Adventure Travel
ensure the most efficient and fulfilling experience as possible. We want these participants to be friends for years to come and to join with Ascend in the future. Interact: Please focus on making meetings interactive, including discussions, role play, videos, photos of the area, team building activities and Jeopardy-style game to review important points to know. Assign team leaders to take on various parts of the briefing meetings. You can also invite supplemental discussion leaders. An EL isn’t expected to know everything, and even if you do, it’s better for interest sake to share discussion leadership and offer more than one perspective. Expedition Team Assignments Your ability to get along with others is of paramount importance to the success of this expedition. All the labors of the expeditions become team assignments to be shared and enjoyed as much as the outreaching itself. Flexibility and improvisation on team assignments and objectives is also of great importance. Even the best-organized teams may find themselves improvising to meet unexpected circumstances. Your flexibility and sense of humor will go a long way toward your enjoyment of this experience. The options listed below may be available for team assignments based on the four main Program Solutions already discussed in this Mission and Operations section. There is also a fifth team assignment, which is an important expedition-specific component: Culture, Team Building & Logistics. Thus, comprehensive expeditions usually organize five teams: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Education Microenterprise Health Simple Technology Culture, Team Building & Logistics
Some expeditions may be focused on one program solution area depending on the needs of the community and the participant skill base. Expedition members who do not have the expertise of the mission focus will be invited to work in support of the focus mission and may also have opportunities to participate in other humanitarian projects, teaching and training, depending on location and community needs. The scope of each expedition focuses on participant backgrounds and interests, and how they relate with village needs and circumstances. For example, a Health Team with strong medical personnel may have a full-scale medical and dental clinic, where on another expedition the health team may offer only basic health and hygiene training because of more limited personnel. As you consider which team you may be interested in, please understand that team assignments help us organize ourselves into smaller, efficient groups, to make sure we are well prepared in each area. Once you get on site, you will be able to move around and experience different teams and projects. You are not locked into just one team because of your initial team assignment. Team leaders will be assigned for each team on a comprehensive expedition. When possible this is someone who has skills/background in the area; and if we are really fortunate, they may even be a 57