Friends!

Having a huge heart for travel and kids all started when I was a little girl growing up in then a communist country of Poland. Even though we didn’t have much, I loved sharing whatever I had with my friends. I remember playing piano from our second floor studio apartment, and my friends lined up outside on the sidewalk to listen to my concerts. That’s all I could give them. By moving to the United States, a whole world of opportunities opened up. God placed a passion in my heart for travel and a strong urge to make a significant impact in children’s lives.

For the last two years I have been fortunate to travel to San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango in Guatemala to build bottle schools in two different communities with an amazing organization called Hug It Forward. During my first voluntour trip my heart filled up with love and joy for the community we were serving and I had no doubt in my mind that I will be coming back. Playing with the children, learning from them and the members of the community, laughing together and making memories was life changing. Here we go again, third time to Guatemala and not the last. February 23 to March 1, 2017 we will be building a bottle school and serving a community in San Martin. Come with us, change a life, change a village and experience for yourself what this volontour is all about.

I’m super excited we get to experience this together!! Can’t wait!

– Dominika Blum

I am an avid traveler and have been to many parts of this beautiful world, but when I was approached by Dominika to participate in the WorldVentures/Hug It Forward Bottle School Voluntour, I wasn’t quite prepared for how the experience would affect me. I thought it would be interesting – which it was. I thought it would be fun – which it was. And I prepared to work – which we did. But the experience provided by the Hug It Forward group through their outreach with the community so that we could be immersed into the culture and the people of Guatemala just blew me away. And then to receive the love from an entire community – it is an indescribable feeling of joy, accomplishment, satisfaction and just plain Good.

I join Dominika this year again (and hopefully many more years!) and return to the beautiful San Martin community to help build another school in another community.

Won’t you join us!?

– Charlene Orsine

How kids and communities build bottle schools

Some pictures from our last bottle school trip