One last meeting...

We will have one last meeting on Thursday June 13 at around 6:00pm to go over final details for the trip. This will be the time to ask all of those questions about what and how to pack, how much money to bring, and all of those other questions that you may have had for months. We can explain more about what project we will be doing and we will have some GREAT resources to give you at that time about Amped and details of the area. 

Also, be advised that there will be a promotional film crew with us for part of the trip who will be filming some of the work we will be doing. The result will be a short informational video about Amped that will help extend the reach of the organization for future projects. There will be an additional release form to be signed at our meeting to be a part of the film. And again, bring your questions to the table. 

The location of the meeting has not been determined yet so stay tuned to the blog for more info in the coming days. 

We would really love to have everyone who is traveling at this meeting so please contact Jeff or me if any conflicts come up in scheduling. 

Believe it or not we are only about 3 weeks away! Get Amped!

Rough Itinerary and coming events

We will have a mandatory meeting for our traveling group some time in the second week of June.  Keep an eye out on this blog for date and time.

Final payment ($400) is due June 1.  Since that's a Saturday, I'm expecting most of you can get it to me in school the following week.

Don't forget to schedule your immunizations!  I just made my appointment today with University Health Services at the UMass Travel Clinic.  I'm going on 6/5.  The visit itself will be ~$130, but contact your insurance company to see what's covered.

Sidenote: I downloaded "Duolingo" on my iPhone to prep myself for some Spanish speaking.  It's actually pretty fun.  I have a limited Spanish background.  If you get it, search to add "costelloj."  That's me.

Here's the link for the rough itinerary:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9-uqRZHc5ahaUdpckg4eEhodFk/edit?usp=sharing

I think I figured out how to share it.  Ignore the fact that it says "2010".  At our meeting in a few weeks we will have way more resources to give out.

See you soon!

Insurance Policy Link

I think I fixed it!

Click the link in the previous post to find out...

Insuarance Policy document

If you would like to review the group insurance policy, I have added it to my Google Drive account and will attempt to share it with you via this link:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9-uqRZHc5ahaWRTMHN5VGJXUjQ/edit?usp=sharing

Let me know if this link works!

Getting excited!

We are very close to revealing an itinerary for our trip! If you still have paperwork or payments out there, please try to send them in to us as soon as you can.
Our departure date is approaching quickly. Try to take care of your immunizations soonish as the common recommendation is for 6 weeks prior to leaving the country.
Keep your eye on this blog for more resources about our trip. I will post our project and schedule soon!

Trip housing secured!

If you haven't "liked" Amped for Education on Facebook, you might have missed this.
Here is where we will be staying for the second half of our trip:

http://mobile.vrbo.com/335514#_propertyDetails_0
(If link doesn't work, check out Amp's Facebook page!)

April 1 Meeting Recap

Thanks to everyone that came to the meeting! Also, thank you to those that have completed the paperwork and given the $500 payment. If you haven't done these things, please make an effort to do them as soon as possible. We need copies of passports by 4/14. If this may not be possible, please contact Jeff or me. We want to be free of loose ends as we approach, very quickly, the dates of our trip!

One point of conversation during our group meeting was potential excursions to take on days after our volunteering and during the vacation portion. We are limited to 3 but we have a wide range of options. One option that we are agreed on is a volcano hike. Here we're some other ideas that came up:
- zip lining
- surfing lessons (during the vacation time)
- SCUBA diving if you have prior certification (I am certified so I would love to do this if there are others interested)
- snorkeling tours
- touring a former political prison in a volcano
- boating on a local lake with neighborhood kids
- fishing trip
We would need to know what our plans are by 6/1. If we commit to an excursion but you do not feel the need to participate you will receive a small refund for the price of the excursion.

We also talked about fundraising. We welcome any and all fundraising ideas that would contribute to our project, offset travel costs, or serve as donations to Amped for further planning and service. The cost of shipping supplies is very high so one idea is to check bags on to the flight with the supplies in them. Asking local businesses for donations was brought up as well. Any contribution to Amped for Education is considered a donation to a non-profit organization and is a tax write-off. I have a copy of the 501c3 form that you may want to use as incentive in your attempts to accept donations. Change drive? If you have ideas please bring them up to me and I can do the bulk of the organizing, but I'll need help!

The dates and flights are set.

June 25: leaving Boston at 6:40a arriving in Miami at 10:00a
Leaving Miami at 1:00p arriving in Managua 1:35p (time change)

July 3: leaving Managua 12:25p arriving in Miami 5:05p (time change)
Leaving Miami 7:35p arriving in Boston 10:50p

Since our flights will be out of Boston, we think that it is a good idea to organize a shuttle that will pick us up from Frontier and bring us right to the airport, as well as returning us to Frontier when we get back. This may be an additional $20 or so per person but will pay for itself in the organizational benefits. We will have more details about this later.

Finally, a reminder of the payment schedule moving forward.
5/1: $500 payment due
6/1: $400 payment due

We might not need to meet again until weeks before the trip so please keep your eye on this blog for important details. If you have comments or questions, please let Jeff or me know so we can then inform everyone through the blog.

Get those vaccinations!