Our Grand Prize Winner is Andi Enns,who wrote a wonderful piece about her experience in Uganda and how it influenced her to raise money for a Ugandan village upon her return home. Here’s an excerpt from her piece…

“I went back to my room at the hotel we were staying at and stared at the blinking cursor on my computer screen, trying to figure out how I was going to tell the story. I felt dizzy as I thought of way after way that I could help the village myself. Maybe I could sell my jeans and my laptop, and that would help. My iPod? My luggage? I realized in that moment that I would give up everything – from my laptop to my coffee addiction to my mascara – if only that little boy and his family could have some clean water.

There’s a simple word in Uganda that means a lot, “kyambura,” meaning “I have searched, and I have prayed, and that is all that I can do.” I had my own kyambura moment that day – I had searched and prayed for answers, but that was all I could do.

So I pulled out my voice recorder and pulled every conversation I had had that day off of it. And I edited a radio story that contained my heart and soul. My voice was all I had.

When I came home, the piece played on the local NPR station. The community responded, and now my university is trying to raise enough money to give a Ugandan village a well.”

Justin Lebron is our winner for the Photography portion of the contest, who traveled to India with United Planet and captured a great photo as he was driving out of the village on his last day. Justin hopes to join the Peace Corps after college.

They will miss him!

Kathryn Murphy is our winner for Video, who captured her experience in Quito, where she taught for four weeks. Kathryn traveled to Peru with United Planet following her trip to Ecuador.

Kathryn’s video of children dancing to the beat in Ecuador!

These students love to dance!

Honorable Mention goes to Sarah Daniel, who traveled to Nepal and snapped a shot of a breathtaking view from the Himalayas, as a woman trekked with her woven basket.

What a view!

Congratulations to all! We are looking forward to next year’s contest!

Yesterday was by far the craziest day I have experienced in Nepal (or perhaps anywhere). It was the Festival of Colors. As it was explained to me, this holiday represents the end of seasons past, and the welcoming of summer. Sort of like our version of the summer solstice. It’s all about new beginnings. A fresh start. I love this, and I woke up early in the morning just about as excited as the kids outside my window, who were throwing colorful water and powder at everyone who passed by. Keep in mind, this was 9am.

I jumped out of bed and went up to have breakfast with my host family. They were introducing my baby sister, Alya, to her first experience of this holiday. Putting red powder on her forehead and cheeks, and then doing the same to mine. I was giddy with excitement as I looked at my face in the mirror and took pictures of everyone.

Photo taken from Flickr, Animesh Singh

Now, I was warned by my family, as we sat around the kitchen table, that sometimes this day can get a little out of hand. They suggested that perhaps I should stay home and watch the festivities from the roof. But I knew that this was probably something I’d never experience again, and that I had to be a part of the action.

So after breakfast, I put on the oldest t-shirt and pants I had, and decided I would brave the walk to the orphanage (despite suggestions that I take a taxi). How bad could it be, right? A few water balloons here and there, no sweat. I wrapped my camera and wallet in a plastic bag, and walked out the door into what I quickly realized was absolute mayhem. I hadn’t even gotten out of the gates of Jayabageshwori (try saying that 5 times fast) and I was already drenched, head to toe. Now, I knew that girls were the particular target during this festival, but I think that hitting naive, wide-eyed, female tourists was the ultimate prize. Man, was I nailed. And let me just say that the balloons that these kids throw aren’t balloons at all. They’re thick little plastic bags. And when thrown at close range, they feel like they are setting your skin on fire as they explode. Honestly, I fought back tears from the pain about three times on my walk, or should I say desperate sprint, to the orphanage.

Photo taken from Flickr, Maciej Dakowicz

Safely inside the gates of OCCED, I was overjoyed to see all the kids. Though some of them were hardly recognizable, what with the state they were in. They caught me up on the war that had been going on with their surrounding neighbors, and I helped them to launch water balloons at the enemy over the walls of our fort. But our fight against the other houses quickly turned into a fight against one another. I became even more soaked and rainbow-bright… something I didn’t think was possible. After sneaking a few pictures of the kids, shielding my camera from the mayhem, I decided to make a run for it and find the closest cab driver. My walk from the gates of the orphanage to the taxi lasted only thirty seconds, but it felt like an eternity. It was as if every kid on the street had been anxiously waiting for me to come back outside. Their anticipation as I inched closer to them suddenly spilled over, and I was attacked on all sides. All of the shopkeepers and passersby held their stomachs as they laughed at me and shouted, “Happy Holi!”

