GSE Trip to the Tropical Pacific Coast - Cuenca, Ecuador

Kieran McKenna Start Date: Sep 11, 2016 - End Date: Feb 1, 2017
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Leadership/Training Program
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador

My Travel Story

by: Kieran McKenna Start Date: Sep 11, 2016 - End Date: Feb 1, 2017
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Leadership/Training Program
  • Volunteer Trip
From shopping at local markets, to learning how to salsa dance, to spending a day hiking in the Andes, traveling to Cuenca will be an imersion unlike any I have ever experiened. Let me introduce myself, I am Kieran McKenna. I am a high school senior living in the San Francisco Bay Area. For the past 4 years, my school has given students the opportunity to travel abroad through a program called GSE, or Global Student Embassy. Despite the affluent nature of where I live, money is hard to come by in my family. And for this reason, I have been unable to take part in any of the trips over the years. Global Student Embassy focuses on youth empowerment, leadership, and stewardship through cultural imersion in foreign countries. The trip however does not focus exclusively on developing and creating the best experience for the students alone. Instead, the aim of the trip is to benefit the community to which we will be traveling. Through local projects that include reforestation, sustainable agriculture, and more, the purpose of the trip is make a change in the world rather than to just be a fun vacation. I have always had a love for nature and the environment. In fact, I plan to go to college to pursure either environmental science, or environmental design. This trip is an opportunity for me to experience first hand what its like to take my passion and use it to produce something beneficial for those who need help the most.
  • Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador