Cultural Center in Santa Ana

Harry

My defining moment was when I witnessed a man sowing his torn soccer shoes. And it hit me, if someone in a America even had a couple of scratches on their shoes they would buy new ones. so that showed me how materialistic things are not important to Paraguayans because they value the more important things. Like family friends and just living life.

Nevasha

My turning point was participating in all of the activities that the health group participated in, but the activity that really impacted me was when we walked around and talked about living in unsanitary and unclean environments. When we were explaining the steps needed to accomplish a sanitary and clean environment some of the stories that I heard really made me think. For example, when we went to a man’s house he was explaining to us how he didn’t have any clean running water and another person was explaining to us how they hadn’t eaten in like 1 whole week. Hearing those stories really made me wish that I could help a little more.

Washing hair on Health Day

Not only did hearing about some of the peoples lifestyle make me think, but walking around and witnessing their living conditions made me think about how I lived. The way that they lived reminded me how grateful I am to have the things that I am BLESSED with, but it also made me realize how some of the things that I am blessed with are taken for granted. Instead of complaining about what I don’t have I should take advantage of what I do have because there are so many people who would love to have some of the things that I have. Being in Santa Ana is a prime example, but even though they may not have much they still make the best of their situation. Sometimes that’s what I need to do rather than complain.

Reflecting (in Spanish!)

Lindsey

We ended our work in Santa Ana by reflecting on the experience over the week and evaluating the work that we had done. I was privileged to help lead the reflection session for the group of young people from Santa Ana. It was amazing listening to them discuss the successes and challenges of the week along with suggestions for improving the project next year. They spoke with passion and maturity that was beyond their years. After spending a week working side by side with youth from Paraguay and the United States I am reminded that these students are the future, and I have a new found hope for the future that they will help to build.

Making Friends

Nathan

have decided to use one of many moments for this reflection. There were many. On the health day at Santa Ana I encountered a little girl while leaning up against the wall of the San Blas community center. She couldn’t have been more than 4 years old, with no shoes, a large sweat shirt on, and dirt on her face and clothes. She gazed at me; I asked her “tu quires lavar”. The girl replied nodding her head, “si”. I then brought her over to Maddy; we decided that the best thing to do would be to remove her sweatshirt, but it was sewn shut. We tried to get it off her head, but it was too tight. She stared at us, as if she was begging for us to take it off so we could wash her hair. I couldn’t help but wonder, how long had this sweatshirt been on her. Had she been neglected so long that she had grown too big to get it off. It was so painful to think of the possibilities.

The only option was to get scissors and cut the threads that had sewn it together. I grabbed a pair of scissors and removed the sweatshirt. We then decided to wash her hair. When Maddy removed the hair tie on her head, her hair stood up in one place, where the hair tie had been. More thoughts came into my mind on how long it had been since she had been washed or cared for at all for that matter.

Cutting nails and hair

After the girl’s hair was washed, I walked over into the community center to watch students give clothing out to the children. It occurred to me that we did not have enough for everyone. I wished we could do more.

The same little girl from earlier walked into the community center and looked at me. I grabbed some clothing for her. She took the bag, smiled, and walked away. This girl is example of the many children in the Santa Ana community and the world that need attention immediately. Washing her hair and giving her clothing are examples of many small gestures that we provided for the children. They are not enough though. Work in these communities must be continued. This trip had given me a much better perspective on the magnitude of poverty in some places in the world. It has allowed me to reflect on new ways to create sustainable change in communities like Santa Ana. Action must be continued and broadened. Change can not occur without the government recognizing this community. We must continue to take individual actions in the meantime, strengthen programs like Learn Serve, and pioneer others.

Dog sniffing trash in the street

Eamon

My turning moment was when I saw the trash being dumped next to a house, and I realised that even though there are piles of trash everywhere, people can still say “Hola” with a smile on their face.

Zoe

A turning point for me on this trip happened for me a few days ago, while I was out with the rest of the health group, having a “health talk” with a woman at her home in Santa Ana. We were discussing trash disposal. Some of the advice we gave to the woman included avoiding burning trash, because the fumes that come from burning trash are very hazardous to people’s health. But then she went on to ask a great question: what could she do instead? This led to a discussion about how no trash trucks run through the Santa Ana community. I had heard before coming to Santa Ana that it is a community ignored by the Paraguayan government, but this idea of government abandonment didn’t really hit me until this incident. In the United States, at least as far as I know, there is government recognition for every community, certainly the ones surrounding D.C. the way Santa Ana surrounds Asunción. There are government programs like welfare that support the needy in America. So for me to realize that Santa Ana, a community literally 15 minutes from the home of the president, is completely ignored by it’s government…with no trash collection, water and electricity, or any sort of assistance, was really a major turning point on the trip for me.

