With everything going on in the world right now, what we really need is unity. People to People’s Young Ambassadors program, founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower, is a program that helps unify countries through the younger generations. And, this teenager, Danielle Roy, jumped on the chance to be educated, to better the world, and to make this generation stronger.
Danielle was faced with the challenge of raising $5,125 for her trip. With gas bein 90 cents per liter in Europe, the bus needed some way to fuel up. (I guess we cannot complain much about our gas prices now.) Danielle sent out letters to her family, friends, and businesses asking for support. She received a couple thousand from her family but spent a majority of weekends, in Maine’s cold temperatures, tagging outside of Dunkin Donuts and Shaw’s.
After raising the amount of money needed, Danielle’s family said, “Bon Voyage,” as she ventured on to her three week trip getting the chance to visit the countries of France, Italy, and Greece. Traveling with her were 41 other students from around Maine and four adult leaders. Together, they had many different tour guides. One tour guide spoke five different languages: German, French, Italian, Greek, and Austrian. The students also got the chance to stay with a host family in France.
The tour group visited the Eiffel Tower, the Champs d’Elysees, the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, the beaches of Greece, along with the cities of Rome, Florence, and Naples. Together they broke out of their comfort zones, took part in team building activities, rapelled 100 feet off a castle, and ate gelato. “Lauren, it was definitely worth it. Yet, three weeks was just not enough.” Danielle spoke with a smile on her face and a light in her eyes as again she muttered, “It was well worth it.”
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