Help Christina Make the Best of Ability West

Christina Pritchett Start Date: Apr 16, 2014 - End Date: May 28, 2014
  • Professional Development
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Galway, Ireland

My Travel Story

by: Christina Pritchett Start Date: Apr 16, 2014 - End Date: May 28, 2014
  • Professional Development
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Volunteer Trip
I plan to embark on this Global Serving Learning trip to Galway, Ireland for several reasons!

One reason, and my main reason I plan on going is to serve of course! This past winter break, I actually went on service learning trip to Atlanta, Georgia for a week and found it to be a profoundly changing experience for me! I got to interact with a large variety of different kinds of people from a vast range of cultural backgrounds. I was able to gain new perspectives on myself, on my place in the world, and on other perspectives. I was able to appreciate aspects of life more than I ever have before, and become more culturally aware because of it. Long-story-short, this short journey was so beneficial for me that when it was advertised to do service learning globally--I jumped on it! I understand I will encounter some of the same things I came across in my Atlanta trip, but on a much larger scale this time! When I serve others, there is a sense of joy I feel that I cannot explain in words.

Another reason is, yes, partially to better my career! I plan to major in Social Work at the University of Missouri. More importantly, I hope to work in the special needs community to help families find resources for their family members that need the tools to help their kids develop as best as possible. I will be serving at an non-profit organization called Ability West that primarly works with helping young adults with mental and physical disabilities further their development. Ireland is known for treating this community with the utmost care, and I am curious to see how another country treats the disabilities community. I have a seventeen-year-old brother with Autism, and he has made a large impact on my life and is a big reason why I am so drawn to working with this community beyond my college years! I hope to develop more professional skills and have my first internship-like experience at Ability West, so I can come back to school with new skills to help me further my career!

Third, I wanted to travel to Ireland specifically because of I have much ancestry that traces back to Ireland. My mom's last name is Boyle for one thing, and there is alot of Boyle families in Ireland! I am so interested in having a better understanding of where my ancesters came from and how they lived immersed in Irish culture. It's an additional bonus that make this trip to Ireland more personal for me.

And perhaps most importantly, I know this trip is going to change me as a person. (For the better of course!) I am striving to be a more independent, confident, culturally aware, selfless, and communicative person as a result of this trip. What's crazy is that I know I am going to change in other ways that I can't even imagine!

However, this kind of trip comes at a rather hefty expense. In order for me to have to best experience I can have possible, I need your help! A donation of as little as $5 will still make a difference. But what's in it for you!? Well, if you donate $30 or more, I will personally buy you a souvenir! If you donate more than $100, I will bring a sign saying "THANK YOU_____!" and take a picture with it on one of my excursions on top of giving you a sovenir! Anything counts, and I would be so incredibly appreciative of any donations made!

Feel free to get the word out to your friends and family too!

Help me make the best of serving Ability West!
  • Galway, Ireland

Updates

2
  • Service Groups!

    The people from my group who will be serving along side of me are Meredith, Brandon, Shannon, and Abby! We still barely know each other yet. Haha! But that's ok! The other half of the group will be serving at another NGO called the Irish Travellers Movement. This organization helps advocate for social justice against a group that is discriminated in Ireland called the Travellers. The derogatory/street term used for them is "Gypsies".

    By the way, there is a link to Ability West's website towards the bottom of my main page if you want to dig further and learn more about the organization I'm serving for!
  • Pre-Departure Class

    Currently, I am in a pre-departure course that is getting me up to date on travel plans, Irish culture, safety and more! There are ten group members all together in my groups that come from a variety of majors like education, communication, health sciences, and biology! I am looking forward to getting to know my group members more and research more on my organization and the health care system in Ireland!