Friends!

Having a huge heart for travel and children 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 the lives of children.

During my first “voluntour” trip to El Chocolate in San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango, Guatemala my heart filled up with love and joy for the community we were serving. I had no doubt in my mind that I will be coming back again and again and again. Playing with the children, learning from them and the members of the community, laughing together, teaching each other and making memories was life changing.

For the last three years I have been fortunate to travel to build bottle schools in four different communities. El Chocolate, La Pedrera, Panimacac and Los Jometes forever will be in my heart. Lacking in educational facilities and affected by poverty, yet oozing with rich culture and strong family values; the communities come together for their kids’ education. All of that and their kindness and smiles is what we all need to apply to our first world lives.
We are off to Guatemala again!! Thanks to Hug it Forward, an amazing foundation and a huge blessing to so many, for making these volunteer trips possible! Join us February 22 to February 28, 2018 to build a bottle school with us. Change a life, change a village, and change yourself in the process.

I’m super excited we get to experience this together!! I can’t wait to see you all in Guatemala!

– Dominika Blum

As far as I can remember I always loved helping others. I had the courage and the willingness to give to those less fortunate and share what I had. As an eighteen year old girl I started to volunteer back in my home country of Poland by participating in camps for the handicapped. We stayed at different schools and helped those in need. Everyone got something different out of those experiences. This is when I realized I had so much in my life that others didn’t. I had two healthy arms and two healthy hands which I can use to bring aid to people. My heart was full. I got so much in return and my life was forever changed. I started to appreciate and see all the good around me and in my life that I had not seen before.

A few years later I moved to the United States. I continued to look for ways to make others happy. I am an artist and a photographer and I used my skills to do just that. I started to paint murals on the walls of kindergarten facilities free of charge. I love children and wanted to make an impact so I made contacts with children’s hospitals to paint the rooms in which sick children stayed. I wanted to share what God had given me, but it hasn’t always been as easy to do as I thought it would be. I was searching to do more and to give more.

Finally, one day I met Dominika, who sent me a friend request on Facebook while she was in Guatemala building a bottle school. From that moment I started to follow her Facebook profile to see new posts about her experiences in Guatemala. We had never spoken about this project in person. About a year later she wrote me a message inviting me to go to Guatemala with her to build another bottle school… without any hesitation I told her I’m coming with.

This was a trip of my dreams!! I got to experience what I only heard from others or have seen in the movies. I encountered and saw what only a small amount of people can ever see or do. A luxury trip to a luxury resort is not able to impact a person as much as building a bottle school for the communities in Guatemala with Hug it Forward can. This will be my second volunteer trip and not the last. Let’s use our arms and our hands to make a difference. I promise you, your heart will thank you!

– Kasia Kowalik

How kids and communities build bottle schools

Some pictures from our last bottle school trip

 

 
 

Fundraising for bottle schools

You might also like to fundraise for Hug It Forward bottle schools. Fundraising for bottle schools is optional – it is not a requirement of participating in a bottle school trip.

If you choose to fundraise, we suggest a $250 fundraising goal, but some people choose to do more or less than this. It’s really up to you – how much you think your friends and families can give, how creative you can be, and how much time you’re prepared to put into it.

See more information about fundraising.