CARPE DIEM GROUP LEADERS:

Carpe Diem takes the selection of its group leaders seriously. The Carpe Diem experience is intended to nudge the comfort level of students, expose them to life in developing countries and develop a sense of personal competence. Safety is our priority, but other attributes are considered essential in group leaders and necessary to support students. To that end, leaders must participate in an intense face-to-face interview with follow up training provided by Carpe Diem. While many programs find great staff, the learning curve in this type of work is intense. It is for that reason that we pride ourselves on the retention rate of our staff and boast one of the most successful return rates in the industry. We rate retention of leaders as one of the most critical aspects of what we do as the quality of the leadership on this type of program significantly contributes to the quality of the students' experience and the ways in which they develop. Carpe Diem builds on a decade of experience. Our areas of emphasis in training our group leaders follow:

Safety (sanitation, health)
All of our leaders are certified in Wilderness Medicine and are supported by an office staff that hold certificates ranging from Wilderness EMT to Emergency Room nurses. Furthermore, we are to our knowledge the only organization to provide an intensive seminar for all our staff on tropical medicines specifically related to our students and their programs.

Logistics
Our intention is that all participants will develop skills in safe traveling. We facilitate this by asking the students to participate in their own group's logistical requirements - everything from booking train tickets to calling and arranging hotel conversations … many times in the host language! Part of this is also learning the correct way to ask questions while overseas. For instance, in many cultures, asking a yes/no question will almost certainly yield a "yes" answer as the locals don't want to seem inhospitable. Simply put, asking whether it's safe at night in any particular neighborhood is a very important one to ask, and doing it with sensitivity to the cultural mores of the area is critical to a successful outcome. The experience of our group leaders in managing safe travel is primary to the Carpe Diem experience.

Group Process
Travel with a group is a precursor to working within a group. This may mean working with individuals that have divergent values and behaviors. We work with our staff to understand group dynamics. This includes the evolution of individuals, the group, and the roles those individuals play within the group.

Individual Mentoring
Group leaders are expected to assist individual students to develop and achieve personal objectives during their three-month experience. This includes assisting participants to move out of their comfort zone. We have learned over the years that these are often the intangible skills, but those that regularly bear the most fruit in the long run.

Problem Solving/Communication
Group leaders must be prepared to respond to a variety of emerging situations. This means involving the group in decision-making processes while ensuring safety. This also means respecting and truly understanding the individual student through each of their individual process. We support our staff with regular conversations while overseas, and by working with them in the pre-program training period to develop and hone their soft-skills.

Cultural Competence
Group leaders are expected to assist participants in thinking through their interactions with, and judgments about, cultures that differ from their own. This both supports the students in their optional college curricula, but also challenge students to draw parallels to their own cultures back home. We find this to be one of the most important ways we can facilitate a greater long-term transformation for each student.

 

Here are a few biographies of our amazing staff:

 

Azikiwe Chandler

Azikiwe “Zik” Chandler first fell in love with international travel while studying architecture in Rome, Italy as a junior at the University of Notre Dame. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1994, he embarked upon a life of youth leadership, community service and travel. Initially, Zik joined AmeriCorps-NCCC, serving first as a Team Leader on the Charleston and Denver campuses through 1996. After a third year serving as a Selection and Placement Officer at the organization’s Washington, DC headquarters, he joined Peace Corps where, as an Urban Youth Development Volunteer, he taught English, coached soccer and facilitated youth leadership initiatives in Bluefields, Nicaragua for two years. After a few months backpacking through Central America, snowboarding the Sierra Nevadas, jumping waterfalls in Hawaii, and leading a trip to Italy, he returned to DC as the Projects Director for the Capital Region campus of AmeriCorps-NCCC in 2001. After two years behind a desk, Zik once again found the call of the road irresistible and embarked upon an 18-month journey leading experiential learning trips to13 countries in Central and South America, the South Pacific and Europe before moving to South Korea, where he taught English for two years and began writing a manuscript based on his life of travel and community service. Since leaving Korea in 2007 he’s traveled Southeast Asia, lived in Brazil and led trips to Italy, Uganda and Tanzania. Since December 2008 Zik has split his time between Ethiopia and Kenya, focusing on completing his book, which should be published in early 2010. His passion for experiential learning has facilitated his learning Italian and Spanish, as well as a little Portuguese, Korean and Kiswahili, and it has taken him to 34 countries on six continents. Azikiwe will be returning to Carpe Diem International fresh from leading summer photography trips to Tanzania for National Geographic Student Expeditions.

