Summer Journal entries (Service)

In the church there are several cooking groups, which are assigned on a Sunday to make a variety of meals to sell and what is collected is for the maintenance of the church. My aunt Liz, is a lover of cooking and is the leader of the cooking group in which my sisters and I are part of. At the start of the pandemic the group was big but for reasons I don’t know so we are now one of the smallest groups. When Sunday arrives we wake up at 6am and arrive at the church’s kitchen at 7am to start cleaning the kitchen and start cooking. The menu was: tajadas con queso, tajadas con carne asada, casado de bistec, casado de fajitas de pollo, empanadas, arroz con leche, fresco de maracuyá. We go crazy cooking all that variety: 5 women and 2 girls (my younger sisters). Most adults take care of the hardest things like rice, beans, chicken, and steak. And my sisters and I interfere in what we can control and do like: empanadas, arroz con leche, fresco (juice) and I do the carne asada in the grill. Even though they are simpler compared to others, it is just as tiring and requires much care and responsibility.The church gives lunch to all those who serve and help the church. The administration provides lunch to the people who provide their service. For example there is a couple of elders who their children don’t pay attention to, then they are offered to help at the entrance by giving alcohol and soap so that everyone entering the temple will comply with the protocols. And lunch is given to them, it is a way in which they feel useful, important, remembered and rewarded. It’s those actions that inspire me to get up early and endure the pain of my feet after all. For me it is more than just cooking, it is a way of sharing our culture to the rest of the community. 

Emily and Daniel are part of the same scholarship program that demands community service, on August 18 I was invited to clean the dumps in the Tamarindo community. I got up very early in the morning to wait for the bus at 5:45am at the bus stop. I was a little nervous because it was my first time traveling in a public bus without my family members. When the bus made a stop in Huacas Emily boarded the bus. When we arrived in Tamarindo we went to some bodegas to take the supplies that we occupied and went out to the street. We picked up the trash off the floor, then took out the garbage bags and drained the garbage can since the night before it had rained very hard. To finish we put clean bags and left the bag full of trash ready for the truck. We repeated this process about 6 times.

Emily and I visited Cepia to talk to Maria Jose, the manager. She gave us her card and then we contacted her through email to know about the community services they offer. I had contacted her at the end of July and beginning of August but she wouldn’t answer me. The month of August was almost over and I had lost hope when a notification appeared on my cell phone screen and I was excited to see that it was from Cepia. Maria Jose contacted Karla, the coordinator of the youth group, and invited me to a cleanup of the Huacas community on August 24 at 8:30am, which I did not think twice to agree. I met a lot of young people, younger than me for one or two years. I heard some stories of them that saddened me a little, one of the children had no dad and a few months ago his mother had passed away, a Nicaraguan girl had to leave school and when I tried to go back they made fun of her because her age did not match with her grade, among other stories. We divide into small groups and clean different areas of Huacas. Then we entered Cepia to wash our hands and I could see children of all ages happy, playing and smiling. At that time I was sure that my CAS project had to focus on helping others. After all, when I was about to leave, Karla told me that on the 25th of August the maternal children were going to La Paz’s pool to swim with Leo and needed chaperones. I was a volunteer but the rain unfortunately ruined our plans. I was very proud to hear the name of the school I attend.

My neighbors had to attend a meeting like twice and needed a babysitter so I volunteered for the job. Sofia is a 5-year-old girl, very intelligent and full of energy. While I took care of her we played lots and pretended to be princesses and to be in a music band. It was very nice to hear her comment her anecdotes and thoughts is incredible the innocence, the happiness with which she expressed herself. It reminded me that I used to be 5 years old, without worries or problems.

Reflection:

Through my community service experience I demonstrated engagement with issues of global significance by being caring, I was a great communicator and knowledgeable. The issues of global significance I was engaged with is contamination. I was furious when I was walking the streets of Huacas and Tamarindo. I really don’t understand why it is so hard for humans to throw their trash where it is supposed to be thrown. How are they not bothered, people like this are the reason why beautiful animals are dying, stupid people who do this are the reason why the world is collapsing and there might not be a future. In Huacas, the kids and I while picking trash we found a can in the river, a can that had been used to cook drugs. The amount of plastic and broken glass was insane. I felt so angry that I started thinking that if God sends a meteorite to destroy humankind, I would totally understand why. I was knowledgeable about this issue. That’s why I was more than willing to help clean these communities but it is not fair for people to clean the mess they have not created. It’s incredible how ignorant people can be. Putting my rage aside, I was happy to clean and make responsible decisions and take the appropriate action to clean. I was caring when I volunteered to take care of Sofia, that little girl helped me develop patience and think about how important it is to enjoy every stage of our lives. When I saw Sofia having fun it made me miss my childhood but not desire it because I enjoyed my childhood. I wished for Sofia to enjoy hers so when she grows up she will not regret anything, live the present and not make mistakes caused by that. In order to be part of the church’s cooking groups you need to be a caring person, because frying platanos is not easy, you are near the fire for hours, your body gets way too hot for you to take a shower until the next day. Sunday in the afternoon after everything, my feets are killing me and client service is very important. I get nothing in return but I don’t need anything in return. Working in a group makes me strengthen my communication skills. It makes me a good communicator. We all help each other, work collaboratively and respect each other’s perspectives and opinions. In the kitchen there’s a lot of different opinions because we all have different strategies, ways, methods, but we always compromise.