Final Reflection

This Spring Break has by far been the best I've ever had. I have always wanted to do international volunteer work, and finally I have. Being able to experience all of this with my class was perfect. The tourist type activities on the first few days were not only fun but they were a learning experience. Visiting the Embera tribe was very interesting because I saw and learned a lot. I think it is very sad that they need to sell their culture in order to stay alive, because of government restrictions. Also, the waterfall we swam under was amazing! Going to the markets was a unique experience, especially because of the language barrier and trying to communicate. I really enjoyed it though, because I was able to try my best to communicate in spanish and they worked with me very well.

When the volunteer work started, I was more than excited. I had no idea what to expect, what exactly we would be doing, and what the state of these children were. Nutre-Hogar was the first organization that the hostal group went to. When first seeing these precious babies with their big eyes staring right at me, it broke my heart. Realizing that these children were away from their parents and not getting the daily individual attention that they need, I just wanted to start helping. Each baby had their own personality and we all learned that very quickly. All they wanted was to be held, and for the four days that our class was there, I feel we made a small difference in their lives. Even if they won't remember us, any individual attention they can get can still help. Adelaida is a six year old girl that I will never forget. She is the life of Nutre-Hogar. She has the cutest laugh, and loves attention. She is so up-beat and energetic, that at first I didn't even realize she was there to get help. Once I heard her story, I felt really sad. She is waiting to go to Louisiana for hip and leg surgery. She will have to stay for 3 months, which means her mother needs to go with her. In order for her mother to go, she needs about $3000. I really hope we all can come up with a way to help them. She is an incredible little girl and her mom seemed pretty amazing too. I will never forget her. After leaving Nutre-Hogar on the second day, I realized how much I wanted to stay longer and do more. I hope that some day I can go back to help them for a longer period of time.

The next two days we volunteered at Casa Esperanza. At first, I was worried about the language barrier, because I knew I would actually need to speak with these kids, and my spanish is very limited. The first two boys that Shannan and I talked with, ended up saying something along the lines of, "You don't speak spanish well." This didn't boost my confidence at all, but it sure was funny. Yet, I continued to try to speak with the children, and when I couldn't Mr. Mejias was there translating for me, That helped a lot. These children seemed like a family, they all looked out for each other and seemed to get along really well. They had each other to play with, so that is not what they needed us for. Mostly, they liked to talk. They wanted to learn about us as we wanted to learn about them. Obviously, this was difficult for me so I walked around taking pictures. I learned very quickly that these children love cameras. They asked for my camera and walked around taking pictures and videos of themselves and others. It was so cute seeing how much joy they got out of this. I loved watching all the children play and just observing. Leaving these children wasn't quite as hard for me because I knew most of them could somewhat take care of themselves. Although, I think it was definitely enjoyable for them to have us there.

Our visit to the Embassy to speak with the Ambassador was really a great opportunity. I enjoyed this part of the trip very much because I learned a lot and the people that worked there had really interesting lives. I enjoyed hearing about how they got where they were, and they gave us advice on jobs with the government if we wanted one. Also, the Panama Canal was very cool to see. I loved seeing how it actually worked and watching massive vessels travel through the Miraflores locks.

The last night was an amazing way to end the trip. Instead of going out dancing, we decided to stay in and just spend time with each other. First there was the cake. That in itself was funny. Especially the boys' reaction. The girls of the Hostal wanted to prank the boys, and in order to do this we tried to get Mr. Mejias in on it. Mr. Mejias, being the prankster that he is, turned on us and told the boys what we were going to do! Obviously, the boys got us back ten times worse but it was so funny. It was a really fun night and a great end to the trip.

Thanks everyone for making this an incredible trip! I'll never forget it!

-Robyn Sagal