 

 

Britt Basel

As a photographer (www.brittbaselphoto.com), with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Archeology, and a background in somatic psychology, business development, and environmental resource management, Britt brings a diverse background to international education.

Britt’s interest in the cultures of the world started when she traveled to Ecuador as a youth photographer at the age of fifteen. That same passion for photography later led her to study at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paros, Greece. After returning to the US, her attention returned to Latin America. Her university studies focused on the culture and history of Central & South America, and eventually led her to travel, live, and work extensively throughout the region. While living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Britt studied Latin American politics, history, and human development through the School for International Training.

Of all her experiences in Latin America, the highlight was the time Britt spent with the indigenous people of Paraguay. While with the Guarani, she conducted research on the impact that the production of genetically modified soy has had on their cultural integrity, access to traditional medicine, food resources, and health.

Believing that international travel and spending time with other cultures is crucial for understanding the world, the environment, and, as a result, our responsibility as individuals within it, Britt has spent the last few years working in international education. She has led trips throughout the world, including Putney Student Travel’s Global Awareness in Action El Salvador and has taught photography for National Geographic Student Expeditions in Spain, Belize, and Australia.

Britt has spent this year studying permaculture and whole systems design in New South Wales, Australia and Bali, Indonesia. She is certified as a PADI Open Water SCUBA Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, Emergency First Response Instructor, and is fluent in Spanish. She tends to split her time between the mountains of Colorado and the Caribbean. It is easy to imagine that she loves anything that will get her outside, whether she is snowboarding or sailing. It’s just as easy to find her in an art museum, searching out interesting people and conversations, or jumping out of an airplane (parachute attached, of course). What underscores everything in her life is a drive to create positive change, a passion to experience all of the richness that life has to offer, and the fire to inspire others to go for their dreams.

Britt has led with Carpe Diem before in South America and we are so very pleased to have her back to lend her expertise to our East Africa student group.

 

 

Karen Rosenbloom

Karen grew up in a northwest suburb of Chicago Illinois. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Art Education with a concentration in Ceramics from Northern Illinois University. During the last years of her study, Karen created an art curriculum designed to open minds to other cultures and influence positive change. For this she was awarded a National Education Award from Golden Key National Honors’ Society. While pursuing her degree, Karen was a Trip Leader of The Outing Center of NIU, a High and Low Rope Facilitator, and a manager of a climbing gym in Warrenville, IL. She is passionate about sharing the wonders of other cultures and adventurous experiences in the great outdoors. During her junior year in college, Karen earned a grant to perform a cultural art study in Thailand. The tsunami relief of 2004 gave her the unexpected opportunity to stay in Koh Phi Phi to help the “Reservoir Dogs” remove the stagnant water from the reservoir and create a new pool. Traveling throughout that country was one of her most influential experiences. It opened her mind to other ideas, ways of living, and taught her great meaning and the reward of service work.

Soon after university, Karen explored her heritage in Israel and went to the Dominican Republic. While in the Dominican Republic, Karen helped instruct and construct a ceramic water filtration production now recognized as Filtre Pure. Filtre Pure is currently run by a local ceramicist in Moca, DR. This project helped Karen recognize the importance of empowering others to make positive change, and taught her how crucial teamwork is to efficiency.

