I spend the mornings with a group of seven boisterous, sprightly and extraordinarily respectful mentally-challenged kids, teaching them simple English and maths, singing songs and, weather permitting, playing sports and going for walks in the nearby forest.

If I were to say that I have never before seen children so jubilant to attend school, I would not be exaggerating in the least.

“Driving along in our 4-wheel drive jeep in a valley next to a rushing river, Raj points straight up, to the top of a rather large mountain (though the Nepalis would call it a “hill”) and says, ‘T, we are going up there!’ This did not seem possible to me, but I thought, no turning back now! And so began 2 days of ‘driving’ up and down mountain sides, visiting incredible communities and learning about on-going projects in one corner of Nepal.

Please join us February 17 for this special movie about the Peace Corps in Afghanistan in the 1960′s, with special appearances and Q & A session to follow.  It is…

The University of Idaho recently sent a group of 13 students and two professors to build houses in Chile. The decision was a response to Chile’s devastating 8.8 earthquake in February 2010, the fifth strongest in recorded history, which had left thousands of Chileans homeless.