Teen Service Experiences in Mexico
by Hridaya Atwell, Principal and High School Teacher
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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