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Last but definitey not least

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If they have told me a year ago that I would be traveling with people I do not know, working for an amazing organization like Human Connections and going to a leadership week at EntreAmigos I would have said that that was not possible. But it was, I got blessed. I met an awesome and diverse  group of people and ended up learning so many things about myself through these encounters. After spending three weeks in Bucerias, we moved to San Pacho, a smaller town north where we stayed for a week at a community center called Entreamigos. This organization is dedicated to the education of kids and the awareness of the town about trash. Their building is 80% made with recycle material, plus they have a huge warehouse on the back with all kind of workshop areas to build objects out of the trash picked up from different points around the town. This week was, for sure, the most challenging because many factors added up to make this stay as one that would push me out of my comfort zone eve
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June 10th 2018

My last day in Mexico has come and I can truly say that this experience changed my life. Before leaving America, I was dragged by my routine, always extremely stressed, and many times worrying about things that do not really matter. Somehow the semester ended and I was in a plane to Puerto Vallarta, on my way to live, work, and travel with people I did not know. At that time I was just taking a leap of faith, but right now I am aware that this was the best decision I could have taken. These weeks with Human Connections and Entreamigos proved me that in order to lead an organization to attain success it is crucial to work in a personal basis with your team to take the best out of everybody and make the functioning of the organization easier. In other words, I learned that if you get to know people, their dreams, what they are driven by, and also their strengths, as a leader you link these aspects to their daily work and positive results will come. However, this experience also showed
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Enough Vs. Abundance

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While we were having a homemade lunch at the backyard of Diana and Lucy’ house, two sisters partners of Human Connections, a few words that came from the founder of this organization, Elly Rohrer, stuck to my mind: enough versus abundance. Curiously, all the partners we were meeting seemed to be happy with what they had or at least sparked a sense of peaceful satisfaction, like if they all knew the secret recipe for happiness. While 2,250 miles north, this kind of mindset is becoming less and less easy to find in people. Naturally right away, other thoughts and questions arose in my mind from this, how much is enough, why are we driven to want more, why money has become such a big factor in our life, or what is creating a feeling of unquenchable thirst in us. Even though I was raised by an amazing family that always gave me what I needed, taught me to always take care of my spending and be grateful for what I have, the generation that I am part of and my environment in the US is
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Expectations

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Before this study abroad program started, I was expecting to encounter an environment very similar to Colombia in terms of food, language and society' behavior. However, even if it is the same language I have notice that there is an abundance of differences that have taught me many lessons during two weeks. Not only I have learned about Mexican history including their geography, indigenous, main economic activities of the area, the impact of the Mexican Revolution, the Catholic and Spanish roots, among others. Moreover, we have different greetings, commonly used phrases, and ways to relate to people. Thus, I realized that here I am between my "two worlds" America and Colombia,  I was not expecting to feel in this middle area where I speak both language at the same time, while being surrounded with people from NIU, feeling American, but also experiencing factors closer to the place I call home. The way that I have felt this duality in an environment that was completely u
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Human Connections and its new partner

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Before I started my internship with Human Connections, I thought that all the words and sentences in their website made sense and that I had a complete understanding of their way to offer their service. Nevertheless, even if their values, vision and mission was clear to me, after meeting their potential new partner Segis, I realized that I was not understanding the meaning behind this organization' name at all! Human connections, yes, connecting people from different nationalities with the locals in a responsible way, but yesterday I understood that is much more than that. Is connecting cultures, feelings, aspirations, passions, and dreams, is finding infinite forms of wisdom and success, and realizing that there is always ways to relate with others despite the differences. When Elly told us about Segis, HC potential new partner, she said that he started his own restaurant and had some new ideas to attract HC clients and create a new tour; nevertheless she did not say that S
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Goals and aspirations

Buenos dias! I am about to start my fifth day in with Human Connections. We have engaged in so many interesting things already, that have already re shaped my perspective, that just make me feel grateful for being here. In this way, I am looking forward to learn about the structure and functioning of non profits in a developing world. Also, to grow spiritually by appreciating simple things and strengthening my personal faith. Moreover, I am excited to see how does the final project with our new partner Segis turns out and how this experience is going to get me closer with the HC staff and the others traveling with me! Furthermore, my goals also include gaining skills such as teamwork, communication of ideas and creativity. Finally, I believe that this experience in going to challenge me in many ways. First, structuring and sharing ideas in two languages at the same time, traveling with people I did not know before, not playing golf and working out every single day, and managing
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Bienvenida

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Hola! My third day in Mexico is coming to an end, and I cannot believe than within 72 hours my perspective of things has already been shaken in strongly positive ways. I am not sure if the reason behind this amazing transition is the beautiful sunsets, the welcoming Mexican community here in Bucerias, or the awesome team of Human Connections (HC), but I can definitively say that every minute of it has been fulfilling me personally and professionally. On our first day I got to meet some of the HC' staff, go around of housing area and eat delicious tacos! Even though I truly thought that this country was going to be exactly like where I am from, Colombia, I can tell that they are differences and that I still have so much to learn about the Mexican culture. This has made everything more meaningful since although my educational background has been very open minded and global, I am realizing that there is uniqueness within every place and every culture, and that it cannot be complete
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