Sorting donations

In Santa Ana, some people don’t have running water, so it’s hard for them to maintain good health. Also there are no trash collection trucks, so throughout the community there are piles of trash. Many people are left without any option but to burn their trash to prevent huge piles from building outside their homes. Burning trash isn’t only bad for the environment, but also for the health of the people living here.

Right now we are getting ready to start health day in the Divino Niño neighborhood of Santa Ana. We are going to wash some little kids here. It’s going to be fun. The kids here aren’t necessarily very dirty or anything, they just don’t all have the means to stay clean all the time.

I hope that we can leave something for the people here in Santa Ana. It’s not only important for us to do stuff here but to leave our messages behind. That’s the one thing I hope we can do.

Zoe, a student at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High SchoolComité de Salud

Sam makes a lesson plan

I bent down to kiss the cheeks of the short, fragile grandmother, then the mother, then their seven year old daughter, and popped back up again to firmly shake the Dad’s hand. I greeted my new Carapegua host family in Spanish, and they returned my greeting in Spanish, Guaraní, and an attempt at English. As we walked to their little 1980’s green Volkswagen (having a car is a big deal) they asked me if I knew any Guaraní, and I asked them if they knew any English. Collectively, between the four of them, they knew car, dog, house, “Good night”, “good morning” and yes. On the other hand, I didn’t and still don’t know any Guaraní. The Santacruz’s had a nice three bedroom row house, with an outdoor family room, living room, and kitchen. For Carapegua, it was actually quiet nice.

Walking in the rain in Carapegua

Orlando, (the Dad) immediately sat me down the minute I arrived, and we talked about cars. He is very proud to have both a car and a motorcycle, because it boosts his business (package courier). After talking about cars, our conversation transitioned to me, my family, and America…oh and how he didn’t believe that I am only 16 because I am taller than him. Somewhere between my life, and Obama, Obama, Obama, five hours went by, and I was physically and mentally exhausted. I retired to my bed, which like the bed at Hotel Chaco, was way to short. In bed, I thought to myself that my Spanish couldn’t be that good, but maybe it had been. I drifted to sleep, a proud Spanish student, with the sound of barking dogs, and screaming animals in the background.

Fast forward a week, and a few some kilometers away- back at Hotel Chaco, in Asunción, we were paired with our San Jose School host families. My new host brother, Darío, greeted me in English, and took me over to where his friends were sitting. Their perfect English AMAZED me, and I did a double take when Darío informed me he had only been studying English for two years! I could tell this would be a very different experience.

Back in Asuncion

We started the welcome dinner at about the same time Orlando and his family would be going to bed in Carapegua, about 8:30. After dinner, the host families took us to a club party that lasted into the early morning hours, when my host family in Carapegua would usually be waking up. A side note, there were no chickens. The next morning, when I talked to my new host family as a whole, they were totally different than the folks in Carapegua. I felt as if I had traveled to yet another country overnight, because the culture was so different. They did not speak Guaraní, didn’t even know any, they did not drink Mate, they did not pray before a meal, they did not have animals, they did not make their own cloths, they did not wake up at four, and they did not stare at me because they had never seen an American before. What they did do is watch CNN, MTV, and E! They had Facebook, and GMail, and wore American fashion labels, they took family vacations, and had two new cars, they went walking for fun, and had a computer, and T.V’s, they had educated backgrounds, but despite all these differences (even though the two families only live two hours away from each other) they were equally interested, and honored, to have an American stay in their home. Reciprocating these warm, welcoming, but very different families, I was equally as honored to be staying in the homes of Paraguayans.

Santa Ana after the storm (photo by Sam T.)

The beard contest

Note: Today I am blogging from Hotel Chaco, because I am as sick as a dog, with a head and chest cold… at least I have a room with a balcony. Also, I am totally beating Eamon in the beard contest. The looser goes home with the winner’s mustache design.

Sam T., a student at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

Sketching the donkey

Right now I can only speak about the part of the wall I painted and supervised which is only a small part of all that this group has accomplished so far. I painted a donkey surrounded by colors and I wrote on that same wall (with some help) a poem by Federico García Lorca that I had learned in the USA. I realize that when people will look at the painting of the donkey on the wall they will have no clue what it means, and that is the point. I want children in the school to see the painting every day and wonder every time about it.

Isn’t the feeling of mystery one of the most exciting human feelings? Einstein thought so. For the poem, I am really glad I wrote it on the wall. As I was painting the letters, the children would come around and read it aloud. That immediately persuaded me I had had a good idea. One French writer thought that one could be a scholar if one knew very well at least one piece of good, written work.

Drawing and learning

When you see that same poem every day painted on a wall, you start to get interested in it and you learn it, and then you reflect upon it. To me, poetry is an eye-opener, and I think that everyone should have the opportunity to experience it. I suppose the children in this school do study some poetry, but I remember poetry I studied when I was that age, and it was nothing like García Lorca, more like, “Today I am going to school/Tomorrow to the swimming pool.” I do not have the pretension to be able to judge what good poetry is, but I do want to share what is important to me with other people.

