Volunteers
were ecstatic to meet over midterm and share some of their experiences so far
in their communities. It was inspiring to see so much growth in both our AMIGOS
Volunteers and our local youth volunteers. The AMIGOS's Spanish was wonderful
as well as their confidence presenting in front of the group in Spanish!!
Volunteers shared a lot of stories about their school gardens, their community
project plans, playing games with their host family, and their favorite lesson
plans.
Volunteers
were proud of the activities they planned on the water cycle to teach to the
children in their classes! Almost all the Volunteers had stories about using: pato, pato, ganzo (duck, duck, goose); diente, diente, carie (tooth, tooth,
cavity); basura, basura, recliclaje
(garbage, garbage, recycling). The kids really love the educational games that Volunteers
have created about each of our weekly themes!! And each Volunteer had at least
one thing to say to us upon arrival at the Save the Children office: "I
can't believe its midterm already, time is going so quickly!"
During
midterm, held at our local Regional Office of Save the Children in La
Esperanza, Volunteers and local youth partnerships presented some of their
achievements so far, brainstormed in small groups solutions to some of the
difficulties teaching classes and managing a classroom, relaxed, laughed, and
shared some of the funny stories they've collected over the last few weeks.
Everyone returned to their communities with fantastic suggestions for the
challenges they've encountered! Just before lunch--baleadas (flour tortilla, with beans and egg) back by popular
demand--the Volunteer teams had the opportunity to create a work plan for their
CBI initiatives and meet with the Save the Children promoter working in each of
their communities. Volunteers were really happy to have a specific plan of
action for the next few weeks in community. Everyone was anxious to get back to
their communities to finish all of the hard work that lies ahead of them!!!
- "becoming a part of the community and involving
everyone in the CBI"
- "just making a different in the kid's life and having
relationships with them"
- "Being able to teach in Spanish and being in
charge of the CBI, and having responsibilities.
I am proud that I have learned so much Spanish."
- "I feel like I can effectively motivate people
to take action now."
- "I have learned so much, and I feel like I am a
leader now."
- "we made a food chain and a dance about the
water cycle!"
Shortly
before returning to their host families, we asked all our Volunteers to
complete a short survey and participate in a participatory evaluation of the
project to date. Here are some of the highlights from your children and/or
loved ones: Volunteers
are excited to tackle the weekly environmental theme of reforestation this
week, complete with planting pine and fruit trees in the community. They will also receive all of their materials
this week to begin building their community-based projects, including: kitchen
repairs, painting classrooms, creating goals on a soccer field, and many other
creative ideas We are so excited about
all the progress they have made with Spanish, their projects, and personally!
“Through my work with
AMIGOS, I learned about grassroots inside out models of community development –
the ability for marginalized collectives to use the assets they already have
available to initiate effective change on their own terms – and as a part of
this process, I discovered the infinite potential to use self-representation as
a vehicle for empowerment. ”
–Jeff Zimbalist, Veteran
Volunteer and professional documentary maker
