Semillas de Amor: Community

The following is a post from Ryan, who is volunteering at Semillas de Amor:

July 11
Miguel and Guillermo were grateful to receive a package of cookies this week donated to the kids here at Nueva Colombia by the food bank in Cartagena.  Run by a Catholic Archdiosis, the food bank caters to not-for-profit foundations looking to give back to their community.  It is amazing to see the way in which various facets of the community work together to ensure that these kids are taken care of.  From various religions, to local teachers, to politicians, foundations like Semillas de Amor are able to find ways to help out the less fortunate.  

Semillas de Amor Moms

The following is a post from Ryan, an intern at Semillas de Amor:

After a few weeks of trying to organize a meeting of the "moms," it finally happened.  Uris, in charge of all that happens in the foundation, was able to gather all the mothers of each child together on a neighbor's front porch and talk about community service and the value of the foundation in the community of Nueva Colombia.  Her example to each mother was powerful as she described how each mother had a task that she could complete to help her child move forward in obtaining a career or giving back to their community.  After the meeting, each mother volunteered her services whether they were helping haul water, helping serve food each day, or even pick axing to deepen a well needed to complete the building.  Uris's example was inspiring for each of us and for each mother as well.

Alegria de Vivir: Meet Jhon Felipe

The interns at Alegria de Vivir, Katy, Ryan and Izumi introduce us to Jhon Felipe: 

Introducing Jhon Felipe! This five year old boy has an amazing spirit. He has a wonderful smile and a cute and quirky sense of humor. In November, the Alegria de Vivir foundation was able to raise up enough money to send him to Bogota to receive a much needed surgery on his legs to help him walk. The surgery was successful, but unfortunately there wasn't enough money raised to be able to purchase a brace. Since November Jhon Felipe has been practicing walking, but without a brace he is unable to learn the proper leg movements. With the help of a brace and physical therapy he will be able be contribute to society with his sweet and caring spirit. With the help of Alegria de Vivir and Eagle Condor these children like Jhon Felipe will be able to live a happy and healthy life.

Katy, Ryan, Izumi

Semillas de Amor: El agua es vida

The following is a post from Ryan, an intern at Semillas de Amor:

June 19
Water is life here in Colombia.  Each drop is collected, saved, and then used for multiple purposes.  Even though rain falls in abundance, water always seems scarce.  Maybe living in conditions where no running water exists highlights water's importance to me but it is obvious that to most Colombians, water plays a significant part in their lives.

For the kids in Nueva Colombia, water means even more.  Washing dishes or clothes and cleaning the house can wait-- swimming is what takes precedence.  And these kids can swim anywhere-- the waterfall near their homes in Mamellar or the stream that feeds the falls.  Even though trash has invaded the stream and begun to pollute the water source, these kids know how to appreciate the water's refreshing nature on a hot day.  With school out for three weeks, the stream will become an even more important part of daily life than before.  After all, what's summer vacation without a trip to the pool?

Semillas de Amor: The arrival of Katy and Izumi

Update from Ryan at Semillas de Amor:

June 12, 2012

Two things never change at the foundation site-- the high temperature and the love enthusiastic love expressed by each child.  Lunch might be late, after-school tutoring might prove unsuccessful, or a game might not turn out as planned.  But with each visit it is not uncommon to hear, "Thank you so much," or, "When are you coming back?" 

Thanks to the heat, a walk to Nueva Colombia proves difficult while carting hot food to dish out for lunch.  Much to the chagrin of the driver of our "moto taxi" (a transportation mode that looks just like it sounds), each day the children line the street upon our arrival in an attempt to pile inside as we turn the corner and help to carry the food and dishes or hold our hands as we walk into the foundation.  At the end of each afternoon, many of the children will throw their arms around our legs or waists and exclaim, "I love you!"  It is a humbling experience to learn from children who, comparatively speaking, own nothing but who possess so much light to share with everybody they come into contact with.

As Katy and Izumi arrived this past week, all the children were excited to meet "las gringas."  Each time any female showed up on site with a hat and sunglasses she was quizzed as to whether or not she was one of the gringas.  When the real gringas finally did show up they were rewarded with fresh mangoes and various colored flowers that were strewn through their hair.  I´m not sure if the welcome resembled a Colombian welcome or just one from these children in this small town.  Whatever it was, it seems typical of children who have a lot of love to share.

Semillas de Amor: Meet Victor

Ryan, an intern at Semillas de Amor writes about a young man who has been helping around the center:

Only 14 years old, Victor seems too mature to be considered a child.  The youngest of four, he lives in a house made of wooden planks and a thatch roof where he chops wood for his mother to cook with and cares for the donkey and various chickens that roam the yard providing the family with transportation and food.

 As he watched from his front door the construction of the dining hall and storage rooms occurring across the street, Victor quietly approached and began to mix the cement we had prepared for the cinder blocks that would form windows for the building.  As the days progressed, so did Victor´s revelation of his bricklaying skills.  Rather than stopping with cement mixing, Victor helped me to measure the sand, rocks, and water required to make a mixture and then helped to haul each of the materials to the construction site.  With a self constructed sieve made from plywood and scrap metal from the donkey´s feed bin, Victor insisted that the cement mixture be sifted before the water was added in order to guarantee that the mortar set right.

Although Victor continues teaching me about brick laying, I´ve learned more from him about the importance of hard work and example.  Victor is a leader at his school and in his small community.  He works hard at home and he cares about what happens outside the home.  With limited funds, hiring labor to build a dining hall and storage rooms proves to be an impossibility.  But Victor´s actions have encouraged other children in the community to collaborate on the project.  With their help, the walls go up brick by brick.  Although the process is slow, the experience has proved invaluable-- maybe not for Victor, but for his community of peers and for me. 

Semillas de Amor: Learning to dance

Such a sweet post from Ryan, who is volunteering at Semillas de Amor:

May 28, 2012

¨Uno-dos, uno-dos, uno-dos,¨ Yuniris quietly counts.  She is teaching me how to dance and I´m sure it´s obvious that dancing is not ingrained in my culture as it is in Colombian culture because she laughs every time I try to do anything except step twice to the right and then twice to the left.  She´s already explained to me that each region in Colombia has it´s own typical form of dancing.  The ¨champeta,¨ for example is indigenous to Cartagena near where I live.  In other areas it´s the ¨fandango.¨  And still in others, ¨merengue.¨ But Yurinis prefers ¨salsa.¨ I wish she didn´t because the rhythm is too accelerated for me to get much out of a lesson from her.

Each day after school, Yurinis, ten years old, and a few of her friends practice for an upcoming presentation for their mothers.  Yurinis plays the part of a mango who falls in love with a lemon in the tree next door.  The only chance they get to talk is when the branches of the trees in which they live blow close together in the wind.  Each time this happens, the mango and the lemon dance.  Yurinis definitely dances better than her partner, Señor Lemon.  ¨But it doesn´t matter to me how well he dances,¨she tells me.  ¨Only that he tries.¨ I hope she is as patient with me.