I am a big believer in the power of personal stories to convey emotion and kickstart a conversation, but lately I’ve been feeling frustrated that…
To call the water muddy is to completely misrepresent the black sludge speckled with crumbled off-brand Ritz crackers and shimmering with a slick topcoat of…
In The Problem with Little White Girls…, I posed a problem. Millions of mostly unskilled men and women were traveling to developing countries with one mission…
At first it was fun, having a different teacher every day – new faces, a new round of name games, an optimistic perspective on my…
“If all that were at stake here were my feelings, or those of a non-profit or for-profit entity, the issue would have quickly blown over….
“You say I shouldn’t do a voluntourism trip. What should I do then?” I get that question a lot. At just about every presentation I…
One year ago, I wrote a piece that completely altered my life. From pressing publish, to seeing it go viral, the journey always seemed to…
“Isn’t race only an issue for those who make it one?” a British woman at Tourism Concern’s International Volunteering Conference asked. “Americans are, after all,…
I never meant to make anybody cry. I wanted the students at the small high school in Brooklyn to question themselves and the institutions that…
The t-shirt never fit. It’s always been too small and, although I’ve squeezed into it a few times, I’ve never worn it outside. It’s mustard…