Before Karen joined the Carpe Diem team, she taught art at the elementary level and instructed yoga at Northern Illinois University. This will be Karen’s third semester working with Carpe Diem Education. Her first three programs were with us in the South Pacific in Fall 2008, India in Spring 2009, and Central America in Fall 2009 and were met with rave reviews and lots of student growth! Between Carpe Diem Programs, Karen is an avid rock climber, backpacker, and skier. She enjoys just about any outdoor activity and expressing herself through the arts.

Karen is thrilled about sharing worldly experiences with others while making a positive difference in others’ lives.

 

 

Andy Bemis

Andy Bemis - A native of Tucson, Arizona, Andy developed a love of Spanish, Latin American Culture, Mexican food and the desert at a very young age. With a fierce desire to learn Spanish, he spent the summer of his 15th year living with a host family in Mexico solidifying his love of travel and cultural immersion. He continued his international explorations after graduating High School with several backpacking trips through Europe before graduating from the University of California Santa Cruz with a degree in Anthropology in 2005. In college, the travel bug continually called and Andy spent: a summer learning about Tamil music and culture while volunteering at the Mohanam Cultural Center in Auroville, India; a semester studying Andean Anthropology and History in Quito, Ecuador; five months teaching English at an elementary school for indigenous children in old Quito; and various other travels to Thailand, Borneo, Israel/Palestine, Costa Rica and Panama.

Andy has led student groups in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands and revels in the opportunity to inspire an ethic of humility, courage, self-reliance and global-citizenship in a group of ambitious young explorers. Whether working with first time travelers or experienced nomads, he loves the opportunity to provide a fun, safe and adventurous atmosphere that is open to exploring limits, challenging comfort zones, and engaging in self-discovery. Andy has worked as a back-country ranger in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of Washington, a campus organizer at UCLA, a campaign director for Environment California in San Francisco, a stagehand at a theater in Tucson, and a carpenter in Montreal, Quebec. He is a certified Wilderness First Responder, Lifeguard and Shiatsu Massage Therapist. Inspired by the lessons learned at a human powered pace, he prefers to travel by foot, sailboat or bicycle and recently spent six months riding over 5000km through rural Mexico.

After many years away, Andy has recently returned to the healing heat and spectacular scenery of his home in the desert southwest where he can be found exploring this gorgeous land while rock climbing, hiking and caving as much as possible. He also spends his time substitute teaching, salsa dancing, practicing acroyoga, playing ultimate frisbee, juggling, gardening, reading and spending time with family.

Andy is leading in the Fall of 2009 to Central America and will be heading to the South Pacific in the Spring of 2010.

 

 

Heather Diamond

Chicago via Boulder via the world! Originally from Chicago, Heather left the Midwest after high school to attend college at University of Colorado in Boulder, where in addition to studying international affairs, she hiked, biked, skied and generally played outside as often as possible. Studying international affairs meant that Heather was encouraged to study abroad, and she took advantage by spending a semester in South America, splitting time between Chile and Argentina. As well, she took a semester off to do a work exchange program in India, where she worked as a cultural exchange teacher in a school for students in pre-k through 12th grade. After graduating, Heather took off on her bicycle to explore the USA for a couple months, worked for a while as a teacher’s aide in special education classrooms, and then moved to Costa Rica for a year and a half; first to volunteer at a conservation learning center and then to work at a small hotel - and also to travel around Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. When she returned to the states, Heather moved to the Seattle are to study and work in Environmental Education. She has also led summer programs for high school in Costa Rica. When not out adventuring, Heather enjoys playing music, learning about organic agriculture, practicing yoga, and generally enjoying life!

Heather is leading her 5th consecutive semester with Carpe Diem after leading tremendously successful groups in Central America, India, South America, and the South Pacific. She brings to the group a dynamic sense of joy and an inquisitiveness that quite simply pulls the most out of every journey. We are incredibly honored to get to keep having her back with us!

