Fiercely Loving: the job description of no one, the responsibility of everyone

Volunteer Katie Johnson puts her all into her work: teaching English and music at the primary school, giving piano lessons in the afternoon, and leading Chicas Poderosas, a girls’ empowerment group. Below is a post by her.

When I first received my job offer from NPH Bolivia, it seemed that most of my time would be spent teaching children new subjects and skills, something that I was happy to do; however, one misconception that I had was that the people I would be serving would be uneducated.

Well, imagine my surprise when one of the kids here, Maximiliano, explained that he knew much more than I. “Usted no sabe nada,” which literally translates to “You do not know anything.” While it comes off a bit rude, it was actually quite true.

He would use this phrase for anything: a word I didn’t know in Spanish, a Bolivian holiday that I didn’t know existed, or ways to butcher pigs, kill snakes, and hand-cut grass. All of which were things he knew, and I did not.

It took me almost four months to realize that fulfilling my job description, teaching English and music, not only wasn’t enough for the kids, but it wasn’t enough for me either. I eventually realized that the best way I can help the children that I work and live with is to love them as powerfully as I can every single day.

It is the job description of no one here at our home, but at the same time it is the responsibility of every staff member and volunteer.

Many of our kids come from abused or neglected backgrounds. To show them what true love looks like has been my greatest challenge. Love starts with a connection, like kicking around a soccer ball or helping with math homework, and advances toward empowerment and support.

It is an incredible feeling when one of my students is giving up on a piano piece because it’s too difficult and my words are the ones that encourage them to keep trying. Experiences like this, albeit small, teach me how impactful my support can be on the children here at NPH.

The hardest part of loving our children unconditionally, however, is when I need to show them tough love. When a child calls me a bad word, cheats during an exam, or refuses to do their chores, I have to sit them down and explain to them why their behavior is unacceptable. This can be difficult, uncomfortable, and even awkward, but I do it because truly loving someone means wanting them to be the best possible person that they can be.

While I knew I was capable of loving the children here, I certainly wasn´t expecting to fall in love. Every volunteer has a house of kids that they spend most of their time with. My house is San Francisco, filled with 10 to 12-year-old boys. It took a while for them to trust me, and even longer to respect me, but every moment with them is one that I cherish.

With nine months under my belt, and eight months left in my service, a part of me is excited to go home to Chicago, sleep in my own bed, pig out on American food, and be with family and friends; however, there is a bigger part of me that is devastated to leave and explain to my boys why I won´t be tucking them in every night anymore. It will be one of the hardest things I will have to do.

The role of the volunteer is ever changing, flexible, challenging, and certainly not for everyone. But the goal of the volunteer is to love fiercely and powerfully for the short time that they are present in these kids’ lives. I hope that I will have accomplished that goal by the time I leave.

(Children’s names have been changed to protect their privacy.)

We are helping these children create the necessary opportunity for an empowering, dignified future.

Below is a reflection written by volunteer teacher, Doug Orofino, on his time teaching the children at NPH Honduras. 

Lo que es mi Camino, Lo que Llevo Yo

The Path I Walk:
Each morning I set myself upon the path which winds me down to the sun-bathed Escuela Primaria. Glancing across the deep green rows of the Ranch's Hortaliza (garden) I can smell the pine trees which so laboriously clothe the mountains. Sometimes when the world is the perfect blend of silk white cloud, azure blue sky, and sleepy morning sun, I find myself stumbling for thought, wondering, "What in the world led me here?" There is no easy answer as to what kind of person finds themselves here at NPH Honduras, breathing, and living, and loving is this unique home. And although we all come from different backgrounds, Honduras won't let you stay the same. We all find ourselves being opened up, shifted around, and put back together. I'd like to think its for the better.

I think the biggest thing that has changed for me since Rancho Santa Fe is my perspective on what it is to have "a real life." I once would have told you that people who are living 'real lives' have steady jobs, apartments or homes, heath insurance, are no longer claimed as dependents by their parents during tax season, and enjoy three things they would have hated as kids, i.e. wine tasting, antiquing, hiking for no reason but to walk, etc. Now, I am much less certain. Honduras presents a glimpse of an alternative lifestyle. A life where swimming in drinkable water is an unspeakable sign of wealth. Where making $2.50 a day is not uncommon. This life is perhaps more "real" than a life of new cars every 6 or 7 years, steady jobs, masters degrees, and student debts. More people live a life akin to what I have seen here, than what I know in my personal experience.

