Tears of Growth
The core of my community work is the after school tutoring program.
We continue to meet Monday-Thursday from 4:00p.m to sometimes 5:30p.m. The cut off time is 6:00p.m The after school
program is a unique place in which I’ve realized I am very fortunate to go home
with endless stories. This past two weeks have been quite different in the sense
that after the kids are done with their homework there is a group of 4 or 5
girls that stay to chat. The feeling of being trustworthy is second to none.
One afternoon during our conversations three of our girls
ended up crying, but really crying. That type of crying that is allowing your
heart to grow. You know, when your nose get stuffy and you end with swollen eyes.
Apparently one of my girls (12) had come back from school when she noticed her
two younger sisters were not home yet. Her being the oldest of 5 children and knowing
her parents were still at work felt responsible and walked to the elementary
school (1km walk) to look for them. At
the school they confirmed her sisters had left on the bus, so she shared to us
how on the way back home, the thoughts of her sisters being robbed or kidnapped
were so strong that when she got home she felt so helpless that the only option
she found was to cry. Soon after she
started crying, when her sisters came into her apartment she hugged them tight
and told them how much they meant to her.I would call this tears of Love and Growth.
Note that all this ordeal took 10/15 minutes, the sisters
were at her cousins in the same apartment complex.
Before we were told the entire story, when the two younger
sisters showed up to the program they told us right away that her older sister
had been crying... and a lot.
That incident allowed us to start our little discussion
or share sessions after we are all done with homework. Of course some days are
much better or funnier than others.
I also get to hear the funny stories, like that one of the
missing cake. A class project for Araceli was to bake a cake, decorated it and
bring it to class. My girl was very proud of her cake and excited to bring it back
home to share it with her family, little she knew that another girl from her
class got so in love with her cake that took it home. Araceli got an apology
letter and 4 days later ½ of the cake was returned. The cake was not eatable
anymore. So for a couple of days after the incident when Araceli would show up
at the program all of us would start chanting “Queremos Pastel, Pastel, Pastel”
“We want some cake, some cake, and some cake”
I had another incident in the middle of the tutoring program
when Andres (8) showed to the program in tears of growth and disappointment. We all looked at each other, I gave
them the look to mind their own business and I went towards Andres. “What’s wrong?
Is there anything I can do to help you?” I asked “My brother broke a promise
and promises are not meant to be broken, he lied to me!” He replied I sat down with him for good 20 minutes until
he was able to speak clearly. We had a good conversation about trust, promises,
etc. At the end, he thanked me for listening to him and apologized for making a
scene, but he said he was really hurt. Even tough, Andres is in special
education, I’m always mesmerized by his level of intelligence. kindness and common sense.
It is in these daily stories that I get my ideas as of what
would be good for our kids. Eventually, Im planning on having Araceli and her
sisters over to my place to bake a cake. Andres reminded me to keep my promises.
Speaking Engagement with Sargent Girls and Boys Cross
Country Team
October 9th, 2014
 |
| In The Arena with Brittany Lopez 5th runner |
Tears of Hapiness!
October25th 2014: I drove with my nephew
Brayan and his teammate Matt to Colorado Spring to cheer on their teammates and the rest of the San Luis Valley
teams that made it to state. Alamosa High School came home with first ever dual
State Titles. To read a great article
featuring Tara
Sowards please click HERE Lots of tears of happiness, closure and
accomplishment
I’ve been following Tara
and teammate Brittany closely since they were in Elementary School. Both were part of
the Run With US! Program we implemented at Ortega Middle School back in 2012
Pictures HERE
October 25th, 2014: Spent my day in Centro, Colorado a small town north west of Alamosa
sharing my story with Middle School and High School Students. We shared a few
tears of joy, pride and hope.
October 31st, 2014: I spent Halloween at the harvest party hosted by Living Water with a
few kids from the after school tutoring program. Our outfits were
handcrafted and donated by Living Water.
Be, Dream, Believe!
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