Peer Spotlight

Name: Megan

Age: College Freshman

Disability: Cerebral Palsy

Assertive devices:  Power chair

Exchange Organizations: Helping Hands and Cross Cultural Solutions

Program Countries: Nepal, Costa Rica & Peru

Program length: With Helping Hands Megan is volunteering for the summer. She spent 2 1/2 months from February to the beginning of May 2006 with Cross Cultural Solutions.

Program type: Volunteer Abroad

Megan contacted National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange in September 2005 looking for a chance to volunteer in a disability related field. After a disappointing first attempt at matching with a program, we sent Megan information on Cross Cultural Solutions Costa Rica Program.  Megan received placements working in a nursing home and as a teacher's aide in a school for children with disabilities. Megan is now volunteering with Helping Hands in Nepal. Follow her experiences through her blog

Quote from Megan's Blog: "Yesterday i went to the Monkey Temple, a huge Tibetan Buddhist temple overlooking Kathmandu, it was so gorgeous with the prayer flags cascading from the top of the temple down the mountain. I had to walk with Hartaga to the bottom of the steps and it was a little shocking because tens of people started to crowd around me and touch my hair and try to lift my legs and pull me this way and that. Quite hilarious sight it must have been. But then a young man picked me up and started carrying me up the millions of stairs, and his friends started carrying my chair up. Hartiga said it was the nepali version of thew 'white night' fairytale."

Megan lived with other Cross Cultural Solution's volutes in a renovated schoolhouse during her stay in Costa Rica.

During her volunteer assignments she had a lot of fun "bushing up on her Spanish".

From Megan’s Blog  February 8, 2006, "I just absolutely love the people there [at the nursing home], they are teaching me Spanish from bingo and animal cards. I actually accidentally told them in Spanish that I was pregnant instead of embarrassed, so they got very excited and wanted to make me baby clothes, until I figured out a way to get over that no I was not pregnant. They were very disappointed."

During her trip, Megan experienced new definitions of what it means to be independent. Sometimes being interdependent can mean accepting the help of others so you can participate. Quote from Megan's Blog February 14, 2006,"...We went canopy touring, it was a blast. I felt horrible for the poor guy who carried me all the way up to the first zip line, I was worried I was going to kill him, but I figured out that somehow men like to show their manliness by almost passing out with exhaustion, but it worked for me and I went on 12 lines through the rainforest. It was so gorgeous and I went over this massive waterfall, it’s so much better than in pictures. There were toucans and parrots flying about beneath me. It was incredible. There was this one line that went for half a mile and you got to see straight out to the volcano, with the smoke rising and the rainforest around it." According to Megan the actual canopy tour is not accessible, "but if you don’t mind being carried by some Costa Rican men you’ll do fine."

To talk with Megan about her experience, or a another member of the Peer-to-Peer Network go to Request a Peer. If you are a person with a disability who has traveled internationally for the purpose of studying, working, teaching or volunteers and would like to share your experience with others please become a Peer today! Stay tuned to see what other exotic experiences our peers had have had and that you could have with help from the National Clearinghouse on Disability & Exchange.

The NCDE Peer to Peer network includes more than 300 members with experiences to share about traveling the world to study, work, volunteer, teach, learn, and live. If you are thinking about or actively planning your international exchange experience, request a peer and talk about your plans today!

Peers are matched using some or all of the following as criteria:

• Country of destination
•  Disability type
• Program type
• Gender