Eva Bessette, a student at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

Widows of Chikumbuso

Today was our last day at Chikumbuso, so I decided to buy a bag in order to support some of the widows… and then I bought a coin purse… and a glasses holder… and then another bag. By the end of the day, I had bought $30 worth of items and wanted to buy more. The look in each widow’s eyes made me more hopeful and more willing to buy something because there was a face that I could associate with the things I bought.

Soccer balls

On Thursday and Friday, I taught children how to make gimp, a craft which is done in some elementary schools. After working with the children, I thought gimp would probably not make a big impression on them. By Monday, my perception was completely changed. It was absolutely hilarious seeing students run around with gimp necklaces and bracelets. At least 20 students asked for gimp, saying they wanted to practice how to do the basic box and the Chinese staircase. After another day full of arts, and crafts, stickers and small children, we also got to try nshima, a dough-like food made of corn meal. It tasted different from anything I had ever tried.

Gaby and Natalie stir the nshima

At the end of the day, the children of Chikumbuso thanked us for our visit and celebrated the time we spent with them through various traditional song and dance performances. The amazing show full of talent and enthusiasm, summed up the strong bonds formed between LearnServe Zambia and the Chikumbuso community. We finished the day taking lots of pictures and hugging our new-found friends good-bye.

Tomorrow we be leaving for Monze. It’s time to pack.

Thank you for reading.

Zora, a student from Albert Einstein High School

Jaleel and Yecenia break ground

Could you imagine starting your day’s work before the sunrise and finishing after sunset? Many people in Zambia live like this and some children are unable to go to school because of the mere distances they have to travel to get their daily work done. To the people in Zambia, the privilege of receiving an education is a great blessing.

Lola helps with the water

In Lusaka, there is a school for orphaned and double orphaned children called the Chawama Community School. Today we went there and helped contribute to their garden where they will grow vegetables such as cabbage, onions, tomatoes and spinach to sell as a profit for supporting the salaries of the teachers. We began by breaking up the dirt with hoes, which was no easy task in the hard, dried dirt. Then, using rakes, we evened out the bed of dirt, cleaning out lots of garbage, plastic bags, and even old pieces of tire. Once the dirt bed was even, we created holes and placed various vegetables and herbs in them. When the entire patch was filled completely, the patch of newly planted vegetables or herbs was watered.

A well-earned break

We continued for a couple of hours repeating the process over and over. During the entire time, I thought about my own school in comparison. What passion and gratefulness the students must show inside the classroom to make the people in the school want to sell vegetables and herbs to help them continue their education even though it’s such an effort. What would it take to create this same gratefulness in the students of America and my own school and how would it affect the way the school staff and teachers displayed an interest in our education?

Jaleel, student at the Cesar Chavez Charter School

Elizabeth Drew, Team Leader of the LearnServe Zambia team, called this afternoon to provide a brief update. The team will be leaving Lusaka for Monze tomorrow where they will start their work with the Malambo School. Since internet access will be extremely limited in Monze, there will be fewer postings to the Zambia blog through Saturday.

An artist from the town of Kitwe

After the chaos of the morning’s money exchange, we excitedly set off to the traditional Zambian market with pockets full of Kwacha. The popular monthly social event allowed us to practice our bargaining skills with the vendors who travel from all over Zambia to profit from their crafts. For some of the craftsmen, such markets sustain their livelihoods. A few encounters with the vendors made obvious the persistent ones; however, compared to other markets, we bargained in a relatively non-aggressive environment. With our family members and friends in mind, we looked through the stalls of jewelry, carved animals, pillows, clothing, purses, house wares, and other detailed crafts.

One of the widows at Chikumbuso

We were pleasantly surprised to see our friends from Chikumbuso selling their beautiful crocheted purses made of plastic grocery bags. The wafts of homemade delicacies attracted many bargainers to the food section of the market. A variety of Indian, Chinese, Zambian, and American cooking refueled us after a long and exhausting morning. The market left us with gifts to bring home, full stomachs, and an interesting insight into Zambian culture. We spent the rest of the day “exploding our donation bags” in order to sort teacher kits, clothing, and school supplies for Chikumbuso and the rural Malambo School.

Elizabeth, a student at Sidwell Friends School

Lauren with her class at Chikumbuso

Today we went back to Chikumbuso and it was even better than the first day. I was not as nervous about getting more interactive with the kids. While I was there, I had so much fun teaching the kids how to play dodge ball. It was so funny to see their faces as I was explaining it to them because they were so used to playing football (soccer). When I told them they had to pick the ball up, they thought I was crazy. Once they understood the whole objective of the game from my few instructions, it was so exciting to run around throwing the ball with all of the kids. I almost forgot whom I was playing with because they got me and Liza out so many times. I started thinking that we were the ones still learning instead of them.

Don’t kick, dodge!

I was so amazed by how intelligent the kids were. You couldn’t imagine how easy it was to explain the instructions for the game to a group of first graders. The kids were also extremely honest. Once they began to play, I was trying to figure out how I would see who got out in the large group of kids. At that instant about three kids started lining up along the side of the playing field. No matter how bad the kids wanted to play, they would have no problem standing on the side and waiting until the next game. Their honesty and their intelligence weren’t the only things that amazed me. Since I love sports a lot, their athleticism really caught my attention. To see kids who are not used to playing with an actual ball, have more skill then most of the kids at my school was incredible.

