Monday, April 29th, 2013

‘We could see a lot of pockmarks in the ground – bomb craters’

IntroductionStudent spring break traveler Marcy Park describes the depth of her profound learning experience on our Peace Works Travel tour of Laos, spring break 2013. The Investigative Journalism Adventure is an inspired approach at international student volunteer education. With daily lessons in technique from an Emmy-Award winning journalist,  Students interviewed UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) victims, agricultural people in the highlands of… [Read Full Article]

Saturday, April 06th, 2013

Investigative Journalism - Xieng Khuang to Luang Prabang and Home Again

"Thongchanh discusses monastic life with a young novice." We ride aloft in air-conditioned comfort, our safe passage facilitated on a ribbon of concrete threading through bomb-riddled mountains. Scenes of endemic poverty roll by the tinted bus windows like history repeating itself. Thatched-roof dwellings frame the margins of the road, bamboo-woven walls, mud-packed floors.  Barefoot children chase chickens, women bathe unselfconsciously outside,… [Read Full Article]

Thursday, April 04th, 2013

Santa Barbara Middle School - Discovering Hanoi

By Daniel We started off the day with a visit to a Confucian temple, also called "The Temple of Literature."  It was filled with young school children, maybe 5 or 6 years old who were on a field trip to receive awards for getting good grades in school. The temple had a beautiful garden that included an intricate array of flowers… [Read Full Article]

Wednesday, April 03th, 2013

Santa Barbara Middle School featured in the Washington Post & ABC News "day in pictures!"

Santa Barbara Middle School students are accompanied by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Nick Ut as they travel through Vietnam.Click Here to see Nick's photo of Santa Barbara Middle School students which was featured in the Washington Post "Day in Pictures" (Image # 16)ABC News picked up another photo from the trip and featured it in their "Day in Pictures -… [Read Full Article]

Wednesday, April 03th, 2013

Santa Barbara Middle School - Vietnam - Day 6

By RyanToday in Vietnam we had lots of fun. We did a variety of different activities which kept us busy all day. After breakfast we went on the river taxi and visited the floating markets where people sell from their boats in the middle of the Mekong delta.  On land, we visited a small factory where they make rice cakes,… [Read Full Article]