Date: June 26 - July 9, 2025

Category: Youth Trips

Participants: 10 

Grades: Entering 10th and 11th in the fall of 2025   

Focus: Conflict resolution, racial healing, and restorative justice 

Highlights: Local village stays, safari, horseback riding, boat excursions, Boulders Beach penguins and hiking

Spots Available: Full 

Cost: $4000

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Date: July 27th - August 9th

Category: Youth Trips

Participants: 10 

Grades: Entering 9th - 12th in the fall of 2025 

Focus: Seeking social justice solutions through technology and art

Essential Question: How can technology and digital arts education lead the youth of Lesotho to create societal change and social justice?

Highlights: Living in local villages, hiking and horseback riding, working with youth on social justice projects, Soweto visit, and safari! 

Spots Available: 8 

Cost: $3,500 with discounts for repeat travelers

Before Travel:

We will meet via Zoom to discuss our program and share our interests and goals for the trip. Each participant will choose one of the following topics to focus on during the trip:

Art and Activism

• Fighting gender-based violence through art and music

• Photography for Climate Change

• Film Making and Claymation for Social Justice

• Coding for Change (preference to those who already know how to code in one or more languages)

Ha Matela Youth Center:

• How does the youth center offer opportunity and growth for the village youth?

Days 1 and 2: Johannesburg, South Africa

Land in Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, and spend the night at a game lodge outside of the city. After a night’s rest, we will spend the next day exploring the Apartheid Museum and touring Soweto Township to learn about the struggle to end apartheid.

Days 3 – 5: Malealea, Lesotho

After a short flight to Lesotho, we will drive two hours into the heart of the Maloti Mountains to stay in the village of Malealea. Here we will get our introduction to village life in Lesotho as we trek through the mountains on Basotho ponies, connect with development leaders, and explore local projects. We will sleep in traditional rondavels and take an introductory course on the Sesotho language. We will visit the Chief, try local cuisine, and participate in village life.

Days 6-10: Morija, Lesotho

After a short drive, we will make our home for the next few days at Morija Guest House, located in the Maloti Mountains' foothills. We will meet our counterparts at Ha Matela Youth Center and The Hub and spend time learning about and collaborating on our focus areas. Additional time will be spent hiking to dinosaur footprints, playing pick-up soccer games with the local youth, horseback riding, and exploring the village.

Days 11- 13:Pilanesberg South Africa

After saying goodbye to our Basotho friends, we will fly back to Johannesburg and make the 2-hour drive north to Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa for safari! The big 5 are all present in this non-malarial park. We will go on day and night safaris, have dinner at the boma and relax at the pool during the hottest parts of the day. We will spend time processing our learning and experiences in Lesotho and making plans for how we will continue our work when we return home.  

Day 14:Return to Johannesburg for our return flights 

Drive back to Johannesburg for our flights home.

After Travel:

We will meet after our trip to share our plans to continue our learning and work. All students will be given guidance to help prepare for their next steps, be it presentations, volunteer work or continued education based on the learning from our trip. We will have 2 formal gatherings after travel and each student will have multiple touch points to help them extend their learning for 6 months after travel.

Global Migrations, Yesterday and Today

Date: August 10th - 19th

Category: Youth Trips

Participants: 12 

Grades: Entering 9th - 12th in the fall of 2025 

Focus: Global Migration issues that have shaped Greece and our world 

Highlights: Experience island life and learn about migration to Greece in the past and present day. Swim in the Mediterranean; visit the ancient sites of the Acropolis and Delphi; climb to the hidden monasteries in Meteora. Wrestle with the topic of migration and learn about how Greece is navigating the situation politically and through the eyes of those on the frontlines of the crisis. 

Spots Available: 12

Cost: $3,500 with discounts for repeat travelers 

Before Travel:

We will meet via Zoom to discuss our program and share our interests and goals for the trip. Each participant will choose one of the following topics to focus on during the trip:

Global Migration

• History of Greek migration, and the experience of ethnic and religious minorities then and now

• LGBTQIA+ Migrants, doubly marginalized communities

• Art and Healing, refugees find hope through art

• The politics of migration

Days 1 and 2: Athens, Greece

Welcome to Greece! Athens is the first location we will explore, with its ancient treasures this city is the birthplace of Western civilization. We will take time to tour the city and visit the Acropolis, the ancient citadel on a hill overlooking the city. We will meet with local activists and historians and learn the history of migration in Greece during the 1920s and the issues migrants in Greece are facing today. We will eat at …

Days 3 – 7: Lesvos, Greece

On day 3 we will fly to the island of Lesvos, a picturesque Greek island with quaint fishing villages, lovely beaches, and endless historic sites. Since 2015, Lesvos has also been the location of migrants and asylum seekers. As we explore the island we will work with NGO’s to learn how art, film, and maker spaces are transforming refugee lives. We will drive to the north coast and walk to the site of a former migrant aid station and get a sense of what it was like during the height of the crisis. We will have the chance to meet with villagers in Skala to hear first-hand accounts of how refugee arrivals have changed the town, and how locals responded to the crisis in 2015 (later being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as a result). We will enjoy mouthwatering meals on the beach and at hidden restaurants. Lesvos beaches are glorious, and we will swim in the Mediterranean and explore Mytilini Town.

Days 8-9 Meteora, Greece

On day 8 we will travel back to the mainland and visit one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. Meteora is made up of towering rock structures that are populated with Byzantine monasteries, perched on top of the rock towers. Our local guide will take us hiking to explore the hidden sites as we learn the secrets of Meteora and its monasteries.

Days 10  Delphi, Greece

We will spend one magical night in Delphi and visit the ancient ruins. Finally, we will take time to discuss our plans for sharing our knowledge and skills when we return home.

Day 11 Athens and Home

We will spend one more day in Athens and walk through the Plakka, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Athens, nestled right below the Acropolis. Dinner will be at A Little Taste of Home, a restaurant run by a former Syrian refugee. We will return home the next morning, full of the wonderful sites and experiences we had in Greece.