On Thursday, after a general orientation and icebreakers, the students split up into their country groups to plan brief presentations for their peers about the countries to which they are traveling. After the welcome BBQ dinner, students divided into special groups called "Yalepods," which are made up of three or four students from each country group. The pre-presentations, which students gave to the rest of their Yalepods, highlighted where they are going, the themes of their trip, current issues in their destination countries, and their personal interests and goals for the program. After the presentations, each Yalepod spontaneously broke out into some impressively thoughtful discussions in reaction to what they had just shared with each other, and took enjoyable walking tours of the Yale campus.
We began Friday with a keynote address to the whole group by GAIA Director Diego Merino. Diego urged students to immerse themselves in their country's realities and dedicate themselves to understanding them, as a foundation for being able to take meaningful action to help address the world's most pressing problems. Next, students immediately got a chance to learn about and discuss issues to prepare them for their trips through six leader-led seminars, of which each student chose two. The seminars were: Is Money the Answer to Development Problems, Buy an iPod or Save a Baby, The Global Economy, America's Place in the World, Born in the USA: Race, Class and Gender Privilege, and Urbanization in the Global South. In the seminars, students did role-plays, simulations, read articles, had discussions, and in general enthusiastically got into some of the major issues that will cut across all of the GAIA trips this summer: poverty and wealth inequality, environmental degradation, privilege and responsibility, theories of development, women and gender, and more. Students were excited and engaged in the seminars and the discussions from them spilled out into the rest of the day!
We continued the day with a group viewing of the film "Life and Debt," a documentary exploring the impact of International Monetary Fund policies on workers, farmers and the poor in Jamaica, and followed the film with lively discussion in our Yalepods over dinner. After dinner, we had a round of ice cream sundaes, then a lovely closing ceremony with all 80 students circled on the lawn outside Berkeley College, in which each student in turn lit a sparkler and said one thing they were very excited about for the trip. The day concluded with an enthusiastic five-way yoga ball soccer tournament in our bare feet on the wet lawn!
Everything has gone smoothly at Yale, the energy has been very high and leaders and students are excited to get to their countries! You will be hearing from them soon, when they arrive in-country, and then there will be periodic updates coming about their adventures and activities.
And last but not least, a huge shout-out from Diego and Melissa to the amazing staff of leaders who worked so hard to make the Yale I portion of GAIA Public Health a success: Jessi Duston, Sammy Sass, Shereef Zaki, Joe Block, Julia Tong, David Fuente, Andrew Marantz and Harry Khan! Their passion for their countries and global issues, skills as leaders, and their excitement to share their experiences with their students are what will make this program unforgettable.
By Saturday night, Diego heard from all five groups that they made their flights successfully. They're off!
