Giving back can broaden your mind in ways you never anticipated.
When we remove ourselves from our day to day lives, we have the opportunity to see and experience things with a new set of eyes. Having said that, the world has become a smaller place which means people are eager for meaningful connections more so than ever before.
LET'S FACE IT...
THERE'S ONLY ONE PLANET EARTH AND WE'RE ON IT TOGETHER!
At Stellar Journeys we make a point of giving back to the communities into which we travel and have found group participants are eager to engage as well.
Through strong relationships with our clients, we are able to enrich the lives of participants through local connections in our destinations.
“Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world”
- DESMOND TUTU
Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, Cristo Rey School
In April of 2014 Stellar journeyed to the multigrade school of Cristo Rey, located in the jungle about an hour North of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Cristo Rey is comprised of approximately 110 students from 6-12 years old with only 3 teachers. Julissa, the school director asked that our donation be made up of things that could be distributed as equally as possible, as all of the children attending the school were of low resources. With only a note with directions in Spanish– we called a taxi to take us to the school. Juan, our driver, would soon become our interpreter, our photographer, our guide and our friend. He was curious to know why we cared so much about a small school of children located miles from any tourist town.
Upon our arrival the kids immediately thought that Jack Sparrow had arrived at their school, which was enough of an ice breaker to send smiles and laughs through the group – all of us in a new and unfamiliar situation welcomed the ice breaker. We did not speak Spanish and the students and teachers at Cristo Rey did not speak English. Our taxi driver
and friend Juan provided translation where it was needed. It was not planned that Juan spoke English, sometimes the journey includes the unknown and the unexpected and boy were we thankful for this unknown!!
We now needed to decide where to gather 100+ students, as the sun was beating down and there was no shade on their school grounds. The Director Julissa decided to clear one of the classrooms to accommodate a sing along, it would be tight but it would also be out of the sun. The whole school went into action clearing desks and chairs out of the room to make room for our visit. We sang and clapped and laughed together before we headed outside to pass out the soccer balls and teach the kids how to jump rope.
We did not change the world with our visit but we did put some smiles on faces, shared some laughter, created new friendships and celebrated kindness with a community that rarely experiences this from people outside their neighborhood.
Project House of Hope
In April of 2016 Stellar traveled to Montrouis, Haiti with Project House of Hope (a non-profit organization educating, empowering and equipping Haitians to build stronger communities and families through sustainable programs and orphan care) to help set up their new guesthouse and to take donations and cards from kids/families from Atlanta to the children in the care of Project House of Hope.
Our Atlanta children wrote messages on origami frogs to give to the children at PHOP and also sent blank frogs for them to return a message. Each child from Atlanta was paired with a child of similar age to share clothing, favorite toys and to share a letter telling them all about themselves and asking questions hoping for a return response.
“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is, and remains, immortal.”
– Albert Pine
We also took the opportunity to create a Mother’s Day message from the kids of PHOP to Amy – we had fun singing songs and making videos while the kids practiced their English and shared their message of love and gratitude to Amy.
Take a few minutes to meet some of the wonderful, smart, loving children of Haiti and be inspired to get involved at www.projecthouseofhope.com/become-a-buddy.
Cottage in the Back – Atlanta
Cottage in the Back (CitB) was created with an idea that we could host a party for our friends and help support musicians/artists at the same time. Instead of spending money on food & drinks for the party, we made it a BYOFB and put all the party money toward paying the artists. It was an amazing evening around fire pits listening to music and the stories around the songs. Of course as with everything, we learned a few lessons from our first concert, but the evening inspired us to take those lessons and build on our idea.
And so we did!
And so we did – we opened up our backyard to people that once were strangers and are now friends and part of a community that we continue to build around the common love and respect for music. This community includes the artists that trust us with their time and talent and the people that help spread the word and continue to join us each month in support of artists on their journey.
Sometimes you just have to shut the world out, close your eyes….and turn the music up. Cottage in the Back is the perfect place to to do just that!!
Vieques
In April of 2015 Stellar traveled to the Island of Vieques, PR to deliver cards with positive messages made by Ms. Ford’s 3rd grade class along with a donation of school supplies. We shared this experience during Drew Charter’s International Day celebration via the following powerpoint.
While we were in Vieques we conducted a sing along and had some fun teaching a few yoga poses to the children at Escuela Monte Santo & The Boys & Girls Club
Turks & Caicos
In 2011 while on a planning trip for a President’s Club Trip I met Dr. Carlton Mills, this is where Stellar began the journey of giving back to communities that they travel to. We will never know if it was simply a coincidence or fate that Dr. Mills and I met and were able to have a short conversation about the foundation that Dr. Mills was working with and about the government’s recently adopted school, Ianthe Pratt. What I do know is that Dr. Mills inspired me to contact Principal Dara Thomas and ask her for a list of needed supplies, which I was able to personally deliver on my next trip to Turks & Caicos.
I also asked my daughter’s kindergarten art class to create message stones for the children at Ianthe Pratt to place in their courtyard. Dr. Mills taught me that the size of the impact on the world is not always as important when deciding to act, even if you have touched one soul or one heart – the journey is worth it. I will be forever grateful for my brief chance encounter with Dr. Carlton Mills – he has made my journey so much richer.