And it was, very happy.

You can read more about Hallie’s trip to Nepal on her blog and plan your own trip to the Festival of Colors on our website.

I live on the third floor and spend a lot of my time in the living room (across from my room) or on the roof (the sixth floor) where I can see the top of some of the mountains on clear days.

Photo taken from Peter Akkermans, Flickr

The students at my school all ask for science experiments so I am thinking of small things that I can buy for the school that allows them to do science experiments. Even a beaker or graduated cylinder would be great. Any ideas? So far I’ve planned measuring water flow, playing with magnets, and some math games with flashcards and dice. I need help.

So there are two important things I forgot to mention because I am already getting used to them. The first is electricity. A comic was in the paper the other day that depicted two travelers getting shown to their room. The caption below read “This is your room. don’t worry about turning off the lights, the government does that for us.” The government turns out the electricity for eight hours a day (two – four hour segments). It usually is in the morning while I am at school and then when it gets dark from around six to ten. Most nights we eat, cook, talk, and read by candlelight. I actually like the simplicity. When the lights turn on there is a quick cheer and then everyone continues with whatever they were doing (or turns on the TV). It is a fun little surprise and makes a person appreciate the little things in life.

Photo taken from Dmitry_Sumin, Flickr

The other thing is the traffic. I have to cross the road to get to school and every day I feel like I should be so elated that I made it. Nima told me to “just walk, they won’t hit you.” So far that has worked! There are no traffic lanes and there are no traffic rules. When going around a corner they honk to see if someone is coming on the other side and they honk if they are coming. That way they know to try and stay on their own side. Very very few people drive something other than a motorcycle. They are the best because they can sneak through stalled traffic, lots of fun. I don’t almost scream when I’m in a taxi anymore because with this kind of traffic they never really get above 25 miles per hour. It is just a little scary at times.

Photo taken from ah_zut, Flickr

Well, I best get home and take a shower…I mean a “bucket bath.” There is no hot water so we heat up water in buckets and use a cup to rinse off. It is difficult to wash long hair in a bucket…but not all that different from camping. It is better than a cold shower!

Carrie Schramm is currently volunteering in Nepal. you can read more about her experiences on her blog. To plan your own adventure in Nepal, please visit our website.

Last week in Nepal, delegates of the various political parties voted to abolish the monarchy and convert the country into a republic. Until the vote, Nepal was the world’s last remaining Hindu kingdom. Recent decades have been tumultuous for Nepal – a Maoist uprising that began in 1996 lasted a decade before a tenuous peace agreement brought the Maoists into the government. The process of abolishing the monarchy began in the last several years, and finally came to fruition with this May’s vote.

United Planet has been sending volunteers to Nepal for several years. Last year, UP Volunteer Ronald Lee spent six weeks in the country, mostly in and around Kathmandu. Ronald spent the greater part of his time assisting the teachers at a children’s home in Kathmandu. Ronald helped set up activities, looked after the children, and of course, spent a lot of time just playing with them! In his own words:

“Many of the kids have gone through such terrible traumas at a very young age, many losing their parents or simply being abandoned by their families. Yet, they were still a very resilient bunch, and most were adapting quite well to life in an orphanage with a whole new group of peers. During my stay there, we received a few new children, and one in particular was extremely shy to begin with. But after a week or so, she was starting to interact well with the others.”

Every United Planet Quest involves a number of excursions, so Ronald got to see some of the fantastic sights of Nepal. One of the highlights was a three-day trip to the Royal Chitwan National Park, in which Ronald went on a river canoe trip and a jungle walk – with a guide keeping an eye out for tigers! A mountain flight past Mt. Everest rounded out the experience.

Thank you to Ronald for giving his time to help those in need and for letting us feature him here!