Semillas de Amor: Saint Valentine

September 13

By Terrylynn Figueroa

It is the first week in Turbaco, Colombia for us new interns. We are just getting to know Semillas de Amor, but we are ecstatic about this opportunity. Our project this week centered around Saint Valentine, as Colombia celebrates Valentine's day in September. Uris, the wonderful program leader, found a great project to celebrate Saint Valentine with the kids. We helped them make cute cut-out pigs from recycled plastic bottles. They cut out the center, painted the inside, and added ears, a nose, a curly tail and eyes. They all turned out very unique and really showed the different personalities of the children. After everything dried, they filled the pigs with gravel or dirt and stuck in cute little paper flowers. The children really enjoyed every minute of the project and couldn't wait to get to the next step. Each day they would bring back their water bottle and patiently await their turn with the paint brush or glue bottle. The idea was for the children to give them as a gift to their mothers and I know they have already brightened so many faces across Turbaco!

 

Semillas de Amor: Field trip update

April 2

By: Sarah MacCarthy

It has been two weeks since I left Turbaco, Colombia, but I am eager to share the story about our field trip to Cartagena with sixty-five children and twelve adults. Saturday morning, March 15th, we all woke up early and prepared ourselves for a fun-filled day in Cartagena. We put on our Colombian soccer jerseys and headed to the corner where the bus was going to collect us. We loaded up and the adventure began! The children were so incredibly excited, as many of them had never been to the city before, let alone seen the ocean. Eager eyes stared outside the bus as we rolled through the busy, traffic-filled streets en route to the city. Music was playing, and the kids were singing loudly.

The bus came to a stop outside the ancient-walled city, and the kids unloaded into the park. We carefully escorted the children through the streets and arrived at "La Universidad de Cartagena". This was the first and probably most important stop on the tour. We attended a presentation, interacted with the staff, watched two short videos and explored the library. The kids were engaged and interested the entire time. At the end, everyone snacked on hot dogs and soda in the beautiful university plaza.

The tour continued as we split the group into two smaller groups. This allowed us to take half of the group to the gold museum and and the other half to the Palacio de la Inquisición, a common tourist stop in Cartagena. We toured both facilities, and the kids enjoyed both experiences. After well-guided tours and several short videos, we headed outside to Bolivar Park. The kids were able to run around and burn some energy before the pizza arrived. We ended the field trip with pizza in the park.

As you can see from the pictures, there were many smiles, many firsts and overall the trip was a success. The trip to the university gave these young, impressionable minds a look into the opportunities ahead. The trip was invaluable, and I was glad to be a part of the experience.

Thank you to Eagle Condor for making this trip possible.

Semillas de Amor: Bottle cap art project

March 14
By Sarah MacCarthy

The last seven days has been filled with washing, planning, painting and glueing plastic bottle caps for the new sign to hang outside the foundation. Previously there has been no title on the building in Nueva Colombia. Our goal with the art project was to work together "as a team" to create a sign to represent the foundation. We incorporated the colors of the Colombian flag into the design. Luckily yellow, blue and red bottle caps are the most abundant colors of plastic bottle caps here in Colombia. In comparison we found very few green, purple and orange caps but incorporated those colors into the border. Enjoy the pictures below! We are excited with the result.

Semilllas de Amor: Recycling project update

March 9

By Sarah MacCarthy

It has been a busy week here at Semillas de Amor. We finished the collection and washing process of all the plastic bottle caps. We will see the project come full circle this week.
This week I would like to highlight Jessy, one of the young boys at the foundation. You can see him below in the top, left picture. The art project has brought together various classroom themes that we have been working towards, including working as a team and setting goals. Jessy did a great job this week and worked well in the team environment which is essential for the completion of this project.

Our goal setting has been expanding from short-term goals, to medium-term goals and will conclude next week when we go to the University of Cartagena and think about our long-term goals.

This will be my last week in the foundation and it will be a busy one! We will keep you updated on all the excitement to come.

Semillas de Amor: Recycling project

February 28
By Sarah MacCarthy

Semillas de Amor in Turbaco has been busy collecting plastic bottle caps for our upcoming art project. The idea originally came from my cousin, who is a middle-school art teacher in Colorado. We are working towards two different goals. The first goal is to work together as a "team" to accomplish a larger project and the second goal is to recycle these bottle caps that would otherwise remain in the street. The kids bring as many "tapas" as they can to the foundation each day. In another week, we will start to wash, design and assemble a sign for the foundation.