Painting murals

Michelle

On our first day in Santa Ana, we walked around the area and ended up at a daycare center where we would be painting murals the following week. The kids ran to me and latched onto every part of my body. But I noticed one girl was crying in a corner. I went to her and saw the zipper on her jacket had broken, and it was one of the colder days we had spent there. I played with the zipper to get it as much closed as possible, and she looked up at me with dirt smeared all over her face and tears in her eyes but a smile that someone had stopped to help her. I almost burst into tears looking at her- here was a girl who had been freezing and probably hadn’t had the opportunity to wash in a long time, but she was so happy that someone had noticed her and wanted to care for her, even if it was for a matter of moments. It reminded me that that is what we are truly doing here. We of course did a lot more important work than fixing a zipper on a jacket…but really, everything we did went back to caring for other people, because really, we all want to be noticed and cared for, even if it’s only for a matter of moments. I feel like that was more important than anything else.

Sam

my moment was, being able to watch two other people experience the re-defining moment, of what poverty means, and realizing how I was captivated in that moment too. What I mean by this, is when we say the word poverty, we look down upon others, but that changes in Santa Ana. When we work, hand in hand, at eye level with the kids in Santa Ana, on their projects, the word poverty does not exist. What word replaces it, I do not know, but what I do know is the feeling. The feeling of belonging to a community, and bettering that community… your community.

Playing soccer

Nicole

One of the most vivid and shocking moments for me was during a walk in Santa Ana when we passed a house and saw two boys playing soccer in their yard. The boys were young and they ran around the little space recklessly, almost crashing into the strings of barbed wire that enclosed the yard. Watching a small boy so close to that dangerous fence was painful for me, I wanted so badly to grab him, pick him up and take him away from something so harmful. There was a woman in the yard too, completely unworried by the boys’ proximity to the sharp prongs of the wire. I kept thinking of the boys later when I saw other kids on the streets, in the houses and at health day. I just wanted to protect them from harm, but I couldn’t, which was the worst part, I could only watch them running and hope they didn’t crash.

Christina

On our first day in Santa Ana,as I walked across the main courtyard, I came across a group of young boys playing soccer with a crushed, rotted and old sprite bottle. They had no proper soccer ball and yet they were playing as though they were apart of Manchester United. The children in Santa Ana are so resourceful and make the best out of what they have. Many kids in the US take their toys for granted, for example on many school fields you can find old and abandoned sports balls. The children here don’t let the fact that they don’t have a soccer ball stop them from playing, they simply find another way.

Action Plans

Wilson High School

1. Create a pamphlet with a short bio about Learnserve and our trip. Explain materials we would like to acquire. Hand out pamphlet during parent teacher conferences.
2. Have bake sales and multiple fundraisers at school to raise money for high school and college tuition.
3. Contact students who are going away to college and sorting through old clothes. Ask that they donate gently used and unwanted clothing to the people of Santa Ana
4. Contact jersey distributing companies to ask if they would donate sets of jerseys to the community center.
5. Ask Nicole’s church if one of the collections could be dedicated to Learnserve.
6. Start pen pal program at Wilson/ Tulane.

Washington International School

Gabby and I will create a power point or slide show with information and pictures from Learn Serve Paraguay and present it during morning meeting a our school, this way students will be aware about learn serve Paraguay. To raise money for Paraguay we will have a dance-fund raiser for our primary school, bake sails and make bracelets with Paraguay written on them and hopefully a clothes or shoes drive.

BCC Action Plan

• Club- Organize a club to start letter writing campaign to government, set up fundraisers and supply drives, and work w. IB, MYP and PTA organizations
• A pen pal program with the spanish clases/ latin american tudies class between B-CC & Santa Ana. The point of this would be to share our experiences with others from our school, and gain a captivated audience that would be supportive of our next goal: bringing Santa Ana students to B-CC.
• Ultimate Goal: to work with IB/MYP to organize an intercambio exchange, bringing two Santa Ana students to B-CC for a month.