Socializing with the David Kaunda students

After leaving Chikumbuso, we went to the American Center in Lusaka to meet with the David Kaunda students for the last time to eat pizza and watch The Great Debaters. During the movie the David Kaunda students and the LearnServe kids all got to know each other even more and made jokes just like any other group of kids. It was so hard to say goodbye after we bonded so much in our little time together. I plan to stay in contact with them via email and phone because they are really good people, and you can’t just forget about them. They are so friendly and have wonderful senses of humor. I never thought that I would become such good friends with kids that probably live a totally different life than mine and live so far away. Today was a really great day for me and I loved how it challenged me socially. I normally have a hard time talking to people with whom I’m not that comfortable with, but the people in Zambia are so welcoming that I had no problem feeling like I could just be myself.

Tyrhee, a student at SEED Charter School

Walking the perimeter of the slum

Today we went to Santa Ana, and it was the place I visited that has most resembled a third world country. We took a small tour of Santa Ana and the farther away from the Community Center we drifted, the worse the living conditions of the citizens became. Some things we saw were pigs eating trash, water filled with trash, and a garbage truck dumping trash next to a shack.

Doing our own math—in Spanish!

Later on in the day, after playing some interesting games, we split into the groups we will be in during the week. The topics of these groups included health, technology, sports, environment, and two separate art groups. We talked about our plans for the week. These plans include a health fair, recording documentaries, cleaning up parks and streets, and painting murals on the walls of two separate daycare centers. I am excited about beginning the projects and helping the people of this area.

Eamon, a student at Kingsbury Day School

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The school yard at Chikumbuso

Today we went to Chikumbuso, a community center and school in a poor neighborhood of Lusaka, possessing a whiffle ball bat, several whiffle balls, and a bouncy ball. At our first station with my partner Natalie, we explained the basic rules of kickball and let the kids do what they do best—play! They needed little encouragement to get started and took kickball by storm, cheering on their teammates and playing a game completely new to them while having the time of their lives. Watching these kids, who live in acute poverty, “lose” themselves in the game of kickball was nothing short of beautiful. I feel that American society and culture often focuses on material possessions and the need to acquire more and more seemingly unnecessary items. Watching these kids experience pure, unadulterated happiness amidst all their hardships in life made so many of the things I worry about seem completely irrelevant. Maybe there is something to be said for the simplicity and happiness of a child’s life. The most fun I had all day was when I abandoned the game of kickball in favor of a game I now call “Follow Andrew”, in which the kids in my group mirror all my actions and noises. While they may have enjoyed kickball immensely, the smiles and laughs I received from the children on “Team Cow” moo-ing and pretending to wake up and go to sleep were unforgettable. It is ironic that I had to play with poverty stricken Zambian kids, kids who eat one meal a day and wear the same clothes for many days at a time, to realize that there is ABSOLUTELY NO correlation between material possessions and happiness. By looking at the faces of Team Cow playing my game, I felt that there was no material item I could have used with/given to them that would have brought them more happiness and joy than simply spending time playing with them.

Andrew plays with kids at Chikumbuso

Furthermore, I walked away from today’s experiences with the realization that there is something unique about a child. As the children were playing “Follow Andrew,” it did not matter where they lived or what they had or anything like that. For me, and for these kids, it was just living in the moment and enjoying the opportunity to play a fun game. Having worked with American kids of the same age, I realized that kids in Zambia and kids in America are one and the same. While American kids may be “better off” because of their socioeconomic status and have far more opportunities compared to their Zambian counterparts, the simple, yet truly beautiful happiness they experience is the same. When they are playing, or just being kids, everything else seems irrelevant. What could be more important than having fun and being happy playing a game with your new friends? Despite being seventeen and having lost much of my ability to be truly happy in the moment regardless of my surroundings, for these precious few minutes I felt like I had been transported back in time to my childhood when I was completely unaware of many of the challenges facing our world and just enjoyed playing. I hope that when I return from my trip that I will be able to recreate this amazing experience I had with these kids, and that I will somehow manage to maintain a fraction of the innocent happiness that only children experience.

Andrew, a student at Sidwell Friends School

LSP students in Carapegua

Today at dinner, I had the best dessert ever. I had jello and pear slices, but it tasted like pumsitale and sorrel, some of my favorite Caribbean foods. I also had a drink called Simba and it tasted like a Chubby, one of my favorite soft drinks. It was the best thing that I have tasted so far in Paraguay.

Ohmgee!!! I can’t believe that Michael Jackson is dead. I was so sad. The moment that I found out, I turned on my mp3 player and listened to PYT (Pretty Young Thing).

We went to a concert where the band played instruments made from recycled materials. This was relevant to what we have been doing because we had been educating students in Carapeguá about recycling.

How I feel about being back in Asunción: it feels so great. I mean, no offense to my host family in Carapeguá, but it feels so good to take a proper shower again!

Afriyie, a student at Roosevelt Senior High School