Youthlinc - Creating lifetime humanitarians

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Friends & Family Trips (aka Alum Trips)

These service and tourism trips are open to everyone: Youthlinc mentor, student, parent alums, their friends and families, anyone interested in a lighter version of the Youthlinc Service Year program.

Youthlinc Friends and Family trips involve fewer group planning meetings, no local service requirement, and unlike our Service Year programs, there are several days of tourism planned in addition to several days of service at the international site. The service done on Friends and Family trips is similar to the service done in our Service Year, just less of it, since the group will only be at the international site for 5 or so days. The tourism will involve the most significant attractions of the country where the group is serving.

Though participants can fundraise for their trips, there are no sponsorships available for student participants, since there is no local service requirement. Participants can deduct airfare and cost of trip associated with service. The tourism costs associated with the Friends and Family Trips are not tax deductible. Youthlinc staff can give you those costs during one of the planning meetings for the trip.

2012 Youthlinc Friends & Family Trip to Cambodia!
Tentative dates: June 10 – 24, 2011
Meet the Friends & Family Team Leader

To Reserve your place send your application with a $250 non-refundable deposit to the office by the deadline.

We are very excited to announce our Friends & Family Trip destination for 2012. Lead by Justin Powell, Youthlinc will be returning to the humble village of Peak Sneng, where our 2011 team traveled. Due to the stellar leadership, and many legacies left by our 2011 team, we believe this will be an exceptional trip for all involved.

The 2011 Youthlinc Cambodia Team worked extremely hard while in country, which give our Friends and Family Team a great start on building on the progress. In addition to visiting the breathtaking Angkor Watt, here are some projects the team could take on:

Check up on 2011 participants of microenterprise livestock program, and give trainings as requested by the participants.
Raise funds in order to offer new loans (livestock) to additional villagers, supplementing the trainings with the microenterprise PLUS element
Plan cultural exchanges with the adolescents and young adults—soccer, volleyball and art projects
Raise funds to pay for school uniforms for students, which is one of the main contributors of students staying in school
Improve medical facility—stocking supplies (maternity kits in particular), bringing a scale with numbers or painting the clinic
Offer maturation lessons and other lessons to elementary school students
Offer health lessons for the women, including more on family health, food and nutrition
Educate parents on keeping their kids in school
Construct benches for the library, a trash burning oven and a pedestrian bridge over a river
Improve playground equipment
Follow up on garden that was started by the 2011 team and raise money to improve the seed/plant loans

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2012 Friends and Family Trip Team Leader: Justin Powell

Justin has been involved with Youthlinc since 2008 and went as a mentor on the Thailand trip in 2009. He was also a mentor on the Cambodia 2011 team. What Justin loves most about Youthlinc is that it is a vehicle for anyone participating in the program to gain a new lens through which to view the world. Through acts of local service, preparations for international projects, and implementing projects abroad, Justin's mindset has been forever altered in how he perceives his role in the world. Justin has especially enjoyed working on the education and micro-finance committees, and has had some incredible and humbling experiences helping to pilot Youthlinc’s first livestock exchange program in Cambodia. Thanks to Youthlinc, Justin has had an avenue from which he can do meaningful work to better the local and international communities. He also loves to help students on the teams find the power and motivation within themselves to become active citizens in the world.

Justin worked as a business professional for several years before making a career change pursuing the education profession. He is currently working on his Masters of Education at Westminster College and has Bachelors degrees in International Business and English. In the past Justin has lived in Australia, Egypt, South Korea, and Vietnam. Justin has a great wife, Britnie (the Peru Team Leader!), who is responsible for his introduction to Youthlinc. Justin is stoked every year to get to take part in this kind of work with her.

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Report from 2007 Friends & Family Trip to Peru

After a whirlwind flight, Youthlinc alums, friends and families set off on a once-in-lifetime trip to the sacred mountain retreat of Machu Picchu, and then to the Amazon for service and cultural exchange.

The trip began in Cusco, where participants saw ancient ruins and mingled with the local residents. From there, they boarded a train to Machu Picchu, which is located amidst the breathtaking peaks of the Andes Mountains.

Then they served. The team flew to Iquitos and then traveled by boat down the Amazon River to the Heliconia jungle lodge. This year’s Alum crew was the first to visit Santa Rosa, a tiny village and a new Youthlinc site.

One mentor described the experience, “My heart is so full, not from what I have done, but from what I have learned. These people are kind, loving and hard working. They just need a little hand up. I came home and was embarrassed by what I own. Compared to them, I am royalty, even though at home I am no more that the rest. As an American I am so blessed. Now that I know, I need to share more.”

The team laid cement walkways, taught English, passed out dictionaries, books, hats and clothing, and bought rubber boots for the children of Santa Rosa. They played together and taught dances and American songs. Most of all, Youthlinc alums said they came back with permanent friends.

One team member saved the life of a little boy who had fallen out of a tree and broken his leg. He had received no medical care for weeks, and needed to go to hospital. Through generous donations on his part and other team members, the boy is up and walking now.