Aug 6th, 2007

As we wake up at 6:45 in the morning on Sunday, we put our clothes on and check around the room for anything we might leave behind. We check our watches and wonder if our friends will be there to see us of. the tension and excitement of the morning is building in us as we are about to make our first travel day to Gallup, New Mexico.

We wrote quick notes to our host families in hopes that it could by some small chance pay them back for our 4 weeks. We put our 44 lb luggage in the trunks and drive away from our first host home. some look back, others look ahead. as we sit in the silence or talk in the last moments, we realize that this is the end of the beginning. The start of UWP is about to truly begin.

We climb out of the care with little drops on our faces, upset to leave behind our temporary moms and dads and brothers and sisters, but excited to experience the road ahead. We tumble our luggage into the compartments and give a last hug, maybe kiss goodbye. Some friends from cast C show up to wish us farewell until we meet again. We clamber onto the bus awaiting our voyage onto what would later seem like an eternity before we are reunited with our sister cast that we love so dearly.

Excitement builds as we roll off. I take the mic, “good morning cast B, next stop, New Mexico”. the last words of my first beginning.

Josh, USA

August 3rd, 2007

OK!!!! so tonight was cast b first show as most of yall know! tonight was the single most amazing and emotional night of my entire life. Before the show, our staff got us pumped full of energy and made us let out the emotions that were building inside of us for the past 4 weeks.

Everything seemed to explode on stage with every clap and shout and stomp. i was there on stage with my entire family doing what 4 weeks ago we all thought to be impossible. i was sweating and crying with some of the most important people in my life. I don’t cry much at all, but tonight was the time to let my feelings free as if i had caged them long enough. the joy of tonight and the sweat we had all poured into this night came rushing out of me onto my already sweat soaked face. I love every single one of my cast mates, they are my brothers and sisters.

We have conquered diversity, we have overcome inabilities, we have settled disputes, and we have learned that through each other we have strength, we have understanding, and we have love. I learned more about myself tonight then i ever have. i can dance, i can sing, i can feel, I can cry, I can love, I can grow close to 60 people that i never knew 4 weeks ago, and now that all of this has happened to us, we can now call ourselves UPPIES!

I love you all, tonight was the best night of my life!

Josh, USA

Our first Regional Learning Day was in Boulder, a city located north of Denver, a great town, with clean streets and beautiful buildings.

We did a scavenger hunt in Denver, and the clues lead us to nice places such as the University of Colorado, the famous band shell, and the public library. We made a stop on the creek to freshen up, which was a little different for me, because in Brazil we can’t go in rivers inside cities. They are usually polluted, but this one was very clean. From almost every place in Boulder you can see the mountains!


We didn’t have regional learning in Denver, where Up with People headquarters is located, because we all did our “Personals Regional Learning” in Denver Downtown already. So UWP staff decided to take us to Boulder, for a new experience. Thanks for the thought! We had an amazing day at Boulder!

Rafael, Brazil

CI – For all of you who have little impression about Up with People, CI is the acronym for Community Impact. Community Impact is the day where we do volunteer work at different places where help is needed. One day is a very shot amount of time, and sometimes the help we give isn’t as big as we want, but for sure we all changed ourselves every time we do CI!
During our CI Day in Denver, one of the CI facility was Inner City Health Center, a Clinic determined to provide health services for whom can’t afford a health insurance.

They are doing a great job, the place is very clean, organized and the employees seem to be happy to work there. We saw some children playing around before being attended, they were a little afraid of us, because there were so many of us there!

Our job was to make two new gardens and paint some rooms; therefore we split in 3 groups, one for front garden, one for painting and the other for back garden.

This kind of clinic is not very common in Brazil, because we have a huge amount of people who don’t have health insurance. Usually in Brazil, this kind of clinic is related with church or some big company that have a lot of employees living near the clinic.
A big thank you for the Inner City Health Center for having us, and to Newborn Hope who organized the CI for us.

Rafael, Brazil