The final countdown. . .

Aloha!

All is well as we are wrapping up our final few days here in Hawaii. It has been an amazing journey.

On the project front, we worked our last day at the marsh on Monday. The work there has been challenging and we were proud of our students for seeing it through. Yesterday we celebrated the end of our work at The Boys and Girls Club with a movie night for the children there. Today we cleaned and served a huge meal at the Men's Homeless Shelter in Honolulu. Tomorrow we will work our final day on the North Shore before cleaning up at Camp Timberline, packing our things, and heading out on Friday.

We are all sad to see the trip end as we have had so much fun over the last few weeks. After a month of hard work, all of our students deserve a good, long rest when they get back home!

See you on the mainland and beyond.

Best,
Emily and Ryan

Adventures on the Big Island

We had an incredible weekend on the Big Island! We walked through a lava tube and experienced "cave darkness", observed a huge crater that had recently vented into a continuous funnel cloud of smoke, and hiked to a black sand beach. To top it all off, we were able to watch the glow of exploding lava under the light of a full moon! The tour guide told us that we were very lucky to have caught a glimpse of the lava flow-- evidently the volcano hadn't been this active in several months.

In other weekend fun, our group enjoyed 'the best pancakes ever' at Ken's Diner-- we actually went back three times during our stay because our students loved them so much!

We are back in Oahu today busy with our work at the Boys and Girls Club. Life is grand!

ALOHA!
Emily and Ryan

ALOHA!

Today we are at the Institute for Human Services Homeless Shelter in Honolulu! We are cleaning, organizing and serving meals to their guests. The work is incredibly rewarding.

Throughout the week our students have continued projects all over the island. We spent a day working at the Waimea Valley, helping take care of endangered species of plants where we even learned our own hula dance! Yesterday we had a cultural day where we learned about some of the heaius (old religious sites) close to our residence at Camp Timberline.

We've enjoyed some glorious beaches, celebrated Perry Reid's Birthday with a movie and some ice cream cake and tomorrow we leave for our long weekend excursion to the big island to explore and see the volcanoes!

Everyone is happy and healthy. Until later, onward and upward!

-Emily and Ryan

Update from Camp Timberline

WHEW! We are working hard and playing hard here in Hawaii. We've been working hard to harvest taro in the Kahana Valley. Some of us were knee deep in mud! We are stretching our comfort zones big time.

Our group had an awesome 4th of July at Manalua Bay educating locals about the importance of recycling with an organization called BEACH. We ended the evening watching fireworks at sunset!

Today we all took a group surfing lesson with a world class surf instructor named Smokey Bear! Our students did great-- they caught some waves and then we did some laundry. Tonight, we are headed back to camp Timberline! That's all for now.

ALOHA!
Emily and Ryan

Aloha!

Two full days into our stay here in Hawaii and things are in full swing! We are getting settled into our home for the month, Camp Timberline; the view from here is beautiful and we have had amazing weather so far.

Yesterday our students worked with peers from the Hawaiian Youth Conservation Corps at the Kawai Nui Marsh. This marsh is home to one of the largest religious temples on the island and is a Ramsar site of worldwide significance! The kids pulled weeds, harvested wild taro, learned how to clean and prepare taro, and made room for a brand new taro field in the area. This will go a long way to helping the people of Kailua to create a sustainable food supply. The work was incredibly muddy but definitely worth it!

Today, Tuesday, we headed out to Waianae Boys and Girls Club to spend the day on the beach working with Hawaiian kids. Everyone loved this!

The group is getting along great and we couldn't be happier to have the sixteen amazing Putney students we do! We have a bustling schedule and will try to keep you updated regularly.

Maholo!
Ryan and Emily

The group has arrived

We've received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in Honolulu.

Welcome!

In order to keep parents updated on the progress of their child's Putney program, from time to time over the course of the program, the trip leaders will post an update on this blog. We hope that the occasional updates will keep you informed about the activities, projects and successes of the summer, as well as comfort the usual worries in sending a son or daughter to a far-away place.

You should expect leaders to post blogs no more than once per week during the program. We feel strongly that the leaders' first priority is the students and the program. The reasons for infrequent updates will be the very busy schedules of our program leaders as well as inconsistent internet access at Putney's various destinations throughout the world. Please know that any important issues on the program will be discussed and resolved with leaders and parents by phone, not through the blog.

We suggest that you subscribe to the blog during your first visit so that you will receive e-mail notifications at the end of the day whenever a new update is posted. To subscribe, enter your email address under 'Subscribe via e-mail' on the left-hand column of the blog.

Have a fantastic summer!

Best wishes from us all at the Putney Barn