Los Quinchos: Nicaragua 2008-2017: 07/01/2012

Thursday, July 12, 2012

2012: Teamwork Takes Time

The girls need to be encouraged to work in small groups. On certain days, I divided the girls into groups of four to partner read a book and then discuss the theme, setting, etc. Teamwork was discussed and practiced beforehand. We need to, "Be positive, encouraging, and patient." Dr. Suess, a popular author among the girls this year, was chosen for our first group reading session. His books are engaging and enjoyable to kids of all ages. See above for photos and a video of the girls working together on their reading skills.

2012: Dr. Suess is loved world wide!

Returning to Nicaragua for the fourth summer felt like returning home. It was easy to get back into the swing of things. My first Nicaraguan moment brought me to tears – all four family members (Leonela’s new son Josue included) waved at me frantically though the enormous, glass window that divides the baggage claim from the waiting area. After passing through customs, my homestay family welcomed me with hugs and tears, as they now consider me part of the family, and Doña Ivania considers me her “eight child.” “Eres mi hija Americana….o hija adoptiva!” Doña Ivania, my homestay mother gushed, as she and my brother and sister enveloped me in a large group hug. Translated it means, “You are my American daughter…or adopted daughter.” I couldn’t feel more at home with them – and I am a tía (aunt)! Josue is 6 weeks old and couldn’t be cuter. It feels so easy to live day in and day out with them. I feel lucky to have a home away from home.

The reading workshops have been under way and the girls are enjoying literature class. Gabi, another Haverford volunteer, has been a great partner teacher. Upon arrival, the girls immediately started to ask me, “Margarita, are we going to do reading class like we always do? Can we start right now?” It was great to see them so invested in the love of reading. We started each day with a read aloud during lunch. The girls have been banned from talking during meals, so I deemed it appropriate to pick out engaging books to read them during this time.

After eating, we then proceeded to the library and got to work. We would read another story as a group, discuss the meaning or moral of the story, as well as the characters and the setting. Among the girls’ favorite books were Oh the Places You’ll Go, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Lorax by Dr. Suess. Somehow, Dr. Suesss managed to rhyme many of his phrases in Spanish as well as English. Clever man or whoever translated his books! After reading a read-a-loud each day, Gabi and I then helped each girl pick out appropriate books for their reading levels. The girls easily fell into chairs and immersed themselves into their books. Every day I have been pleased to see the girls so focued. Reading is such a great escape from the everyday world.

Internships with Los Quinchos

2017: I am working with the fourth grade class at my school to carry out another philanthropy unit and partner with Los Quinchos. Students plan to gather donations and send pen pal letters to the children I work with in Nicaragua.

2016: At the end of my first year as a school counselor, I worked with the fourth grade class to do a philanthropy unit in which they learned about how to partner with communities in order to make positive impacts. Students gathered over 100 pounds of donations (school supplies and Spanish books) for Los Quinchos. My US students wrote pen pal letters and I worked with Los Quinchos to write them back. Another volunteer and I continued to implement sections of the "Girl's Only Toolkit" described below.

2015: After completing graduate school in social work, I worked with another volunteer to implement San Diego County's self-esteem curriculum, "Girl's Only Toolkit" with the girls of Los Quinchos. We also continued our work around student literacy.

2013: Before entering social work school, I continued my service-learning work from the past four summers with the intention of learning more from all my amazing Nicaraguan friends and homestay family. My 4th grade students in California worked hard to come up with 50 pounds of Spanish books to add to the library, as well as 50 pounds of school supplies for the children of Los Quinchos. In total, my three groups of 4th graders collected 300 pounds of donations for street-children in Nicaragua - shout out to them! In the words of one of my students, "No matter where you come from, you can always help others in need."

2012: After teaching in Richmond, California for two years, I was able to bring my teaching experiences to one of the countries I love the most. This summer was similar to 2011, bringing 50 pounds of books to add to the Yahoska library, delivering pen pal letters, running reading workshop, teaching literacy, and working with the Yahoskas on self-esteem, women's rights, and writing.

2011: In between my first and second years of teaching 4th grade in the Bay Area (Teach for America), I was lucky enough to have the ability to return to Nicaragua in order to intern with the Quinchos for a third summer. I did a series of guided reading circles and pointed reading workshops with books I purchased and that were donated as additions to the Yahoska library I started in 2009. My 4th grade students engaged in a philanthropy unit, in which they developed and executed a classroom philanthropic goal. They filled a suit case full of useful donations for the street children in Nicaragua. They also wrote pen pal letters, describing what life is like living in Richmond, California. The Yahoska girls responded to the "pen-pal" letters that my 4th grade students sent to them.

2009: The Center for Peace & Global Citizenship of Haverford has funded me to "continue my connections" with the Quinchos. The continuation of my work includes the construction of a library at the Yahoska complex, a poetry workshop and final showcase (open-mic night), as well as a series of sexual education workshops.

2008: The Center for Peace & Global Citizenship of Haverford College sponsored my summer internship in Nicaragua. After a three week "delegation" with seven other Haverford and Bryn Mawr students, my internship takes me to San Marcos to work with Los Quinchos, a multifaceted program for former street children. The delegation serves to integrate our group into Nicaraguan culture and to visit the various volunteer sites of our peers.

One of the Los Quinchos projects is a girls residence program in San Marcos, entitled the Yahoskas, which houses about thirty girls. Los Qunichos serves more than 200 children in residential programs and even more in street outreach programs. I worked with the girls residence in San Marcos, helping with school work, water safety skills, and doing various activities with the girls (animal rescue sessions, reading activities, and self-esteem building projects). I raised over $2000 for the organization's main library, and worked with the librarian to re-organize the library's structure.

"To Roosevelt" by Rubén Darío, a famous Nicaraguan Poet. 1904

You think that life is fire
and progress eruption.
That the future is where
Your bullet strikes.
No.
The United States is powerful and great...
You are rich...
You join the cults of Mammon and Hercules
Liberty raises her torch in New York
To light the way for easy conquest.
But our America, that has poets
from the ancient days of Netzahualcoyotl...
lives in light and fire and perfume and love...
this America lives and dreams-you men with
Saxon eyes and barbarous souls-it loves,
it trembles, it is daughter of the Sun.
Be careful...

From the book "The Best of What We Are," by John Brentlinger, this poem is referenced to help explain the feelings of the Nicaraguan perspective during the revolution.