Trent Hodges’ bottle school trip to Guatemala: January 21st to 27th, 2013
Dear friends,
I invite you all to come along on a journey to Guatemala to help build a bottle school. During my time in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer, the community in which I lived had the opportunity to build a preschool classroom from plastic bottles and inorganic trash with the help of Hug It Forward. Through this experience, I learned that a community-driven project such as this spreads awareness, promotes and fosters education, and will cause a change in the hearts and minds of those involved.
I just recently landed in Hawaii after a 38 day voyage in the North Pacific Gyre from San Diego to Honolulu. With the research group SEA, a group of volunteers and crew conducted scientific research on the plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean while sailing a 134 foot traditional sailing schooner (click here for pictures and stories of the sailing journey). It was an amazing and difficult experience being out on the open ocean enveloped in the solitary magnificence of nature while also seeing firsthand the unbelievable amount of plastic that is contaminating our oceans up close. I must admit that at times I felt helpless. The tehnological progress of humankind has reached to areas of the world few see and the consequences are largely unknown.
My grief however did not last for long. I formed a strong bond with my other shipmates and we shared our stories, our passions, and our perspectives. We are all on the same boat in this world and we all have an interest in maintaining it. I realized that there are so many people in the world and in my life who want to make a difference and chart a new path for the human course. We are confronted by so many challenges, but that also gives us such great opportunities to reach out and do something with our lives above and beyond ourselves. We are all on the same boat in this world, persevering to better each others lives, our own, and our home. I invite you all to come down to Guatemala and participate in the experience of sharing cultures, perspectives, knowledge, and love.
Sincerely
Trent Hodges
or Guillermo in Guatemala
The bottle school in Las Mañanitas
How kids and communities build bottle schools
Want to know more?
Visit the Hug It Forward web site to find out all about bottle schools.
Information about your trip
Please make sure you read all the information on this web site, including the Information section and the FAQ.
Book now by Paypal, or by check
The bottle school trip costs $1,195 per person. What does this include?
Please make sure you have read the Terms and Conditions before booking.
Have you read the Terms and Conditions?
How to pay for your trip
You can pay for your trip using the Paypal “buy now” button below. However, if you do that, Paypal charges us $30 in fees, which we have to pass on to you. You can save $30 by using Paypal’s “Send Money” feature (see below), or by mailing us a check.
Option 1: Pay using Paypal’s “Send Money” feature”
- Log in to Paypal (www.paypal.com)
- Click the “Send Money” tab.
- Enter our email address servetheworldtoday@gmail.com and the amount $1,195.
- Before you click “Continue”, click the “Personal” tab and click the “Other” button. This ensures that neither you nor we pay any fees on the transaction 🙂
- In the “Message” box on the following page, please enter which trip you are booking (Trent Hodges January 2013)
Option 2: Mail us a check
- Mail a check for $1,195 payable to “Serve The World Today” to:
Serve The World Today
4307 1/2 Ocean Blvd
San Diego
CA 92109 - Send us an email to servetheworldtoday@gmail.com – please tell us:
- That you sent a check and what the amount was ($1,195 per person
- Which trip the check is for (Trent Hodges January 2013)
- The name on the check
Option 3: Paying by Paypal (this costs an extra $30 due to Paypal fees)
Click the “Buy Now” button on the right to pay the $1,195 cost of your voluntourism trip.
Fundraising for bottle schools
To participate in this trip, we also ask that you fundraise for Hug It Forward bottle schools. We suggest a $250 fundraising goal, but some people choose to do more or less than this.