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Traditionally, the teen years have been described as
the “me years”, and to a large extent we have
often seen these years to be very self-centered, and as
a result, an unhappy and confusing time of life. One of
the best ways to forget about your own problems is to
serve someone else. In the Ananda Living
Wisdom High School service projects are emphasized
to create the opportunity to expand our students’
hearts and horizons.
One of the unique experiences that our school
offers to teens is our trip to an orphanage in La Paz,
Mexico, La Ciudad de los Ninos Y Ninas. When we go there
we have the “hands on” opportunity of living
in the orphanage, helping cook and clean, and most importantly,
playing with the children. The children there understand
and speak very little English. Our students prepare by
studying Spanish in advance, but soon find out that the
true universal language is that of the heart. It’s
amazing to see the level of understanding that takes place
between the Mexican children and our students.
A typical day would look like this: We wake
up at 6:30, clean our dorm room and get ready for breakfast
at 7:00. After breakfast we help with clean-up and dish
washing which usually entails a fair amount of water splashing
and singing. After clean-up the Mexican children go to
school and we are free to have our own group time for
journal writing, meditation, reading or quiet time. Before
lunch we would often take a walking trip into downtown
La Paz for shopping and a stop at our favorite ice cream
shop. After lunch and clean-up is play-time with the Mexican
children.
Each of our students finds a way that they
feel in tune with to share with the children in the orphanage.
Perhaps it’s a game of wall-ball, soccer, basketball
or jacks. Some of our girls love to bring craft items
to share and spend hours making friendship bracelets from
colorful yarn. Next comes dinner and clean-up and then
more play time until the bell rings for bedtime.Other
activities include going to mass with the kids in their
small chapel and trips to the beach.
When it’s time to go back home, the
tears start to flow. So many wonderful connections have
been made. Our students beg to come back the following
year. What is the draw? Why would sleeping in a hot and
noisy dorm room, struggling with the language, using a
toilet that is constantly stopped up, waiting sometimes
hours for the water to come back on to take a shower,
washing clothes by hand in a wash tub be attractive to
an American middle-class teen? It all comes back to feeling
good about ourselves when we seek to serve someone else,
when we forget ourselves in remembering others. The orphanage
experience is hard to replicate. It changes lives.
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