 

 

Adam Fischer

Selden, NY via AFRICA…via FANZ…via… Adam graduated from State University of New York at Oswego in May 2003 with a B.S. in Zoology. In his junior year he studied abroad in Cairns, Australia, during which time he was able to participate in rainforest conservation work, SCUBA Dive on the Great Barrier Reef, and travel extensively through Queensland. Following his study abroad excursion he completed an internship at a large carnivore preservation site in North Carolina. He contributed time to care of large and small cats, cage construction, and assisted on a vet check-up on an adult jaguar.

From 2003-2005 Adam worked with the Peace Corps and was assigned to a small village in Iringa Region in Southern Tanzania. He worked in the Community Based Natural Resource Management program. His projects ranged from working with a village-based tree nursery group to HIV/AIDS education. During his service he had the great opportunity to learn to speak Kiswahili and travel all over East Africa and Egypt. Since Peace Corps he has traveled and lived in the Western U.S., especially Eastern Idaho; where he spent this past winter working for Grand Targhee Summer and Ski Resort. His interests are traveling, volunteering, making a difference, soccer, telemark skiing, hiking, mountain biking, and basically anything else that involves being outdoors.

Adam is returning to Carpe Diem for a record 5th consecutive tour of duty! He led Africa in the fall of '07, FANZ in the spring of '08, India in the Fall of '08, South America in the Spring of '09, and returned to the South Pacific in the Fall of '09. He will be leading the Central America program this Spring. We are so very blessed to have this team's skills and commitment to CD!

 

 

Drew Edwards

Drew Edwards has traveled extensively throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and the South Pacific. During his third year of college Drew studied abroad in New South Wales, Australia. He had the opportunity to explore Fiji, New Zealand and Australia to his heart’s content during his 8 month tenure there and came back from the experience with a profound love for their culture, environment, and most of all for travel.

Post graduation from the University of Iowa with a degree in Communications and Environmental Science Drew settled down in Chicago, which seemed the most logical choice. Not long after living in the city he began to feel uneasy, like he was not doing what he was meant to be doing. He longed to be outside again, playing in nature until his hearts content. The nagging feeling grew and grew until one day while sitting at his desk he came to one of the most important decisions of his life. It was time to abandon the concrete jungle for a real one.

In the three years since he packed up and left Drew has run a climbing wall and high ropes course in Wisconsin, worked as a Wilderness Therapist for at risk youth in the back country of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, spent his Winters snowboarding in Big Sky Montana and Telluride Colorado, and most recently he has been guiding trips for foreign visitors throughout the US. When not working he tries to spend as much time as he can outdoors, whether it's tossing the disc, hitting the trails, or scaling some cliffs, he is definitely at his most Zen amongst the rocks and trees.

 

 

Suzanne Pazandak

Suzanne grew up in Vermont - discovering and exploring the beauty of the Green Mountains. After finishing high school-she felt drawn to the ocean and ended up in Wilmington, NC where she finished a degree in Social Work from UNC. After graduating, she felt the pull to travel and had always dreamed of the Peace Corps. She was off…to Bulgaria for 2 years…where she fell in love with the people and the country. Those 2 years were some of the most challenging yet rewarding times. After leaving Bulgaria, she somehow found herself in India, where she stayed for a year. She lived on an organic farm and worked with young children for awhile, and then meandered and explored the magic of India the rest of the time. After returning to the States, Suzanne worked with teenage girls as a wilderness therapy instructor in Asheville, NC for a year. And then- India drew her back. again and again. She led the Fall 2008 and Fall 2009 Carpe Diem trips…and loved every minute of her time back there. Suzanne feels so deeply grateful and profoundly affected by all of her experiences in India. Other than traveling, Suzanne loves to cook, practice yoga, be out in nature, learn about organic farming, sprout things, get her hands dirty, dance, and dream of her future farm.

Suzanne is excited beyond words to lead the FANZ trip. It has always been a dream of hers to make it to that part of the world…and is so excited for another wonderful semester!!