The Things I Carry:
So what implications do these thoughts bring into my day to day life? The kids I work with will eventually graduate, hopefully study in the city for a secondary school experience, and move on to the real Honduras. It is so important to equip these children with something to help them succeed when the stakes are so high. How else can we even hope to attempt to break through the oppressive cycle of poverty that has threaded itself into the very nervous system of this glorious, humid country?
It is hard to see the long term affects of our work, but we must have faith that we are helping these children create the necessary opportunity for an empowering, dignified future.

It is an easy thing to get stuck in the mud of, "let's learn our tablas (times tables)" or "why can't they just understand?!" The more demanding expectation is to walk through these struggles, delivering, day by day, the instruction these beautiful, young people so desperately need to create their own futures, where the consequences of lacking basic education are imbued with danger. So we press onward, and when the sun has set, in the darkness lightning dancing through the broken, clouded sky, I think I might just love Honduras enough to do it all again tomorrow.

The road I traveled at NPH was the best road I have traveled in my life.

Below is a testimonial from a volunteer English teacher, Thayer Lawson, who helped at NPH Guatemala for over a year!

To sit down and sum up my year at NPH Guatemala, the feelings, the experiences, the challenges, the celebrations and the memories, is next to impossible. Fifteen months ago when I set off for my year adventure to teach English at NPHG, in a country that I had never traveled to, where a language was spoken that was not my own, far away from family and friends, I did not know what to expect. Though I was scared and nervous, I was excited. Little did I know that this much anticipated year would be the best thirteen months I have experienced yet. Though life-changing, the thirteen months were not easy, and there were bumps in the road. Even with bumps, the road I traveled at NPH was the best road I have traveled in my life. 

Each day I spent at NPH brought new excitement and new challenges; from the moment I woke up. Every morning at 6:00am my alarm went off, and I never had much interest in getting out of bed; it was too cold. As breathtaking as the mountains surrounding Casa San Andres are, they cause for very cold mornings and nights. I rolled out of bed and threw on my NPH uniform: black pants, my gray polo shirt, black shoes and of course my signature red or pink sunglasses. Once dressed in my usual attire, I grabbed something for breakfast and headed out the door. I was at school every morning by 6:45am for formation, before the school day began. By the time 7:00am hit, the kids began to file into their classrooms, laughing and chatting away, and I greeted each student with a smile and a good morning as we started our day. 

Teaching at NPH was one of the hardest, yet most rewarding and fulfilling experiences I have ever had. First, I had to balance teaching kids from preschool through ninth grade with different learning styles, different levels of English and very different attitudes. Some were so eager to learn and others had to be pushed. Some could speak English very well, and others had never taken an English class before. Each day brought something new, and my students and I learned together, had a lot of fun, and made great gains. After a day full of very energetic (and not always well behaved) classes, correcting papers and preparing lessons for the days to come, I headed down to spend the evening with my section of girls. 

My girls (a group of twenty), between the ages of 11-15, were the highlight of my year at NPHG. Working as a volunteer in the section was the most challenging aspect of the year, but by far the best. There were moments with these girls that pushed me to extremes emotionally that I never knew were possible. The time I put in, the relationships I made, and the memories that will last forever made every second worth it. I quickly grew to love this group of girls, and looked forward to walking in each night to find that they were always up to something different. Some evenings I would walk into a dance party complete with twenty girls singing at the top of their lungs (which of course I would quickly join in on), sometimes an indoor soccer game would be in the making, and sometimes they would all be spread out around the room working on homework and assignments for the upcoming week. There was never a dull moment in the section in the evenings, and I loved being able to be part of it—from soccer referee, to tutor, to friend, or just a listener. The relationships I formed with these girls were the foundation of my year at NPH. 

After an evening in the section I headed home to my little volunteer house on the other side of the NPHG. I always walked across the soccer field where there is an amazing view of the surrounding mountains, volcanoes and stars. The other volunteers, who were making similar treks back to the volunteer homes after a visit to their section or a late night soccer game, played a large role in my year at NPH. We were together all the time and I quickly formed relationships that I know will last a lifetime. Having the support and friendship of the other volunteers was important—we were there for each other and picked each other up when we were down, and celebrated in each other’s successes and gains. 

Now, the thirteen months in Guatemala have come and gone and I am back in the states. The much-awaited moments of seeing friends and family, applying for jobs and looking for a place to live has been a blur. I am realizing that I am not just back for vacation, but here to stay. Things are different here, and I notice it every day; everyone is speaking English, my Quetzales are not worth anything, people don’t find the need to say “buenas tardes” (good afternoon) when they pass me on the street, and I am not surrounded by the comforting laughter of the children and the familiar landscape that I had been calling home. I miss Guatemala and NPH every day, and I can't believe it is time for this chapter of my life to come to an end. I know that the memories I have made, the experiences I have had, and the people that I have met will be in my heart forever.