Maddy washing hair

I really don’t know where to begin. I can’t believe today is our last day, it seems like just yesterday we arrived at the Hotel Chaco. This trip has honestly been one of the most amazing trips I’ve had, and I had such a great time with every single LSP student. Last night was our final goodbye, or despedida, at Santa Ana. Although there was great music and food, i couldn’t help but feel extremely sad and upset. It’s so hard to suddenly leave the friends you have made. The people in Santa Ana are the greatest, most caring, and hard working people I have ever met in my entire life, and I know I will never forget them. Our host families from Colegio San Jose were so great to us, it was crazy how comfortable I felt with every single one of them, they were so sweet and gracious. Clara, my host girl from San Jose, made me feel so comfortable and at home. I felt like her family was my family. I will definitely miss everyone so much, and I’m really in shock that its over.

Maddy, a student at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

In front of the cultural center, Santa Ana

With no more than 72 hours remaining, I have become increasingly homesick. My experience in Carapeguá and with my various host families have been very pleasant and I will soon miss the friendly faces and voices of my temporary companions. In the last ten days I have lived as a Paraguayan, sharing experiences and tales that will forever remain near and dear to my heart. My experiences have helped me to come to the realization that life should be shared and adored and that one must make the day his own. Paraguay has exceeded my greatest expectations and has helped to change my mindset to one of continuous generosity, not out of a feeling of superiority but one of unity.

Kids in Santa Ana

Poverty, in Paraguay at least, is a mindset, a mental barrier – which has affected none of the people I have met. Those who have lacked material possessions are persons of character, strength, determination and people who have experienced pure joy, though their needs surely surpass anything I have seen in the States. In numerous ways I envy their happiness and collectiveness. The children with whom I have been partnered work in cold, wet, seemingly unlivable conditions, right alongside Americans, without complaints or whines. Some of their feet hang outside of their shoes and get dirtied by the mud. As I observe their work I want to swallow my desire to quit and follow in their footsteps. I have come to lead and teach, yet I gain many lessons in humanity.

Today, while I was playing I ripped my pants and was quite ashamed about getting help. I had no way of compensating the gentleman and feared that once more I was the student and they were my teachers.

In this trip and through this particular experience, I have learned that humility is an admirable quality. there are perhaps many more things I can pick up from them in the last few days for the duration of my trip.

I am sincerely and honestly grateful for this experience and the encounters with this program, and the people who I am proud to call my family.

Sam M., a student at Bell Multicultural High School

Houses in the barrio

I am in the health group – comité de salud. In the health group we go around discussing different topics on health. Today we put together little bags to distribute to families living in Santa Ana which included soap, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, etc. I noticed the families were very happy to receive these items. Even though it wasn’t much, they were still very happy. The distribution took place in the afternoon. In the morning we had a chance to do something that I personally enjoyed and will never forget. We helped to clean a man’s house and we did things like take apart his bed and clean each piece, cleaned up the dust that had built up in the house, and cleaned up all the glass bottles and papers and recycled them. We also cleaned his clothes-the most interesting part was that we cleaned them by hand in a bucket of soapy water.

Washing hair

Participating in these various activities made me think about how the people living in Santa Ana make the best of what they have. Even though they are not in the best situations, they still try to make the best of it. On the other hand, there are also some people living in Santa Ana that don’t care. When people try to lend a hand, they just push the help away. When they do that it makes me angry, but that wouldn’t stop me from helping.

Every opportunity I get I will take advantage of to help others. Being in Santa Ana it makes me want to help more.

Nevasha, a student at Central High School

El barrio

Santa Ana is a “barrio” (neighborhood) that is built on top of a landfill. Walking through the community you can’t imagine the obvious environmental problems. There is trash on the streets and a drainage system is virtually non-existent. Working in the environmental group has allowed me to realize the relationship between poverty and environmental problems.

Houses in the barrio

In the US, while we are the most wasteful country in the world, we have access to recycling plants, environmental education, and government assistance. Moreso, we are fortunate enough to have lifestyles that allow us the opportunity to make the environment a priority. In areas marked by extreme poverty and destitution, environmental awareness is not a priority. It is apparent and in many ways understandable that in Paraguay there is not a focus on the environment. There is a lack of understanding and resources necessary for environmental education. In Santa Ana that pipes and sewage enter into the streets and ultimately flow into the river. Santa Ana is not recognized by the Paraguayan governtment so in order to get rid of trash it needs to be taken down, too. This is very difficult because most people in the community don’t own cars. In Carapeguá there is also no trash or recycling system, and the town is located two hours from the nearest recycling plant. As a result, trash is usually burned or dumped into the river.

