Natasha's blog - A boring title for a not boring blogger

Poverty, cups, and education -- they all matter Being that Visiting Voluntourist I obsessively read articles on voluntourism . If you aren't familiar with this term: volunteer + tourism = voluntourism. My family (please read: 2 parents, 2 high school siblings and 2 adult siblings) returned from voluntouring in Uganda 1 week ago.  All of the articles I have read up to this point criticize voluntourism. Why do rich Westerners spend thousands of dollars for a feel-good experience and then wave goodbye to an economically dependent, famished community? That money should be spent on established programs built to sustain the community and provide long-term SUCCESS. Any millennial can sip her imported coffee, admire her Afriheart tattoo and know she doesn't need to voluntour to impact the world. We visited Uganda for 2 weeks, focused our volunteering efforts on a rehabilitation program for trafficked minors, and focused our tourism efforts on thousands of photos with ...

Death, Spiders, Tumblr, and Uncertainty Writing a blog post after my brother dies feels dumb. As though I am pretending the right words can bring him back. Or at the very least, make me feel like I can control my environment by writing about it.  The day after his funeral, my family and I flew to Africa for a 2 week trip.  So this post will have two parts: My Brother Died  and  All the Layers of Uganda [with the Cheeley vibes]  My Brother Died Zach was 29. As I write this, tomorrow is his birthday. I never thought he would turn 30... 2 weeks ago, I high-fived him and told him I was proud of him for making it this far. He chuckled, drank some wine and said, "Me too! Thank you!" He liked wine. I went to bed a few minutes later, after a brief conversation about his road trip with our grandparents and how much he freaking loved Sasquatch - Music Festival. He lived for music festivals. Especially Sasquatch.  That conversation...