Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Friends! I can't believe that 2009 has flown by and what a busy year it has been for me.
I started the year off continuing my business travels to the Arctic Midwest of Minnesota. By mid-February, I was fortunate to have a change in staffing and landed a four month project through a special program that Accenture sponsors. Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) is a division within Accenture that allows employees to work with NGOs and work in developing countries. My client, Ashoka, sent me to Lima, Peru, to work for the months of May and June. While there, I worked with my client during the day, took Spanish classes at night, and explored the city on the weekends. (Earlier posts this year gives detailed information regarding my time in Peru.) The four month project extended to 7 1/2 months, and I was lucky to spend the rest of the summer working in the DC metro area, coming home each night and sleeping in my own bed. What a treat that was! In late September/early October I began working in NYC for a new client. This role is a great opportunity and am enjoying being in NYC. I am working with some really smart and talented people and learning much. I also enjoy that I am staying in the same time zone for once (so much nicer on my body) and that I can always get home! No more getting stuck in far-away airports. :-)
At the start of 2009, I also began working with some friends on organizing a humanitarian trip to Guatemala. We travelled to Guatemala in August, and I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have posted more about my Guatemala project on my other blog: http://volunteerforchange.blogspot.com/. The project was extremely rewarding and successful for me personally as well as our group. We had such great response that we have decided to establish ourselves an official non-profit organization and will be organizing three expeditions in 2010. We will go back to Guatemala, as well as travel to Bolivia and Nepal. I am really excited for the opportunities that we have to help make a little bit of difference in the world.
Of course all work and no play makes a pretty sad Sheila, so I also managed to incorporate a few mini-vacations throughout the year. I made several weekend trips to Florida and Utah. I also made my way across the pond to visit my friends in the UK, went to my friends', Emily and Jon, wedding in South Carolina, a girl's weekend out in San Diego, and a weekend of shopping in NYC. At the end of my Expedition in Guatemala, I traveled to Tikal, Guatemala, and Belize, and I am finishing out 2009 in Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria.
The past year has been very fruitful and am looking forward to an even better 2010. Thank you for your friendship and love. I wish you a very happy and fruitful 2010.
This is me in Guatemala with one of my new friends, Rudy. Rudy is 10 years old and lives in a small village called Samjote. He lives with his parents, Hector and Maria, and has a younger sister and brother.
This is me and my friend Natalie posing on our hotel terrace in Caye Caulkner in Belize. Caye Caulkner is about a 30 minute or so boat ride from Belize City. This part of the world is so beautiful!