After a hard days work in the park

Despite these obstacles, the communities of both Carapeguá and Santa Ana have been enthusiastic and determined to learn and work to change the way trash disposal and recycling are viewed. In Carapeguá we worked with multiple schools to create color-coded trash cans, to raise awareness about the effects of trash burning, and to brainstorm about ways to reuse everyday materials. In Santa Ana we have worked with the kids and completed the planting of 100 trees in the community. With the help of the kids at the community center, we have also recovered and beautified a park that was once entirely covered by sewage.

While there are many obstacles that are apparent in the community, the determined and excited attitude of the community members offers hope.

Grace, a student at Wilson High School

View from the hotel

Today was my birthday and it was the first time I had ever celebrated it out of the country, let alone without my family. My host Didier woke me up at 7 in the morning to have breakfast and get dressed. I had breakfast and we made our way over to hotel Chaco where we would meet the rest of the group. We were late like usual. As the group piled into the bus, I received a number of birthday wishes from my peers. When we reached the Santa Anna center, I walked into the meeting room and immediately the room burst into singing “Happy Birthday.” From that moment I could tell my 17th birthday was going to be an interesting one.

Kids having a laugh

For helping in Santa Anna, I am in the group salud (health). Our main job is walking around to a number of houses and explaining to the occupants the importance of a good shelter, source of drinking water, and so on. I however do not speak the best Spanish but I try to do my best to explain, of course with help from the others. The poverty in this area is simply remarkable. As I walked by houses (or so they were called) made of scraps of metal and children covered in dirt it made me think about my life and how much I take the simple pleasures for granted such as hot water or even a shower. Unfortunately, it rained today for about 15 minutes, but by the time it was done I was soaked.

Happy birthday

We then separated for lunch and like everyday I was accompanied by Darío and Pedro for lunch. This time, the Peace Corps worker Giselle joined us for lunch. We had shell noodles with a ground beef meat sauce. It was delicious. We headed Back to the center to deliberate. This time I played soccer with the little kids in the school. Then it was time to celebrate my birthday. They have many different traditions for birthdays in Paraguay. For one it is a tradition to gang up on the birthday boy and slap him on his back and head. It was all in good fun, though. After that we handed out the cake and sang happy birthday in English and Spanish. I went home and got ready to go to my friend Tobias’ house where they were having a party to celebrate. After the night was over, it definitely was a good day celebrating my birthday in Paraguay.

Jason, a student at Bullis

Pools in the barrio streets

Today was the first work in Santa Ana, The strangest part about the barrios (Santa Ana, San Blas, Santa Rose, and Divina Niño) are the streets. The river that borders Asunción flows over into creeks and marshy ponds and in many places into the streets themselves. They are riddled with full gutters and puddles that span the width of the road in some places. People drive their motorcycles or horse carts through, but the walkers (like us) have to pick a careful path along sidewalks and occasional stepping stones. Also, it is very common to run into animals along the street- usually chickens and dogs, but horses, pigs, and cows, too. In places, Santa Ana resebles a photo of an American town after a hurricane complete with debris, as the river carries the trash littering the streets to collect in gutters and streams.

Walking in the barrio

The houses are very different; some are bits of corregated tin and plywood held together tenuously. Others are slightly cramped sort of smallish houses mirroring Carapeguá, only a bit more squished. However, some houses are larger, fenced in with gardens and livestock and an air of sprawl.

A stream in the barrio

The health group hiked around Santa Rosa for awhile, visiting 2 of the 6 houses in the area to which we will return several times over the week. The first was empty and partially collapsed; in the second, we found the elderly man who lived there. He told us that he hadn’t eaten in almost a week. One of our group leaders, a girl who lived nearby, later told us she would bring him something at the end of the day.

Making friends

I ate lunch with a girl who lived in Santa Ana only a few blocks from the community center. The soup (soyo) was delicious, but I still felt my lack of Spanish skill as I tried to offer a little conversation. I was dreading awkwardness that would ensue when my Spanish ran out, when another girl from Santa Ana and her American LSP guest showed up. Lucia, my Santa Ana host, Cecilia, my hose sister from San José, Zoe, her Santa Ana hose, and I watched the first part of the movie Twighlight together. Zoe and I tried to piece together Spanish explanations of the movie and we compared our crushes to Edward Cullen, the movie’s star. The five of us, laughing the way we were, could have been on any couch in any living room in the United States. It was so universal, the girl talk, the laughter, and the movie, that our vastly different backgrounds just sort of didn’t matter.

Nicole, a student at Woodrow Wilson Senior 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

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

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