Land of the Free

March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

And We’re Off!

The Life After Disaster team is lounging on the MAFiA floor, hurriedly typing away their respective blog posts. There is a combination of excitement and nervousness that is felt throughout the room. We set out for the magical and mysterious city of New Orleans tomorrow, land of beautiful jazz and even more beautiful food. For the next week, the 13 members of the team will be helping build a house that was presumedly wrecked by Hurricane Katrina. I’m interested to speak with the people who went through such a strategy and are still struggling with it almost a decade later. I’m more excited than anything to be participating in such a wonderful project (and to explore New Orleans).

I’ll update this (almost) daily. Now time for bed, this 4 am wake up call definitely does not make me excited.

March 13, 2015

The adventure begins…

It’s the night before we leave for New Orleans and I could not be more excited! For one thing, I’ve never been on an airplane before, so the adventure begins at 7:30am, just a few hours from now. I have to say the only thing that makes me nervous is getting through airport security!

Another thing I’m really looking forward to is team bonding. So far, it seems we have a very good team dynamic… We have been laughing and joking around all night! It promises to be a very fun week.

As someone who has never traveled much, I cannot wait to experience the unique culture of New Orleans, from food to the French Quarter to real jazz music. This experience will provide invaluable exposure to a culture other than my own.

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

Building Homes and Friendships

We have had a successful day four here in El Salvador! Yesterday, our team split up into two groups to work on the construction of two family homes. After another long day of hard work, both groups prevailed in completing their home a day early! During the entire construction process, I could not help but notice the positive energy and attitude Team Land of the Free has brought to Central America. Even though the sun was beaming down in the afternoon and we all were tired from swinging our hammers, I never heard a single negative comment. Having such encouraging teammates made the construction process fun and enjoyable!

My favorite part of the day was when the children of our home returned from school. The looks of excitement on their faces were priceless! I loved talking to each of them and seeing how thrilled they were picking out their rooms in the house. I also loved learning about their interests and personalities.

Not only have we built homes, but we have also developed relationships with the families. I will forever cherish the friends I have made in the community.

January 19, 2015

Day 2 Reflection

On our way to the Communidad de las Brisas, you can’t help but notice the advertisements taking over every street corner, wall, and telephone post. Except these ads aren’t selling the latest stylish shoes or the most recent iPhone, but trying to sell the people of Santa Ana on their future. These are political ads bracing the public for the upcoming election. While I don’t know much about the election’s issues, one thing is certain: El Salvadorians are frustrated. The frustration stems from the lack of progress. Residents are disappointed by the failed promises of the party in power to fix dilapidated infrastructure.

As bad as the situation may be, there is no shortage of hope. Upon entering the community, we were greeted by a celebration consisting of music, dancing, stories, and poetry. Smiles lit up the event while we introduced ourselves to the locals. It was apparent how much they cherished what they had and knew that their situations, as tough as they may be, could be even worse. It didn’t take long for me to realize that our mission there was not to “help” them, but to understand them. Their hope derives from this understanding. As fun as today was, it’s time to get to work.

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015

El Día Segundo

In our first night of reflection the term “limited understanding” kept coming up and I know that I was one of the individuals that used this specific phase. I cannot speak on behalf of the whole group’s perspective, but on an individual level I know that before I came to El Salvador I only had the knowledge of what I learned from education meetings or from reading something. Because of this limited understanding I believe in a way my perspective had been crafted for me. Of course I could draw my own conclusions or look at something in a different light but my thoughts were always derived from a secondary source. Without having an experience directly you never can see an entire picture. And I definitely do not believe that by the end of this ASB trip I will be even close to a complete picture, but I believe that I will have a few more pieces filled in allowing me to have a better understanding of poverty.

Going back to that phrase limited understanding I think my understanding of poverty has changed significantly in the two days that we have been here. I never really understood why poverty was perpetuated. But poverty is so much more complex then just money, which I never really had a strong grasp of. For example someone could give an individual a large sum of money but without education that person will run through the money quickly and return to the lifestyle that they were at.

