Initiative/Planning, Collaboration, Awareness of Global Issues, Awareness of strengths This year for my CAS project I decided to be part of the educational program at the MATE museum to lead the Ninos MATE project. Ninos MATE is a service project at which offers unprivileged creative, “artsy” children from the area who range from ages 6 to 12 years old to benefit from a free art’s and & crafts workshop at the museum twice a month. So for todays outreach, in collaboration with MAB and MATE we design a workshop for them to design and decorate their own “MATE” letters or their name. We made a short introduction presentation and then let them loose to create their work. Overall, it was very challenging to help guide very kid into doing what we had in mind but at the end with no intention half of the kids did the MATE letters and the other half did their names. It was very nice to see them so excited to have so many materials to color with. This positive energy that came from the kids made me feel so lucky to be able to be part of this experience. Besides, all the children who went to the workshop were from completely different ages but all had a distinguished talent for drawing and painting. I found myself getting loose in the moment and talking with several kids for straight 20 minutes. This happened because they their point of view of life and their perspective on things was completely different than mine and many of us. It was so inspiring to listen a 10 year old talk about the importance of family and being persistent even when you’re at a disadvantage, in this case their economic status. Seeing this kids who come from rough backgrounds had a huge smile in their face all the time and even get excited about having temperas to paint with was so life changing. In the past, I have had several other opportunities to go and help others in need, but all the support I give is almost indirect. It is either donating material stuff or money or even just volunteering to visit them for a day. But my experience at Ninos MATE was completely different. One of the things I most appreciated about this experience was having an insight in this children's lives and actually feel like I am having a positive impact on them even if it’s just by doing the most insignificant thing, because for them it might mean a lot. These children teach you so many things every day, to appreciate what you have, to be passionate in life, to follow your dreams, and even to never give up. Besides, I would see them get so excited to see their parents when they came to pick them up that actually made realise how grateful they are for having parents. Which got me thinking, why don’t I also show that gratitude to my parents with a simple smile and hug whenever I see them instead of just a kiss and saying “hi”? Although, it was challenging to plan and organize the whole workshop, at the end it was so worth it because everything I got out of the experience I believe I wouldn’t have gotten it from anywhere else.
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Initiative/Planning, Collaboration, Awareness of Global Issues, Ethical Actions Briefly, Kantaya is a daycare / school for children ranging from ages 6 to 18 who attend all day to learn, play sports and do activities while their parents work. Basically, one of the reasons why I was so motivated to be part of this club was because it gave you the opportunity to share your learning with others and make a difference in someone's life. Kantaya is not only a day care center but also a solution to street children and adolescent delinquency. For today’s session the club and I decided to teach the saturday kids about the regions of Peru: coast, andes and rainforest. We began by dividing ourselves into the three regions and sel. I belong to the Jungle group, so with the help of other club members we helped the kids develope a poster that displayed the typical dances, food, animals and climate of the jungle. As I was sitting next to the kids in a table helping them brainstorm several animals you can find in the Jungle it amazed me how motivated and persistent they were with their learning. Indeed, Diego, one of the kids suggested one animal that I didn’t know about and he even brought me a book and pointed it out. It was such an amazing feeling to realise how no matter the age, the economic status or the ethnicity you can always learn something new from others. I don’t necessarily mean learning about a new animal but also learning to be as motivated and passionate about learning as they are. Although, it wasn’t easy to lead a group of children and help them learn something new it was satisfying and pleasing to see how they appreciated all the work we put into the activity. This made me think why am I not grateful of the education I have and the opportunities I get every day? After we completed the poster we went out in the soccer court and each group presented the region they were assigned to. At this part of the day most of the kids were already comfortable with us and opened up to speak and make comments about others presentations and it felt really nice to reach that point of trust with the kids. Besides, being grateful for learning so many things from the kids at Kantaya I also left the place being more conscious about the level of poverty these kids live in and how little we know about it just because it's a few minutes away from where we live. It was shocking to see where they lived and despite all the limited resources they have their motivation for living a good life never ends.
Today I volunteered for Habla Roosevelt from 9am to 12pm. From 9-10am I worked in the duolingual program. This was a very valuable experience since I was able to teach two girls in a very personalized way. I believe it was very efficient because since I stayed with both of this girls the entire time I was able to see their weaknesses and help them improve. At the same time, they got more comfortable with me so they felt confident trying to speak English. From this session I learned the importance of learning how to give feedback that is helpful and specific, but in a good way. I have to make sure that it doesn’t offend the students. Sometimes correcting them or teaching them how to say certain words can be challenging because I have to find a way of explaining them their mistake, without making them feel ashamed, and also making sure they understand what has been missed.
After the duolingual session we talked to cooking class where the students prepared cookies. I believe that this is a good method of teaching students English. By allowing them to make connections between the language and something they are passionate about. Through the cooking process, they learn the name of the ingredients and how to write them in English. Additionally, another pro of the cooking session was that not only did it push students to work on their English, but it also taught them to collaborate. I had to collaborate with them as a team by understanding their weaknesses and communicating their mistakes in a way they understood and found my comment helpful. Also, they had to collaborate on the cooking process so it taught them how to work in a team. One downfall of the activity was that the cookies were burnt and no one was able to eat them. Maybe for next time, we could plan better the activity to make sure it doesn’t fail. Overall, one of the things I can improve for myself is by taking more leadership positions. As a volunteer I feel that I have added a lot of value to the club. However, I believe that I would grow as a leader and speaker if I would take on a role such as being a teacher, like Mafe who taught the cooking session. I think this will push me to leave my comfort zone, it will teach me a patience, and it will help me improve my oral communication. Growth – Collaborative – Ethical |