The field trip to Cartagena is still in the works and that will be another exciting event coming up in March. We hope to tour the local university, visit a couple museums and take the kids out for pizza. It should be a great experience.

Stay tuned for more photos and updates to come!

Karen, Nohemi and Zuliney arrive to the foundation with the bottle caps that they have found.

The local Turbaco kids have been helping us with our upcoming art project.

Semillas de Amor: Quick update

February 10
By Sarah McCarthy

The end of the third week has come and gone quickly. This last week, we were able to celebrate several birthdays. Diego, a member of the foundation from Turbaco, turned 10 on February 5th!

This is a short update but we are in the process of planning several new projects at the foundation in the next month. Please check back for further updates soon.

In early March, we are planning a field trip to Cartagena. We hope to visit a local university in the old town as well as do a small city tour. Also, we have recently put up a good behavior chart in the foundation and each child is working towards this goal so that they can participate in the field trip!

Semillas de Amor: Meet Sarah

February 1
By Sarah MacCarthy

Hello. My name is Sarah MacCarthy and I am a new volunteer here at Semillas de Amor in Turbaco, Colombia. The second week of my internship has just come to an end and it has been an amazing learning experience thus far. This past week at the foundation our focus was about demonstrating our talents and learning about the talents of our classmates. The week started off with a basic discussion on talents and by the end of the week all the kids have practiced up for the big TALENT SHOW! 

I would like to highlight one participant in the talent show named Dayre. He is a rambunctious little kid that not only demonstrated his many talents to us but he also displayed to me that he understood the lesson. Near the end of the talent show, he asked me if I was going to sing and I explained to him, "singing is not my talent." He then politely asked me what my talents were and we had a good discussion. I thought this was a perfect demonstration of the lesson and what we had been talking about during the course of the week. Dayre has a lot of energy and he was able to use his energy to sing and dance for us this week. It was a successful week at the foundation and I look forward to more positive learning experiences in the future, for both the kids and myself.

 Uris introducing Dayre's act in the talent show.

 An artist demonstrating his talents to the group.

 These two young ladies danced, danced, danced.

The cheering section.

Semillas de Amor: Halloween

October 31
By Colby Thomas

This week we had a giant Halloween party for the kids at the foundation. Not only did we serve the regular lunch, but we had dance competitions, sing-offs, and played a few games with the children. Ben tried to teach the kids "We are the Titans" except he changed it to "We are Colombians." I did my best to help out but for the most part I couldn't stop laughing. It was so funny to Ben and I how the costumes in Colombia are no different than the costumes in the states. The girls were all Disney princesses, and the boys were a superhero of some sort. Their imaginations ran wild as they took some of the unused clothes from the clothing drive and dressed Ben and I up. Ben got to be some Greek God with a sash and a sword, and I was a nurse. I'm not bitter or anything, but I feel like the kids pulled rank on me since I've been here a month less :p At least I had a sweet afro. We also pulled together some money to buy the kids some cake, ice cream, soda, and candy. Too bad for their mothers though, as we sent their already hyper kids home even more energized. It was no doubt an exhausting day, but to see the happiness and joy on the children's faces made all the effort well worth it.

Semillas de Amor: Meet Yuladis

November 21
By Colby Thomas

This week I would like to highlight a special little girl named Yuladis. This little girl is extremely quite and shy, but perhaps the most polite child Ben and I have the pleasure of working with. She has the most beautiful smile, and if you can make eye contact with her, she can't help but laugh. She comes everyday, is always polite, and always does as her sister tells her to do. We're trying to get the other kids in the the foundation to behave and act like she does. We are so grateful to have such an awesome example. She will definitely be one of the hardest children to say goodbye to. For me, the greatest joy of working in Semillas de Amor is seeing children from bad backgrounds have a reason to smile and show their creativity in an uplifting environment. What might be a few hours of chaos for Ben and I everyday is a much needed way of relieving stress, energy, and emotion for these children--and when we look at our work through this lens, it helps us stay motivated. Yuladis is shown above with her trademark smile :)

Semillas de Amor: Christmas in October

By Ben Haynes

An eventful week filled with pleasant surprises. Tuesday Semillas de Amor received another intern Colby Thomas, and I couldn't be more pleased. He seems like an awesome kid who will contribute a ton with an infectious smile. The highlight at the foundation this week was Wednesday. The Banko Almiento donated a bunch of clothes to the foundation and the greatest sort of chaos ensued. There were more people at the foundation than I have ever seen. Many of the mothers came out in support, and were incredible grateful to receive some much needed clothing for their children. It was Christmas in October.