And I think the most important thing I learned about poverty in the two days we have been here is that poverty can be beautiful. Getting the opportunity to interact and be welcomed into the communidad de Las Brisas allowed me to meet individuals and laugh and smile with them. The residents of this community all had this lively, optimistic spirit. Thinking back to my limited understanding of poverty I can recall being taught certain stereotypes of poverty but none of these stereotypes were even close to being true. These welcoming individuals had this level of dignity that I cannot even put into words. Being welcomed into this community really opened my eyes and allowed me to see poverty in a different light.

The fact that I have already knowledge has grown so much in such a short time shows me really how my limited understanding was truly limited. I know that I am no where close to understanding the complexity of poverty but I know this experience has helped me see and recognize things I would not have gotten from reading some text. I came on this trip with the hopes of understanding poverty. I now know I will never be able to understand poverty, but hopefully with every passing day I will gain a new insight I did not have before.

January 17, 2015

Land of the Free – Pre Post

I am currently sitting with my team in the airport waiting to board the plane and it still hasn’t set in that we’ll be in El Salvador in less than 6 hours. I am so excited to just see another part of the world and to interact with the people there. I am so excited and I cannot wait to help out the community but also to learn from them. I see this trip as an opportunity to learn how others around this world live. With the research I have already done about El Salvador I have begun to see a lot of my privilege and believe it is crucial to expose yourself to more places to see how the rest of the world lives. As an American and seeing globalization and the affect my country has had on the world around us, I believe that it is also my job to be just as influenced and affected by the rest of the world around me. I see this as an opportunity to learn more about immigration issues and the daily struggle that people live with in El Salvador but also to just interact in the community and help out in whatever way I can be. I can’t wait until we get there and I know this will be a trip that will have a lasting impact on me.

January 17, 2015January 17, 2015

Land of the Free!

It is currently 1:15 AM, and although I am supposed to be on my way to the airport in about three hours, I find it impossible to sleep. I woke up at 6 this morning in an attempt to make the chances of me falling asleep earlier tonight a little higher, but I had a feeling that would not happen. I am beyond excited to embark on this journey with my team tomorrow. I will be exposed to a world that I have never seen before, and I hope to not only have some sort of impact on Santa Ana, but I hope that it has an impact on me as well. After spending over a month at home with my family and preparing for this trip, I realize how truly blessed and privileged I am. In my reflections prior to the trip, I have thought a lot about the idea of social change and what it takes to change an entire community, let alone a country. I know that our week-long visit does not have the power to do nearly any of that, but I can only hope that it will make as large of a difference as the effort and passion that I put into it. I hope that this trip ignites me to further my thinking on this topic, and become more aware of myself and my role in my community. I am so excited. ¡Buenas noches amigos!

January 16, 2015

Land of the Free: Pre-Trip Reflection Post

Many thoughts drift through my mind as look forward to tomorrow’s flight to El Salvador. While I have spent some time reading about El Salvador over break, I imagine it is a totally different experience to be immersed in the community once there. This trip will be a great opportunity to do something for the community in El Salvador as we learn in greater depth about the issues that affect it. I will approach the Land of the Free trip with an open mind and come back with a border understanding of the world–with knowledge that I can use to promote positive change in the world. So even though I’ll have to wake up early tomorrow, I am eager to find out what I will learn and to perform community service in El Salvador.

January 16, 2015

Land of the Free: Pre-Trip Reflection

Having read the trip itinerary, I could not be more excited for the trip to start tomorrow. The planned activities provide a perfect balance between community service and cultural immersion. It is important to not only help the community, but to also understand the community’s hardships. While gathering some of the extra provisions needed for the trip such as bug spray and a Cipro prescription was a little inconvenient, it is a reminder of how lucky I am that my worries for the trip are preventable and I have the means to do so. Others are less fortunate. They have to face widespread violence and poverty daily. During the trip, I am eager to do be exposed to these circumstances and do my part in helping. Thankfully, I have a really great team to do this with and I can’t wait to get to know them better.