take a safari-type truck ride up the one lane dirt path to reach our worksite.

我们的雨水收集罐大约花了2天的时间才完成, and the following day we built 10 drying beds for a farmer in the cooperative. 还是在提莫的指挥下, we were able to build what the farmer would use to dry his coffee beans out of 4 by 4 boards, 黑色的面料, 和油管. With the new drying beds, the farmer would no longer be required to dry his coffee beans on his roof. The service we were able to complete while we were there would not have been possible without the people of the coffee community. De La Gente ensures that people who dedicate their time to service with their farmers are not working for them, 但是对于他们. It was ensured that a sense of community and team support would be implemented in order to make all parties feel valued. 因此, the service we completed was more geared towards learning the ways of the life of the farmer in order to gain a higher respect for the work that goes into a single cup of coffee.

而我们的旅途却满是咖啡, we also had the opportunity to explore and better come to embrace the beautiful country of Guatemala. 我们游览了历史名城安提瓜, 参观古老的玛雅仪式场地, 在阿提特兰湖度过一个阳光明媚的下午, 一个美丽的, 火山环绕的蓝色湖泊. 这是我们能遇到的危地马拉最珍贵的地方, 然而, had to be the numerous community members that offered us places at their tables. 每天晚上，我们都被欢迎到一个农民家里吃美味的, 危地马拉传统晚餐. 我们能够听到农民的故事, 见见他们的家人, 感觉好像我们是他们社区的一部分. 试图做玉米饼, 克服语言障碍，尝试新食物, each person we encountered simply encouraged us to enjoy their beautiful country 和文化 much as they did. 在2000多英里之外的地方却感觉像在家里，这很奇怪.

在危地马拉和德拉琴特一起工作给我带来了很多新的体验, 以及对什么是有意识的消费者的新看法. 就在我们起飞前, our tour guide Ronald left us with inspiring words on how we first have to bring change to ourselves before we can bring change to the world. 他说，我们是为现在而带来改变的, 我们需要意识到我们所做的选择, 更重要的是, 我们的决定如何影响他人. Being a conscious consumer is the first step to being aware of the impact that we are leaving. 购买商品和服务的公平贸易, 了解你的产品来自哪里, and what the companies you are purchasing from are supporting will not only impact you, 甚至会影响到我在危地马拉结交的许多新朋友. 做一个有意识的消费者可能意味着多花几美元, 但是你所支持的不能仅仅局限于金钱价值. 通过意识到我们的决定，我们可以带来改变. This change can begin with the simple act of buying a fair trade cup of coffee because I know some amazing farmers who would thank you.

——jenna Ford，英语教学电子游戏试玩

重点报道:Alethia Marrero

"Alethia Marrero studied abroad in India and fell in love with their culture and all that it taught her about globalization and social justice. This opportunity opened her eyes to seeing the connection between business, 政治, 社会公正与科技. Indiana State is where she feels she became an intellectual and is grateful for the experience and knowledge she gained in her four years at State." 阅读更多