Yesterday, our day started at 4am with a drive from Ft. Myers to Miami International Airport. Our flight out of Miami was at 8am; we flew from Miami to Panama City and then Panama City to Santiago arriving at about 3pm (EST). I was happy to have Maria--my travel companion--with me to make the flights go by fast. Upon arriving safely in Santiago, we were welcomed at the airport by Eduardo and Amanda: two Accion Callejera workers at the community center in Yaguita de Pastor. The same place where Maria and I will be volunteering for the next month. We have the weekend to settle in before starting work on Monday, so numero uno on our to-do list was to get to know the community.
First stop was el centro comunitario (community center). We got a tour of el centro along with their garden which harvests yuca (casava), maize (corn), guineo (banana species), guandule (pigeon pea) and chinola (passion fruit). The month I am here, I will be helping them in their plans to expand the garden further--maybe incorporating tomatoes or onions. El centro even has gallenas (chickens)! One of the workers, Manuel, showed us what they feed the gallenas and explained how every so often, they will use some of the eggs in la cocina (kitchen) at el centro. We met some of the other employees and teachers that will be our work companions for the next month. They informed us that a graduation for some of the school children will be next Friday. Maria and I are super excited to help out with that. We may even help paint a mural for them! (More to come on that)
With Eduardo as our guide, we walked through the neighborhood next to el centro and greeted all those we passed; after all, we will be neighbors for the next month. We stopped for some delicious Bon ice cream and walked down to la cancha (court): a small dirt field in between some of the houses where the local kids gather to play sports, dominoes, cards, and just hangout. The kids explained how they were going to clean up the trash around la cancha, level the ground, and cover the area with cement to make it more like an actual basketball court. A bunch of the kids were already shoveling while some of the adults took measurements. Maria and I are hopeful that they will finish the project before we leave for the States. I hear stories about neighbors coming together to better their community, but now I have the opportunity to see it first hand.
Rather than saying we were from Fort Myers, we told the kids Miami since they were more familiar with that city (we made lots of friends because of that). Of course, we got asked which basketball player we liked best, "Wade or Lebron James?". We ended up playing an impromptu game of volleyball with some of the girls and watched the older kids play basketball until it got dark. Afterwards, we went back to Eduardo's casa (house) where his mom made us a typical Dominican dish of mashed platains called mangu along with fried jamon (ham). It was the perfect meal after a long day of travel. With the help of Eduardo and some of the local children, we carried our luggage to the house of another Accion Callejera worker and friend Joan. As we walked to Joan's casa, children from all over started walking with us; some of them were the friends we had made at the cancha. I felt like I was walking in my own little personal mini parade meant to welcome me to the community. In this moment, I realized that this was not only where Maria and I will be staying for the next month; this was going to be our home away from home.
First stop was el centro comunitario (community center). We got a tour of el centro along with their garden which harvests yuca (casava), maize (corn), guineo (banana species), guandule (pigeon pea) and chinola (passion fruit). The month I am here, I will be helping them in their plans to expand the garden further--maybe incorporating tomatoes or onions. El centro even has gallenas (chickens)! One of the workers, Manuel, showed us what they feed the gallenas and explained how every so often, they will use some of the eggs in la cocina (kitchen) at el centro. We met some of the other employees and teachers that will be our work companions for the next month. They informed us that a graduation for some of the school children will be next Friday. Maria and I are super excited to help out with that. We may even help paint a mural for them! (More to come on that)
With Eduardo as our guide, we walked through the neighborhood next to el centro and greeted all those we passed; after all, we will be neighbors for the next month. We stopped for some delicious Bon ice cream and walked down to la cancha (court): a small dirt field in between some of the houses where the local kids gather to play sports, dominoes, cards, and just hangout. The kids explained how they were going to clean up the trash around la cancha, level the ground, and cover the area with cement to make it more like an actual basketball court. A bunch of the kids were already shoveling while some of the adults took measurements. Maria and I are hopeful that they will finish the project before we leave for the States. I hear stories about neighbors coming together to better their community, but now I have the opportunity to see it first hand.
Rather than saying we were from Fort Myers, we told the kids Miami since they were more familiar with that city (we made lots of friends because of that). Of course, we got asked which basketball player we liked best, "Wade or Lebron James?". We ended up playing an impromptu game of volleyball with some of the girls and watched the older kids play basketball until it got dark. Afterwards, we went back to Eduardo's casa (house) where his mom made us a typical Dominican dish of mashed platains called mangu along with fried jamon (ham). It was the perfect meal after a long day of travel. With the help of Eduardo and some of the local children, we carried our luggage to the house of another Accion Callejera worker and friend Joan. As we walked to Joan's casa, children from all over started walking with us; some of them were the friends we had made at the cancha. I felt like I was walking in my own little personal mini parade meant to welcome me to the community. In this moment, I realized that this was not only where Maria and I will be staying for the next month; this was going to be our home away from home.
Good for you Madina. I hope that Yaguita del Pastor treats you well. Keep up the blog as I look forward to reading it this month. Dr. Gunnels
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