 

 

Jeff Halvorsen

Jeff Halvorsen - Hailing from the Beautiful Pacific Northwest, Jeff was born with something much more profound than just the “travel bug”, rather a deep and profound desire to explore the world and the consequences associated with a love of learning, an addiction to challenge and growth, and the drive to do something truly amazing with his life. Jeff graduated from the University of Southern California with a BA in International Relations, studying abroad in both the Czech Republic and Brasil, in 2001. Unable to bring himself to “settling for” a desk job, he joined the Americorps National Civilian Community Corps and traveled/lived/volunteered around the Western USA for a year with his team, Green 1. Further diving into a life of service, he went and worked with Habitat for Humanity in Charleston (SC), teaching volunteers how to build homes for the local participant families and gaining a real appreciation for what can be accomplished with a little altruism mixed with hammer and some nails.

By this time he had adopted much of the culture of the South as his own, and still runs around using “hon” and “y’all”, and fell in love with beach cruiser bikes, crawfish cook-outs, and operating “Southern Time”. But he felt the call for something new, and proceeded to lead 3 semester-long educational service-learning programs through Northern California, Central America and the South Pacific. Yet no matter how strong this call was, it was nothing compared to the one (of his then-girlfriend) that took him to Mexico, where he spent the better part of 3 years teaching English and then 6th Grade, helping out with the ex-pat community, dancing salsa, eating tacos al pastor, and working in the hotel/travel industry in Playa del Carmen on the Mexican Riviera.

While in Playa, Jeff returned to the life of the group leader, going to Ecuador and then Peru, before traveling solo through South America for 6 months. Once stateside, he fulfilled a life-long dream of experiencing Africa, leading 2 groups to Ghana during the 1st half of 2009, and now finds himself back on familiar ground: rejuvenated and grateful for the opportunity to be with others as excited as he is to explore not only the world, but themselves and their own experiences, as well as our place here and what is possible through programs like Carpe Diem.

 

 

Dawn Cothran

Dawn lives amongst the beautiful and majestic mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. Traveling has fed her soul for many years now, bringing her education, insight, and humility, as well as amazing memories. Upon graduating from the University of North Carolina at Asheville with a BA in Psychology in 1997, she found herself feeling a bit empty and seeking more meaning in life. This lead her into a desire to grow beyond herself, to open a door leading into distant foreign lands filled with human soul. Dawn left the country for the first time to visit a friend living in Ecuador over 10 years ago, and from then on she has been hooked, especially on the lessons of the Third World. Dawn went on to serve in the Peace Corps in the West African nation of Mali, where she worked as an Agriculture Volunteer. Since then she has spent time exploring parts of Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia, India, and Europe, both with a companion and alone. She’s traveled the States and Hawaii for months at a time. She has also worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters, completed a 3 month internship in natural building in New Mexico, and volunteered with a reforestation project in southern India. Dawn feels these journeys have brought her magic and taught her much about herself and the world at large. Currently she spends her summers feeding another of her passions in life, working at a local bicycle shop in Asheville. In her free time Dawn enjoys knitting, studying yoga, struggling with the banjo, making mead, and attempting being a beekeeper. Among her greatest passions in life are sunshine, smiles, and riding sick singletrack on her mountain bike whenever she can.

Dawn feels both blessed and elated to be given the opportunity to continue being a part of the beautiful family at Carpe Diem; she has so much love and gratitude in her heart for all of the goodness this experience has shared with her thus far...

 

 

Amanda Rader

Though born and raised in Pennsylvania, Amanda’s sense of ‘home’ has extended across the globe. Her first international travel immersion was as a 6-week volunteer in rural Honduras, which set her life spiraling along new paths centered on questions of social justice and equality. Amanda’s Honduran journey led her to join the Peace Corps after completing her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Spanish from Franklin & Marshall College. The Peace Corps assigned Amanda to the Dominican Republic where she spent three years soaking up Dominican culture and collaborating in various projects to holistically address community health concerns.

