Yellowknife (Apr 07/06) - Crystal Milligan loves languages, travel and volunteering.

Also possessing a sense of adventure, Milligan left Yellowknife last Saturday for Guatemala, Central America. In between polishing her Spanish, Milligan is donating her time to children in need.

"Most of the places I will be going have so little, but the people give, and give, and give," said the 24-year-old.

"My life goal is to do this kind of work."

Milligan will be staying in the village of Antigua. There, she will have four hours per day of Spanish lessons and spend the rest of her time working in a daycare for single parents and a school for underprivileged children.

She will spend the last week of her three-week trip helping out at a hospital.

Milligan said she decided to pursue a career in international development during her last year at the University of British Columbia.

She has completed an undergraduate degree in international relations and plans to go overseas to complete a masters in the subject.

Milligan has done similar projects before. Along with five other students in her program, she volunteered with women in Ecuador for three months.

"It was incredible. It's a different pace of life," she said.

Milligan brought along glasses and objects displaying the Canadian flag for the children. She accepted personal donations of money and books from people in Yellowknife.

She is taking care of her own travel expenses and other costs.

Milligan said people should get out and see the world to better understand themselves.