And so it begins...

About two months ago I made a decision that is one I have been working up to for many years. I made the decision to dedicate a year of teaching to a non-profit community. This year, I will be working with a group of amazing people in a very poor neighborhood in Colombia. Those who know me will not see this as a surprise...if anything, they are probably thinking, "She finally got the guts to do it!". 

  
It all started when I was in 8th grade and went on an outreach trip with my church youth group. It was my first time visiting Latin America and rolling through the plywood shantytown of Valle Verde, Tijuana, Mexico,  opened my eyes wider than they had ever been in my entire life. While building homes and working in an orphanage, the generosity of the Mexican people was incredible. I distinctly remember finishing working on this house (left) and the family who was going to be moving in had prepared a huge meal of tortillas, rice, and beans that I can only imagine was what they had intended to be their dinner that evening. The mother, who had lovingly prepared that meal, had tears in her eyes when she handed us our plates. I don't think I have ever appreciated a simple meal more in my life. 


We had built them a cardboard dwelling with chicken-wire and cement plaster and in their eyes, we had provided them with a mansion...the best house on the 'block'. That was a humbling experience. It was through that work in Tijuana, that I really, truly became aware of how little happiness had to do with 'things'. Those people living in what most would consider extreme poverty, were so happy. They had a roof over their heads and their family close. I had come down to the Mexico thinking I would be changing the lives of others, but I was the one who felt the change. My perspective on life and what 'matters most' was irrevocably changed...the most important 'things' in life are not 'things', they are relationships. 

I ended up going on two more trips during my high school career and each one jolted me out of my selfish adolescent stupor that inevitably returned a few months after returning from Tijuana. While I may have slipped back into somewhat apathetic belief in the consumer mentality that is so deeply ingrained in Americans, I have always felt that the lessons learned in those early years working with families in Mexico, have stayed rooted me, waiting for the opportunity to flourish once again. 

 As I look at these pictures, I am excited to be able to return to the work that initially ignited my interest in the Spanish language, education, and working with underprivileged communities. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with kids that come running to the school because they eager to start learning. As a teacher, you sometimes feel like what you are doing doesn't make a difference. It can be frustrating to show up day after day and have students roll their eyes and sigh that you are going to 'make' them read again. 

My early experiences working with the kids at Colombia Sin Fronteras have been incredibly different from anything I have experienced in education in Colombia. While the resources may be limited at the foundation, the volunteer teachers drawn on creativity and their love for the kids to make learning fun. These kids not only WANT to read, they BEG to read. Maybe it is because they don't have decent education available or maybe it is because of the love that goes into the teaching at the CFS program. Whatever the case, the place and the people are inspiring. They have brought education down to the the simplicity of kids wanting to learn and teachers loving to teach. I suppose the reason this foundation has drawn me to it is that this is a place where everyone gets the importance of relationships. They get that relationships are the most important 'things' in life.