What we do.

When someone asks me what I do, the normal and quick response is to say that I direct summer camps and after school programs for kids in underprivileged and low-resource communities. If I still have the interest of the speaker, which I usually do, I usually begin to explain how youth are trained by UrbanPromise Honduras to teach and lead the children in these programs and I explain what classes are given on a normal basis: English, Bible, Art, Discovery, Cooking and Health. While I share these basic details, faces of children in our programs fly through my head and visions of miraculously wonderful classes being taught by youth play in my mind.

One such story that occurred this week in camp involves a young boy named Douglas. While signing Douglas up for this vacation camp, Camp Libertad, he was timid to say the least. From the first day of camp, Douglas has participated in activities and gone through the motions of camp, but it was rare to see a smile on his face or a great deal of excitement on his part during any crazy camp activity. I chalked it up to a normal dose of "pena" (bashfulness common among children in the underprivileged communities) because he's new to our programs and decided to give him time.

It appears that time and a Creative Stories option at camp was all he needed. This week, three of our leaders led a week-long Options class on creative stories in which they read stories, acted them out, created alternative endings, and drew representations of them as a group. Our leaders assigned roles to the children in the class before beginning a story and the children jumped into action as the story demanded it, especially Douglas. All week long, my ears have been filled with the voices of excited leaders sharing about how much and how well Douglas is participating as the various characters in the stories, how much he is coming out of his shell, and how impressive it is to hear him read aloud. During various stories, Douglas transforms into Prince Charming or the lead rooster. During the Creative Stories option within Camp Libertad, Douglas transforms into a different child with a different attitude.

In my heart of hearts, I know my quick answer about what I do is nowhere near complete and doesn’t actually speak to the full impact UPH is having on the children and the community. I believe improving the explanation means improving the verbs. Through stories like Douglas', my eyes are opened to the fact that I'm blessed to direct programs the provide creative outlets to children in underprivileged communities. We are blessed to see bashful children transformed as they act out children's stories in a safe space. We equip youth to lead and serve children and their communities and we inspire them to be better, stronger people who deserve the title "leader". This is what we are privileged to do.

Mentor - Mentee - Future Mentees

First of all, I can't take credit for noticing what is going on in this picture. Jason, the intern/long-term volunteer from St. Andrew's University in Scotland is the one who brought it all to my attention.

This is a picture of Melissa, one of our youth, at the most recent pilot program, a sports camp. She is right in the thick of it, doing her job. She is with the kids. She is participating. She is having a good time doing it. What's even cooler than seeing a youth caught doing her job well is catching her mentor watching her off in the distance with a pleased look on her face. If you look closely, Rachel, the Youth Director for UPH, is in the background, watching the action. It is a perfect progression of what the UPH program hopes to be. Adults pouring into youth, equipping them to then pour into children so that we may become a community from which servant leaders step forth.

God is up to big things here in Copan. I'm blessed to be a part of it.

El Pequeñito Fer

There's something about two big brown eyes set in a young smiling pudgy face that my heart can't resist. Little Fernando participated in our third pilot program last week. He darts around the room with energy like a firecracker and is actually too young to have participated in our program. Don't let his miniature size fool you though--he catches on to games and activities sometimes faster than the older kids and fearlessly runs and plays with all the campers twice his size.

He's in Kindergarten and our programs are for children in 1st through 6th grades. However, he was signed up on the same form as his older sister and slipped through my lines of defense with his toothless grin and the excited twinkle in his eyes. Once I realized that we had a stow-away in our camp, it was too late to tell him to leave because he was already part of the camp family. So, I decided it was only appropriate to give him a special name--after all, he was a special addition to the camp. From the beginning, he was known as "El Pequeñito Fer".

I thoroughly enjoyed watching him soak up every activity with wonder and excitement. There's something special about the youngest children who participate in these pilot programs. I look at them and see them as the first set of kids who could possibly go completely through school while simultaneously going through our programs. I think about how the trajectory of their lives will change from the extra love, attention, and support.

On the last day of camp, it occurred to me that perhaps El Pequeñito Fer didn't like being called pequeñito (small). Maybe he wanted to be called big or strong, perhaps El Gran Fer. I stooped down as he was punching out holes in his craft and asked him about it. He looked up at me, obviously confused by the question. He was El Pequeñito Fer, why would he want to be anything else?

"I'm a STAR!"

One of the first rules of classroom management is that you should save your "loud voice. At camp, when we want to get the kid's attention, it does no good to yell. Instead of yelling, one of the leaders or I will stand up front and put our finger on our nose. The children know that once they see a leader with their finger on their nose that they need to stop what they're doing, face front, and not be the last one to do it. The last child to be quiet and have his finger on his nose has to come up front, face his classmates, and do a star jump (crouch down and then jump up and explode, yelling, "I'm a STAR!").

Most of the children in latin america are what we call penosos or bashful and for this reason, a star jump is enough motivation to get the children to quiet quickly when they see a leader with his finger on his nose. However, this week, there was a group of children who enjoyed coming up front to do the star jumps. Some would wait and purposely be the last to put their finger on their nose and others would come up front to do the star jump even if they weren't the last.

The last day of Pilot II, I think the youth leaders felt they needed a better task for the last child with his finger on his nose and they started making them do push-ups! I had been on the side taking care of something and walked over and saw little Manuel doing push-ups along side Alexis, one of the leaders for the week. This continued for the rest of the day and was actually very effective.

Loving Copan, one kid at a time.

Rigo had been giving us trouble since the first day of our pilot program. He had stuck out immediately as one of the young boys who was going to need extra attention and discipline.

After having sent him home for behavior problems on the second day of camp, he came back as the team was cleaning at the end of the day and the children had been dismissed. He reluctantly stood in the doorway of the church, first watching the youth sweep and mop, and then decided to help. The LiderJovenes, glad for the help, mopped happily alongside him.

As one leader, Aura, noticed him helping, she went and moved his name on the discipline chart from “Sent Home” to “You’re Doing Great!”, a change from the absolute bottom to the top. After cleaning, Rigo started walking away from the church. Aura gathered the LiderJovenes together to yell their thanks to him. He turned around with a smile and waved.

The other LiderJovenes dispersed and Aura remained in the doorway, watching Rigo walk away. He had a notable spring in his step that had not been there earlier, especially after being sent home. Aura turned to me with a concerned look on her face and shared, “You know? I don’t think Rigo has known much love in his life. I really think that’s what he needs more than anything else.” She paused a moment, set her jaw as if she were making a promise to show him love, and turned on her heels to gather her bag to go.

I was amazed at the sensitivity and insight that Aura showed in that moment. I was touched by her concern and care for a boy most would dismiss as disruptive and frustrating. I was impressed by her maturity and dedication to the children and community after only two days with them.

Having pilot programs is exciting as a sign of growth and stability in UrbanPromise Honduras. It’s encouraging because it means we’re moving forward. Having pilot programs is exciting because it gives us an opportunity to extend our reach into different communities and get to know the Rigos, learn of their needs, and show them much needed love, even if only a week at a time.