Turning her sights to graduate school, Amanda applied for and was awarded a World Peace Fellowship from Rotary International. Through this fellowship program, Amanda completed her MA in Peace & Conflict Resolution from the University of Queensland in Australia. During the course of the fellowship, Amanda was also fortunate to study in Argentina and Brazil and intern with a progressive youth organization, Youth Action Nepal, which put on the first-ever Nepal Youth Social Forum in Kathmandu. After a brief stint living and teaching on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, Amanda launched into her first semester with Carpe Diem as a co-leader for the FANZ trip. Since, she has also led semesters to Central America and South East Asia.

Amanda has developed a passion for life through the intensity of her journey across cultural ‘boundaries.’ She holds a profound belief in the potential of inspired youth to positively transform our world. Amanda is honored and thrilled to be spiraling into her fourth semester with Carpe Diem to share in the infinite possibilities that unfurl from opening up to challenge and diversity.

 

 

Nick Berger

Nick grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Boston College, with a degree in Political Science with International Studies and Photography. Upon graduating, Nick focused on fulfilling his dream to travel and explore the world. He spent several months backpacking through Europe, and then continued on for another year in Asia, where he found an opportunity to work with a small non-profit volunteer organization in Bali, Indonesia.

While living with a host family in a rural village in Bali, Nick taught English at the local elementary school and helped assist his village with an ongoing community development initiative for sustainable tourism. It was here that Nick found his passion for social work, recognizing the importance of empowering others to make positive changes in their own lives. After 8 months of living and working in Bali, Nick would continue on to explore China and Thailand before returning home to the States.

Back in the States, Nick began working with Eckerd Youth Alternatives, a wilderness therapy program in western North Carolina. While living in the woods, Nick has had the opportunity to support, teach, and take care of at-risk youth while living within a therapeutic group setting. Moving on from EYA as a Master Counselor, Nick joined the Carpe Diem family in the Fall of 2008. With Carpe Diem, Nick has explored the beauty and magic of Latin America, leading our Fall 2008 program to South America and our Spring 2009 program to Central America.

This fall, Nick has taken some time to get in touch with his new home in Portland, and spent the fall harvest working at a winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. He has recently acquired an old VW camper van, which will be the source of many epic roadtrips, and has also been workin' out some yoga moves in anticipation of the spring. Nick is extremely excited to answer the call to India, and feels blessed to be able to continue his adventures with Carpe Diem.

 

 

Stacey Crowley

Stacey grew up in California, received her nursing degree from University of San Francisco in 1999. She has seen it all and more in 10+ years of work in the Emergency Department of San Francisco General Hospital and continues to practice as a trauma nurse in San Francisco and on the ski slopes of Mount Hood as well as working in a regional Poison Control Center.

Stacey has a Sagittarius’ love of travel, and has led student groups for many years in El Salvador and most recently in India. She has ascended Mount Everest to the Advanced Base Camp, cared for those on the summit team expedition and triaged western medical delivery in the villages of Tibet. She has visited Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal, Tibet, Myanmar, Singapore, India, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, and Argentina and everywhere she finds herself connecting with the locals and creating lasting friendships.

Stacey, a heady and nuanced blend ready for celebration. When Stacey was young, she dreamed of going to undiscovered places in incomprehensible, winged machines few were skilled enough to pilot. Having four younger brothers, all taller than her, taught Stacey the essential skill of her career as a trauma nurse- the ability to say to anyone, "Sit down. You need this, it won't hurt." Stacey cannot live without good friends and good food (another form of her care taking) and her telly skis. Stacey is happiest when she in hot water and under the stars. She will tell you anything you want to know about herself except her middle name. Stacey is always up for a yoga class, cooking for a large group of friends with one of her Italian grandmother’s recipes, or just hanging out with her rescued dog, Juneau.

Stacey is excited and looking forward to the journey thru India with each of you. She hopes this will be an enlightening, nourishing, challenging, fun, full on life changing experience for all!

Namaste