Columbia: Week 5

By Ben Haynes

Just another wonderful week in Colombia. This week I am going to highlight Solmaira. She is a girl who has been coming to the foundation since the beginning. She is 18 years old and a very special case indeed. She loves the foundation and is incredibly dedicated. She has been a huge help so far. She shows up everyday and helps collect plates and cups for all of the kids. She stays and cleans once everyone has gone home for the day. Also she participates in all of the lessons, and encourages others to do the same. I am incredibly blessed to have met her. She makes the foundation a better place to be every day. In the photo she is the one rocking the sunglasses.

Week Two in Colombia

Here's the latest from intern Ben in Colombia!:

The second week has been much better than the first. I am finally adjusting to living in Columbia, although I don't ever stop sweating. The kids started learning the basic of karate this week, which they seem to be enjoying. It is cool how many of the girls are taking an interest in karate. It is slow going, but going non the less. However the highlight of the week was Urine's birthday. Urine is a girl who has been coming to the foundation for awhile now. She is one of the leaders of the foundation for sure. She is always helping serve food, and behaves herself very well during lessons. This week Urine turned 13 years old. It was one of the sweetest things you can imagine. Below are pictures because words simply don't do it justice. 

We Have Only Just Begun

Right away I began to sweat. The line to get through customs was welcoming, but long and without air-conditioning. The people who had gotten off of the plane with me, were either tourists or locals. Which meant that they were either terribly impatient or ready to start drinking. (probably both) It took about a hour to reach the man who would stamp my passport. I greeted him with a smile, and some rough spanish. Just like that I was in.  Oswaldo, the father of my host family was there to pick me up. We hopped in a cab and were off to my new home for the next three months.
Once we arrived I was greeted by controlled chaos. Little kids playing in the road, dogs everywhere, and dizzying spanish. Once I sat down and chatted with Uris and Oswaldo, I found that they were incredible people. I am lucky to have such an awesome host family. Monday, we rose early to go to the food bank. There we picked up a weeks worth of supplies for the foundation. I met Father Pardon man who does as much good for the world as he possibly can. I will volunteer at the food bank once or twice a week, just to help out and continue to foster a vital relationship. Tuesday was my first day meeting the kids, and was I blown away. These kids are some of the happiest kids that I have ever met. I know kids in the U.S. who have every material possession and then some, and they are sad mopey kids. The kids despite their life situation enjoy every minute of their lives. (when they are at the foundation anyway) The rest of the week was spent getting to know the kids and my way around Turbaco. It has been an adjustment from what I am used too, that is for certain. But it is for the better, and I am beyond excited to watch the kids grow and have a positive impact. 

Semilla de Amor: Official soccer & dance team

By Stacey Bell

August 1

We have had an AMAZING week!! The kids were so excited for the big event on Wednesday. Semillas De Amor now has an official soccer and dance team! I can’t believe how hard they have worked, cooperated, and committed to being a part of something. We have been practicing for several weeks now. The boys have improved so much! They went from not knowing how to practice shooting on the goal together to doing warm ups, drills, running, passing games and more. They were reminded of their goal each day at practice, to be ready to play in a game. And they were! They worked together and supported each other. The other interns helped the girls learn how to stay on beat, do gymnastics, and work together.

The day of the event was a lot of fun for everyone. We met at 8 in the morning to get rides to the school we were playing against, and all the kids were early!! There were about 6 mothers of the kids that came to help, they were awesome! It was great to get to know them. We got to the school and handed out their yellow dance outfits and blue soccer jerseys, it was like Christmas. All the kids looked so good. We played the game, and there were so many kids there to watch. The other team scored first, we scored next. At halftime the girls performed their dance and it was adorable. We had music and everything. During the rest of the game the girls cheered on the sideline. The other team scored again, we scored again and by the end of the game it was tied. So we had a penalty kick shoot out. 4 players from each team shot on goal. Each team had only made one goal and it was down to our last shooter and.. We made it and won!! A 1st place trophy was given to our team, and a 2nd place given to the other team. We had a celebration afterwards with lunch, drinks, and treats. I can’t begin to explain how fun it was to help these kids work hard, commit, and follow through. Specifically the boys, I am so proud of them!!! They had so much fun playing as a team. Semillas De Amor!!

Semillas de Amor: Stephanie's last post

I have been rushing around finishing up things here at the foundation, I can’t believe I just have a week left, I feel like I have so much more to give to the community of Turbaco. Cookie has been running around like crazy people tying up all the loose ends with construction stuff, he’s been my best buddy this past week,  productive buddies!

