Service Part. 1

This year I participated once again in the Discover La Paz Summer Camp for two weeks! There were some changes, new faces, different activities but most importantly, lots of fun and happy moments. Most students once they leave school, they don’t want to go back until the next school year. That’s not my case, because for the past two years you will find me at school on the first week of vacation. A lot of people might think this is not fun, but I will assure you that during this summer camp you will enjoy every second of it. I was even sad that I didn’t go the first two days of the camp because I had to go to San Jose, but at the same time I was happy because I gave another girl the opportunity to be part of it. Once I finally went, they picked me up in the morning because that day we had a field trip to a farm and later to the beach. When I got on the bus I recognized a few faces, however what made me feel very happy was that some of the kids from the States that came last year remembered me and proceeded to greet me with a smile on their face. It was a short ride to the farm in Avellanas since we were all having fun. I sat with Sofia, a student from La Paz and we talked about many different things. That moment when I was talking with her made me realize how wise and smart little kids can be no matter their age, which is why I enjoyed not only talking to her, but also the rest of the kids. Once we got to the farm, I let all of them get of first and that’s when I realized the amount of students compared to last year had increased because it took a while for all of them to get off the bus. It was funny since I had a shocking face when I finally got off the bus and just looked at Melanie which she responded to me with “I know”. This means that this year we had more work and had to be more aware of what was going on. However it was very heartwarming seeing them have fun, learn about the costarrican culture and care a lot about the animals they saw, from goats to dogs and any kind of insect. From this camp I can say that I learned a lot about life and being with kids on a daily basis. First of all, I got to deal with students who were not having a great time with themselves and the ones around them, meaning that it was difficult to deal with, but with lots of love, compassion and patience from Hellen the teacher and myself, we got to see the change in those kids and how at the end of the camp their personality and attitude was very different from the one they came with. I then became more aware of the hard work that teachers and mothers have to go through with their children. I even got to take care of the youngest students who were 3 and 4 years old, from helping them go to the bathroom, to confronting them and giving them that extra push to get through the day once they started to get tired and miss their families. All of these moments have definitely left an impact in my life, that not only  has been teaching me how to be a more caring person, but also how to interact and deal with people from other cultures and ages, which I consider are beneficial for the real world that is ahead of me and that I will be starting very soon. Lastly, during these two weeks of camp, we got to meet with the families of the girls who will be going to Boston in December. This was perfect since Melanie and I were already together before the meeting, meaning that during the day we would plan what we were going to say and what were the expectations that we had from the meetings. In my opinion, what I loved most about getting to meet the girls and their moms was the excitement that they showed, along with all the kind and motivating words that they said to us. Getting to hear how grateful and what a blessing this is for them, definitely made me feel motivated to continue working hard in this process. After these meetings we have been determined to get their visas as soon as possible and we will be planning the two fundraisers that we will be doing this trimester so we get the rest of the money. I feel that because of the lack of communication that we had at the beginning with Cepia, it has affected the time management and the “schedule” that we had planned for this project. Now we are short on time but if we continue to work hard and determined to achieve this, I know that we will make this happen along with the help of our community.