Breaking the Ice

Hello Guatemala!

What a long journey, filled with windy roads, chicken buses, false taxes, many averted crises, and ice breaking banter. Almost missing our flight because of breakfast, hard-to-kidnap elderly ladies, misplaced seats in Houston, wrong baggage claim/missing luggage, and shotguns at gas station. Well, we finally arrived in Sololá around 5:30, settled into our hostel, and then made ourselves at home at the 3 story Manna house. Delicious homemade pasta and garlic butter hamburger buns. We are about to have a "safety talk" led by our fearless leaders Kat and Hud. Textbook Waites refusing to do the blog, and then jumping at the opportunity to help the ladies with paperwork. Can't wait for tomorrow early morning.

We'll update tomorrow evening with our first days adventures (and planned emergencies).

Buenas noches,

Tyler & the Vandy A-team

Almost Here - Vandy Team

Hey y'all!

I am the first to update our trip blog, and obviously we don't leave until Sunday. So, I figured I'd ramble a little on what preparations we've done, and how freaking exciting we are to get down and get dirty. This past weekend, we helped out a local non-profit, called the Nashville Mobile Market, which offers healthy alternatives in Nashville's food deserts. As a group, we went to Kroger and recorded all their price, so that NBB can compare and publish its prices versus Kroger's. Then, we ate lunch at an authentic Guatemalan restaurant called La Antigua. At first glance, actually even at last glance, it was not ideal --  not in the best neighborhood, barred windows, and empty tables. However, although it was slow, we loved every minute of it. The owners were so gracious, and the food was delicious. It just aggravated our excitement for our trip.

As Hudson mentioned, we are going to be installing trash cans on the main highway, as the aldea has none. We are also bringing down lots of toothpaste and coloring books, and science experiments borrowed from VSVS (Vanderbilt Students Volunteering for Science). As much as we are excited for our environmental awareness program, we are even more ecstatic about building relationships in the school and community. Basically, for the kids.

We are meeting this weekend to go over final details, then its off to the airport at the butt crack of dawn on Sunday. Did I mention how pumped we are? Pray for safe travels.

Abrazos fuertes,

Tyler

Pre-Arrival Prep In Guatemala

Hey ya'll, welcome to the Vandy Spring Break blog.  My name's Hudson, and Kat and I will be leading the trip while the group is in Guatemala.  Kat and I got here this past July and work in the aldea of Chaquijya, a rural Maya community of roughly 4,000 residents.  We, along with our four co-workers, teach English classes, run health programs, encourage small business development, and lead a recycling program - a little bit of everything.

The idea is holistic development, and we only work in areas where there are community organizations already tackling the issue, groups that we can work alongside.  We're thrilled the Vandy group has decided to come work alongside us for the week, residents are eagerly awaiting the trash cans that they'll install along the main road in town.  This road was just paved in November and is already littered with chip wrappers and plastic bottles.  After the project is finished, they'll have a place to put their trash, and a nearby elementary school will empty them each week.  Then, instead of burning the trash, we'll stuff it into plastic bottles, creating eco-blocks that we'll use next year to build an addition to the school.

Another bottle school in Guatemala.

Our hope is to create a culture that's more environmentally friendly on the community side.  For our volunteers, we hope to create the experience of a lifetime - one where they can give back in a measurable way while learning more about life outside the United States.  We invite you to stay tuned throughout the week as we update you on our progress.

Truly,

  Hudson and Kat

MPI Vanderbilt Hosts Its 7th Annual MannaFit

MPIV's Vice President of Fundraising & Development, Alaina Shulman, reports on MannaFit, an exciting tradition in its seventh year:

 

Thanks to all of our donors, sponsors, and volunteers, Mannafit 2011 was a great success! With food donations from more than 30 restaurants in the Nashville area, Silent Auction donations from local and national family, friends, and businesses, and attendance of more than 800 people, we are pleased to announce an estimated total of donations raised from the event alone of almost $10,000!

The event was beautiful. The ambiance, food, music, and support of all the attendees and volunteers made the evening memorable.

This year has also been a landmark for our letter-writing campaign, with a pre-event total of nearly $25,000, and the donations are still coming in.  The campaign was re-designed this year to focus on supporting the service projects of each of 11 spring break trips scheduled for this March.  We are so proud of the increased involvement of our spring break participants in the fundraising and development projects this year.

We hope that the awareness provided by Mannafit 2011 will aid in the continued growth of our local and global initiatives, and allow us to reach out to even more communities.  We so greatly appreciate the support of all of our family, friends, and community members that was behind the success of this event and the funds raised to help communities around the world.

MPI UGA Raises Awareness with Manna Week!

One of the most important things that our campus chapters do is to raise awareness of MPI's work.  By getting us more exposure with the student bodies at their various universities, our chapters are ultimately able to allow more young people the opportunity to serve internationally and locally with MPI.


With this goal in mind, our chapter at the University of Georgia just wrapped up its second annual Manna Week celebration. The week kicked off on January 31st and ended February 4th, with percentage nights every night of the week at local restaurants and bars. The turnout was great, which helped UGA Manna raise over $200 towards its two spring break fundraising commitments for 2011! 


A big thank you goes out to the participating bars and restaurants:

• Barberito's
• Sweet Pepper's Deli
• Yoguri
• YourPie
• Sideways Bar
• Sandbar

The events went so well that the UGA chapter's Executive Board is considering creating a similar event to kick off next year to be held this coming August. Keep an eye out for it!

MPI US Blog is now live!

Manna Project International is dedicated to connecting young adults with the developing world, and our campus chapter program forms a key component of our organization.  Through our MPI chapters, we are able to provide opportunities for college students across the United States to engage in international development initiatives through international trips, on-campus fundraising and awareness initiatives, and service work with their local international communities.

Over the years, we have grown to eleven campus chapters at universities in nine different states.  Our chapters include:

• Vanderbilt University
• Duke University
• UNC Chapel Hill
• UNC Wilmington
• University of Georgia
• University of Colorado Boulder
• Tulane University
• Worcester State College
• University of Pennsylvania
• Pomona College
• University of Texas

As we continue to grow, we want to express how proud we are to have these chapters as part of the Manna community.  But more than that, we want to provide them with a venue in which they can share their stories and spread the news of the great work that they are doing.  With this in mind, we have created this blog.  We hope that you will continue to visit to hear more about the awesome and amazing things that these college students are accomplishing.

-Andrew Preston, US Director

Manna Project International