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Thanks for reading our Spring
2016 Newsletter.
This quarter we update you on the ins-and-outs of Global Travel Alliance with a newsletter packed full of great stories. Learn more about our Director of Gtrek Paul Belanger, read an update from the Leaf Cutter Project, check out Casa Cielo Grande, and more.
Click the images and buttons below to read more about each story.
We are Global and we are doing good. Thanks for helping us build bridges and change lives through educational travel.
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May 3, 2016
Dear Friend:
Once again, spring has sprung in Montana and with it some welcome moisture that is lifting all of our spirits as we head into the planting season. Our snow pack has improved in recent weeks, too, assuring that our rivers and streams should supply the water needs for us and for those of you who live down- stream from the Rocky Mountains, either east or west.
As you will see, this e-letter edition of Global Travel Alliance Accents focuses a great deal on Costa Rica. For reasons that I am continuing to try to understand, I believe God has placed the needs of the destitute and hopeless people in this country squarely in our path because he wants us to address those needs as he supplies the resources to do so. As you know, our presence there has been growing as we build homes for people and as we assist young people to build careers with our Leaf Cutters Project, both subjects you will read about in the following pages.
You will also read about Casa Cielo Grande, a property that I have purchased, which Pam and I (You will read about her to) believe can greatly enhance our ministry in this country. As you will read, people in Costa Rica are mostly either rich or poor. The middle class is nearly non-existent; unemployment is sky high; the literacy rate is low; educational achievement is perilous with only 1 in 100 students who enter high school ever having opportunity to embrace the career they set out to pursue. I should also mention that there is a growing menace of drug activity in Costa Rica, too.
Needs are extreme across our stricken planet. There are more homeless refugees afoot in the world than at any time since World War II. Disease and warfare continue to rock the African continent; the Middle East seems to be a powder keg ready to blow at any time. And on and on.
But as you read the articles about our work in Costa Rica, you will come to understand that there are serious needs here, too; however, conditions are such that they can be addressed. We can build families safe, sturdy homes, for example, that will not be confiscated by corrupt government officials such as happens in other nearby countries. We can help our Leaf Cutter students from Liceo Ambietalist High School obtain the language and other skills they need to become tour guides in the rich, natural environment of this country that attracts many tourists and science students.
And we can welcome groups to Casa Cielo Grande for training, fellowship, education and relaxation. You and yours could be among those who come to visit. Be assured you will receive a very warm welcome from Daniel and Andrea Granados, who will be your hosts. And once you come, we hope you will return to become involved in one of our benevolent programs that truly will make life better for needy families and for young people wanting to find a way up from poverty.
Let me be frank at this point. I know that not everyone can come, but everyone can do something to help us grow this ministry. Our non-profit division, Global Doing Good, is recognized as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. As a result, any donations you make are tax-deductible. We have a few people who are donating to the work currently, but we need more helpers, who can assist us in our endeavors to make life better for people in Costa Rica, people like Gisel, for example, a gifted seamstress who was able to purchase a sewing machine after months of saving money for it. I would like to build an annex onto the new home we are providing to her and her extensive family so she can teach sewing and expand her business of providing clothes to paying customers. Cost: $5000.
Liceo Ambientalist High School is so crowded that students must attend classes in shifts. I would like to build an annex onto the school that could be used to accelerate training for Leaf Cutter students so they don’t have to spend one third of their school days standing around outside. Cost: $5000
Please consider joining me in these efforts. Many hands make for light work and many donations will pay for projects like these that will build a lasting legacy. In conclusion, I share a story I once heard a missionary tell:
I was overwhelmed by the needs where I was serving. Where does one begin with limited resources and personnel? It would be like taking two buckets to the seashore and filling them up. It wouldn’t make a dent in the ocean. But then I realized it would be something, and I could do something to make things better where I was serving.
If you can’t go, maybe you can give, if you can’t give, you definitely can pray. Whatever you can do, your two buckets will mean the world to us. Thank you.
Jeff Peterson, President
PS: One hundred percent of your donation goes to the projects we support. Overhead costs for our charitable work are paid from our for-profit division, Global Travel Alliance.
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MEET PAUL BELANGER, GTREK DIRECTOR FOR GLOBAL TRAVEL ALLIANCE
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Remember when we all stopped along the trail, and took our shoes off? It was hot and we were tired, and we just soaked our fee in the cold, mountain stream.
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CASA CIELO GRANDE: A SANCTUARY OF RENEWAL, SERVICE AND RELAXATION
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Costa Rica is increasingly becoming a destination for Americans. Whether for service, recreation, education or personal travel, your senses will be intensified in this stunning setting.
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THE LEAF CUTTER PROJECT AT LICEO AMBIENTALIST HIGH SCHOOL
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Studies confirm that people who feel trapped in their present time realities tend to have a present-time orientation, a mind-set that mitigates against upward mobility as much as the harsh realities of their lives do.
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In this time of vicious verbal attacks and incivility, we need to examine our roots and look to those interludes of principled decision making that will provide a model for us to move forward in a positive manner.
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PURA VIDA, A COSTA RICAN MYTH FOR MANY
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“Jolanda motions me to a makeshift shanty added onto the north end of the house. She sleeps here. For some reason, they could not gather enough old boards and tin to enclose it so her bed is mostly open to the jungle only a few feet away. She gives me a toothless smile, reaches into a can and throws some grain on the ground. From under her bed come a dozen half-grown chicks to gobble the food."
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PETERSON/LITTS ADULT TRAVEL
WELCOMES YOU
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Our programs balance your desire to do everything you want to, while offering extensive free time to explore at your own pace.
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STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM GLOBAL TRAVEL ALLIANCE MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS
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To date more than $10,000 has been awarded to more than twenty students who have won the essay competition.
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RYAN SPARZAK, GUIDING WITH A PURPOSE
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“I get to see where American youth are headed and hopefully nudge them (even if it’s a tiny bit) toward informed and active global and local citizenship."
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PAM PETERSON, LEADING BY SERVING
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“I’ve been on many trips with thousands of students to Europe, homebuilding in Central America and other points on the globe over the years, and I can truly say educational and service travel changes lives. “
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Take action and get involved!
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