Our Fabulous February 2026 Volunteer Trip

 

Note: Please see our Summer 2026 newsletter (Under 'News" in the "Newsletter section) for wonderful articles written by volunteers about their experience. 

Each February, during high school students’ Presidents’ Week break, we host a student/parent volunteer trip where everyone teaches a curriculum they’ve designed. This year we all taught Basic English, First Aid, Basic Health (e.g., toothbrushing & handwashing), Art, Nutrition, Boys’ & Girls’ Puberty, Menstruation  (girls only), yoga (!). Some highlights of our February 2026 volunteer trip: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o6Qv78SyfatEnybxlg3Kl_NIJkCEFGLL?usp=sharing

  • Amazing new mural: Paul Gonzalez, an award-winning muralist, & wife Monika Rose, a graphic arts designer supervised a student-designed mural which students helped create. (See attached photo of completed mural)

  • Finished ‘Nico’s Court Basketball court: Nico, a high school junior, taught basketball last year on a dirt space using a portable hoop and basketballs his family funded. He created a GoFundMe site that raised enough to build a real basketball court that he taught basketball on this year. Before this, students had never seen a basketball. (See attached photo of ‘Nico’s Court’)

  • Finished the Stanis soccer field: Funded by the local Stanis family, we now have a leveled full length soccer field awaiting monsoon rains to green up. (See photo of a student goal celebration)

  • Student designed art added to the rainbow bamboo tube hanging art installation: Last year, Bill Gould, owner of Atria architecture firm, designed and led a student team to create a hanging bamboo tube public art display. Now, students are adding their own art to each of the rainbow colored tubes. (See attached photo of students painting their designs on bamboo tubes and photo of the bamboo hanging art project)

  • Full length documentary: Sarah Betcher, a veteran documentary filmmaker, shot stills and footage for a full length film depicting village girls’ and young women’s educational journeys. Here’s link to a vast trove of over 400 of her photos (unsorted) from the volunteer trip:

Our long term goal is to make our school grounds a community gathering place that helps unite the families from the spread out farms of the five villages we serve. In addition to the basketball court, soccer field, and student created public art (the new mural—the third created on our grounds—and the hanging bamboo tubes installation), we’re funding a new playground, improved bathrooms, and a sheltered gathering place/classroom.

 
Vincent Chan