Karsen's CGA Blog

Hello, I think it is normal to say you travel the world but unique when you say you travel to help people. The time has come for me to start another year of my CGA blogs. The trip I went on to Morocco last year opened up my eyes to a whole different world of pain and happiness which has prepared me for my trip this year. I will be traveling to Cambodia as a sophomore from Battle Mountain High School. I am so excited to be able to participate in CGA for another year. While I am in Cambodia I will be teaching and working in an orphanage. My goals for this trip is to learn the Cambodian culture as well as help people in need. Cambodia is a unique trip because it is the only CGA trip with manual labor. I have heard from few friends that Cambodia is a challenging trip because of the hard work along with the heat. However, I am excited for these and other challenges Cambodia will bring me. I participate in these trips to give opportunities to kids all over the world. My passions are...

Life in the medina.   The medina is a city within walls. It’s the poorest section, but holds the most culture of Rabat. Although most people in the medina follow the same religion, their thoughts are very different. In the medina many are treated like family even if they are really not family. This trip has been a real eye opener.             On this amazing trip we get to go on home visits to see the homes of the kids and converse with their parents. These opportunities have been great for me because I get to understand their way of life and culture. Throughout this trip I have had the chance to go into the homes of four students from our school. You never know how hard it can be until you see with your own eyes how hard it can REALLY be. The sizes of some of these homes are unreal, no bigger than my bedroom, but they survive. The homes that I have visited have very different views. Two families I met wanted thei...

Islamophobia, the fear of Islam or Muslims. This is a real fear and it is very common throughout the world, especially in the United States. Stereotypes are also very common in the United States and it’s not unusual to look at someone differently based on a stereotype. Stereotypes are formed mostly through the media. Major stereotypes at the moment are about the presidential election and about Muslims or Islam. There are a lot of stereotypes formed about Muslims. For example, all Muslims are bad people, all Muslims are part of Isis or that Muslims have some evil plot to kill. From my experience all those stereotypes are wrong and there is no reason to be scared of Muslims. The people I have met in Morocco and the people I see in the streets of Rabat happen to be Muslim and they are the sweetest people I have ever met. In school each class has a personal translator to help you to teach the kids and Wissam is mine. Not only does she help me in class but she helps my fellow group of tea...

Family This trip has been full of many surprises. Thankfully as the trip has progressed the surprises have increasingly become better. Through many tears, lessons, breakthrough moments, home visits and sharing a house with a bunch of amazing people, this trip is shaping into the best of my life. Never in my life have I been challenged more. Teaching is not easy, let alone teaching kids who do not even know how to say, “Where is the bathroom?”  This gives me a little more sympathy for teachers. The hardest part is having so many different levels of understanding. One student understands in ten minutes, another student understand in 30 minutes or longer. However, teaching seems to get a little easier every day. It helps to know what you are teaching is helping them. Conversations have gone from “Hello how are you?” with no answer to, “Hello how are you? I am fine thank you, how are you?” or, “What is your name? My name is Zineb and I am very excited.” Never in my life have I s...

Hello all, It feels as if the journey should be almost over but it's not even started. So far I have raised $2,500, so I need around $800 dollars more. Lately I have been doing puzzles, and concessions. Thanks so much to all the people who have contributed to me in donations, supplies and donations for the silent auction, it means a lot.  Before all the excitement begins there are a few thing I am nervous about and goals I would like to achieve.    While I am so excited to go, there are a few things I am nervous about. I am scared to teach the kids because I don't want to be that boring teacher that nobody likes. I know that all the kids will be having fun but I want to make sure they are having a blast. I don't want to feel that unprepared. When I am unprepared I get really nervous and don't feel comfortable. I am excited to try new food but I am nervous for the food because of my peanut allergy. I don't want this allergy to hold me back from trying new foods...

Hello all,     I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. So far I have raised $1048 towards my trip. I am almost to my half way goal which is $1650 which I need to reach by January 25th. I have raised my money from refereeing, selling dog collars, concessions and donations. Thank you everyone who has donated to me or bought dog collars I really appreciate it.     As you know I am traveling to Morocco. Here are some interesting facts on Morocco. Morocco was once known as the Kingdom of Morocco. Traditionally the liver, not the heart , is considered to be the symbol of love in Morocco. I think this is very funny, what is so loving about a liver? Its population is 33,848,242. Morocco's most popular sport is soccer, and the Moroccan National team was the first African and Arabic team to qualify for the second round in the Fifa World Cup. I hope I will get to play soccer with the kids there because as many now I am very passionate fo...

Hello all, My name is Karsen Williams, I am a freshman at Battle Mountain High School. I have earned the opportunity to participate in a service trip to Morocco this summer through Children's Global Alliance. I have the opportunity to go on a two week service trip to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Every day while I am there I will be teaching English to kids in Abde Salan Middle School and I am going to visit homes. I want to do this trip to help others get the opportunity that we get all the time at home, such as learning a second language or even just learning in general. Also I hope to gain friends and the experience of a lifetime while I am in Morocco. It never hurts to have more friends, and this experience could give me some of the best and coolest memories of my life. This year I have participated in High school soccer ending the season with only one defeat. I joined the club Best Buddies, which is an organization where you become really close friends with someone who has...