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
- 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.
- Have bake sales and multiple fundraisers at school to raise money for high school and college tuition.
- 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
- Contact jersey distributing companies to ask if they would donate sets of jerseys to the community center.
- Ask Nicole’s church if one of the collections could be dedicated to Learnserve.
- 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.