The gardens are starting to produce and I’m sad that I won’t be here to see more but this week we will be picking all the cucumbers and will be making a salad for lunch. That will be fun.

Finishing up here is quite bitter/ sweet. The bitter- so sad to leave these amazing people who have taught be so much in the three months that I have been here and who have been so hospitable to me. The feeling like I need to stay and do more is also quite bitter. The sweet- I will go back get my MSW and be able to do more for communities like Turbaco , this experience has really helped me open my eyes to what I want to do in the future and I am excited to get started with it all. 

ECH is so grateful for Stephanie and other interns like her who have given so much of their time to children and communities in need! Learn more about becoming an intern here.

Semillas de Amor: Meet Nacer

Stephanie, at Semillas de Amor introduces us to Nacer:

We have had a particular student who I am excited about and I really believe if he is given the right opportunity he could really excel. He comes without fail every day and is eager to get involved and help with everything that is going on the foundation. His name is Nacer (nea-ker), he is about ten years old. There is a painting on the wall of the foundation with a few different important people who have been involved in the foundation, Nacer is in that painting. He is not only the first one to walk in the doors every day and pick up a broom to start cleaning but also during the activities he is more often than not  the one raising his hand to tell me the answers which I am asking for. I believe that Nacer has taken ownership in his growth and the growth of the foundation because he has been involved from the beginning and in my time here we allowed Nacer to make some small decisions and by doing this it has just increased his involvement and passion for the foundation. I would love to see Necer in a leadership position in the foundation to help develop those skills that he has been showing but even more then that I would love the foundation to give back to Nacer the dedication he has given. My wish is to help him continue to secondary schools and eventually college.  If Nacer continues to have people who believe in him and resources to go to college I believe he could break the trend of generational poverty his family has seen in their day. 

Semillas de Amor: One of those weeks

Update from Stephanie at Semillas de Amor:

November 17

This week has been interesting with a number of set backs some personal and some dealing with the foundation. At the beginning of the week Uris informed me that the hotel that donates food to us every week was not able to come through this week and because of low funding we were not going to be able to get food from the food bank either. It´s a good thing my mom received a donation from a friend this past week that she is going to bring when she comes down to Colombia to visit me in two weeks. So I used my money to buy food this week and she will reimburse me when she comes.  Happy to be feeding the kids this week. I also bought paint to paint the new door and fences we put in. Cookie and I spent 5 hours stripping the bark off the sticks we used for the fences, we are no where near being done. Looks like this job will be taking me all week. Lesson learned strip bark before making a fence.

I have a few girls and myself who will be teaching handicraft making with the women this coming week. Its all planned out and im really excited I have been looking up different crafts online. This is something the women have expressed that they want to do. They want to learn how to make a number of different things so they can sell them and make money for there family. Hope all goes as planned.

Semillas de Amor: Halloween/Festival de Novembre

Halloween/Festival de Novembre festivities with Stephanie at Semillas de Amor:

I have been telling the kids all October that we will be having a Halloween party, we had to delay it a week to get more supplies from the food bank. They donated cakes, decorations, soda, treats,  and a few cute little costumes for the kids. HUGE thanks to Banco Alimentos for providing us the supplies to make our celebration happen.

We told all the kids if they had costumes to bring them and wear them. NONE of the kids had any sort of costume, but I should have guessed that. Instead all the kids came freshly showered with freshly washed clothes they all looked so great and I could tell they all felt great too.

We Sang, danced, played games, held competitions for prizes, and then ate lunch and of course the Halloween cake. It was not only fun for the kids but it was really fun for us adults as well. It was perfect timing because the second week of November is a week long holiday and keeping the kids in a more controlled area while the craziness goes on in the streets was a safer environment for them.

Time has just slipped out of my grip, I only have three and a half weeks left. Sad Face. I feel like I have so much more to do for Turbaco and for the community I’m working with and though I have seen change I feel like I need more time for big change to happen. I think I will probably have this feeling of needing to do more in my future life as a social worker. Helping  to plant the seeds but can’t hang around long enough  to see them all grow.

I extended one of the gardens a few weeks ago (on one of my 50-60 hour work week)and I planted more veggies. This week after coming back from my little trip the new plants had perked up and they are all doing really well. I’m very excited to see peppers growing . Wahoo I actual get to see veggies before I leave.

I received a person donation from a family friend this past week and I will be purchasing supplies to make handy crafts with the women this week. I will also buy paint for the new fences, and doors we put in as well hopefully the front of the building (I enjoy painting so that’s why I’m putting some money aside for that).