Favorite Safe Passage Experience - Mike

My experience that I would like to share was sharing music with the children of Safe Passage.  Ever since I arrived it has been difficult to communicate due to my limited Spanish.  Music is the only universal language regardless of lyrics that everyone can enjoy and understand.  It was hard at first to express the actual meanings behind some of the songs with English lyrics, but all in all, it was my best way of connecting with the kids.

Last Journal Entry - Grace

Our last journal entry is supposed to be our most memorable event in Safe Passage.  Something worth pointing out is how grown up the children act.  Maybe that’s what makes them so adorable in comparison to kids from home.  You can really see the difference.  Also they all want to hug you and hold your hand, just because you’re there.  I think my last day with Safe Passage was the most memorable.  We were working in Hanley’s Farm.  Our second group was larger than the first.  It was the class we had been meeting everyday helping them hang up the 2 liter bottle plant holders was a lot of fun even if the number of tomatoes were too many.  They’re all so full of energy and smile and laugh even though I sure that they have had to deal with worse life situations than me.  I know that this trip has changed me.

Favorite Part of Safe Passage - Anna

It’s too hard to write about my favorite of Safe Passage.  I loved every single minute of it, especially the kids.  I wish I could stay longer to get to know them all better, but I am positive I will be coming back soon.  I will miss them all so much, especially Ada, Antony, Marco Tulio, and so many more.  All of them are amazing and I can’t wait to get back and see them all.

Favorite Part of Safe Passage - Jackson

My favorite part of the trip was lunch with Astrid (Jackson’s sponsor child).  She got all dressed-up in high heels, a dress, and a leopard print cloak.  She looked like a little princess.  It was adorable.  She was extremely excited and nervous about going out to lunch with her “padrino” (sponsor).  We left after she was singing and dancing and waving scarves to K-non.  As we got into the bus, she said that she wanted to go to McDonald’s.  Her favorite food is hamburgers.  She was very shy and could only talk with the Safe Passage sponsor support person.  We had a small discussion about colors, and then we arrive at McDonald's.  She was visibly excited as we hopped out of the van.  She grasped my hand and gave me a nervous smile.  We went in and she told me that she wanted a Happy Meal.  As she chose her toy I ordered our food.  We waited and sat by the play place.  As we sat she daintily removed the fries from the Happy Meal box.  She then informed me that she had selected the Tweety Bird toy.  She finished her fries and went to play on the play place.   She made a friend who would cry when he couldn’t see her.  After about a half an hour and her trying to scare me by sneaking up and shouting “Boo!”, she decided she was hungry and ate about half a burger, pineapple and drank her anaranjada.  After this she was literally bouncing off the walls.  She eventually got bored so we opened her gifts.  She loved them and we spent the rest of the time drawing.

Medical Care at Safe Passage - Mike

Safe Passage has one sole provider for it’s medical program.  The organization is an NGO called Shared Beat from Texas (kind of like Doctors without Borders).  For several years they have provided a nurse on duty during school hours, a doctor who comes in three times a week, a psychologist who comes in a couple times a week.  Shared Beat also teaches the basic information about health and sexual education at the appropriate level. 

Mr. and Mrs. Schmaltz - Connor

Richard Schmaltz is a seasoned-looking man. Fairly tall with gray hair and glasses, he commands an attitude that is immediately friendly. When one speaks with Mr.Schmaltz the individual will feel as if he is a friendly man that can make tough decisions with the best logic.  I believe he's from Canada.

I didn't know what to expect from Susan Schmaltz (the wife of Mr.Schmaltz, obviously). I don't think she expected me either as our meeting was not a planned for event. So I sit down with Mrs.Schmaltz. I give her my Kindle Fire (which had a copy of my paper “Game Mechanics in Education”) and she read the first line of my paper “To play is to learn.”

 As head of the Escuelita (the little kid area, essentially) for Safe Passage, Mrs.Schmaltz has a play focused methodology. I believe we spoke for about 2.5 hours.; after which, I make the decision to finally take a gap year and volunteer at Safe Passage.

Mrs.Schmaltz shows me a small section of playground. It is not a bad playground, just small. This small section is meant for the youngest students and is nowhere near the size of the epic playground only 30 feet away. I ask myself, What can I do with this?
Simple idea: get a sandbox digger (little manual mechanical excavator, often put in sandboxes), get a sandbox, fill it with plastic caps like those from milk jugs (sand gets in the eyes, it's messy and doesn't make too much sound). Put the excavator in the middle of the sandbox, a pathway to get to the excavator, and you've got yourself an excellent play area.

[Ed. - I had some groundbreaking schematics here,
I see lots of opportunity here. For instance, there is a bus in one of the classes that is made out of wood. It's cool as is, don't get me wrong. But beyond the steering wheel, it's not extremely interactive. The simple solution is a Switchbox LED (a term I just made up): You have a small box (maybe ¼ the size of the shoe box), you throw in an LED, a battery (no exposed wires), and a switch (button, toggle, anything) and you've got a fairly sweet bus.  If all I did was build toys like this, it'd be my dream job even if there's no pay.
Susan and I also shared ideas and information. I gave her names like Roger Callois, Albert Bandura, James Paul Gee, Jane McGonigal, and Johann Huizinga. She gave me the names Howard Gardner and Jean Pizget (names I can't believe I've missed in my research).
I had an excellent time speaking with Susan. I look forward to working with/under her.  (Note: Connor illustrated many of his ideas in his journal- great job!)

Creamos - Kim

A business opportunity that has grown from the Adult Literacy Program is CREAMOS-  Creaciones con Reciclaje, Esperanza y Amor por Madres Organizadas y Solidarias. Creamos also means: we create, we grow.  A group of the women from the Adult Literacy Program learned how to make beads from recycled magazines.  They then use these beads and purchased material to make a wide range of colorful and very beautiful jewelry, angels, purses, and even wallets made from Doritos bags.  Each year the jewelry has become more fashionable and creative.  The women run their business independently,  each jewelry creator keeps a record of her expenses and time and then sets her price.  The jewelry can be purchased at their showroom in the project, at a few stores, and online: www.creamosfuturos.com.   Every year I love shopping in their store and watching the women become more independent.  With this project several have been able to leave their job in the garbage dump or at least spend less time there.  One of my favorite stories is of one of the women who was able to sell their jewelry at an upscale department store in Guatemala City.  For this she had to wear a uniform with the store logo.  Her son was so proud of her that he wanted her to wear her uniform to his wedding!