El Salvador 2010
The aim of the SEED project in El Salvador was to stimulate the children’s self esteem and to dare to dream through imagination and creativity. These children live in the community 13 de Enero, a conflicted community where drugs, violence, prostitution and gangs are part of their daily life.
Due to El Salvador’s post civil war background many people have immigrated to the USA searching for job opportunities, leaving their children behind. Therefore these children, left behind with relatives, are influenced by other people who they regard as peers; these children grow up to be reflections of their environment, becoming violent and adopting a pessimistic mentality which eventually leads to take part of violent gangs. Being an unstable country, El Salvador’s government doesn’t give opportunities to overcome their daily obstacles such as lack of education and the inability to live their childhood.
Recognizing these needs, this project was aimed at stimulating these children to live their lives through dreaming and setting future goals. The first part of the project was dedicated to getting to know these 25 children, with ages ranging from 3 to 17, and their lives.
At first it was very confronting for us, the students to see and experience the lives of these children that have been scarred by traumatic experiences. This community 13 de Enero is portrayed by the media as a very dangerous place and has been left on its own, Salvadorians tend to avoid being in this type of community.
Reflecting their hunger for change, these children themselves designed several murals which reflected what they want in their future for themselves, their community and their country. Before starting to paint these murals, we discussed the choice of murals with the children and reflected on why it was important to paint them. The final product of this project is four painted murals, three with the designs of the children and one wall called ‘My Dream for the Future’ where every child put their handprint, their name and a goal they want to reach in the future. This mural is a product of group conversations we had in which everyone exchanged their dreams and goals for the future. We didn’t want these to be lost or forgotten and thus we came up with the idea to make a mural out of it, so that every day when these children pass this wall they are reminded of their dreams and goals for the future.
Due to El Salvador’s post civil war background many people have immigrated to the USA searching for job opportunities, leaving their children behind. Therefore these children, left behind with relatives, are influenced by other people who they regard as peers; these children grow up to be reflections of their environment, becoming violent and adopting a pessimistic mentality which eventually leads to take part of violent gangs. Being an unstable country, El Salvador’s government doesn’t give opportunities to overcome their daily obstacles such as lack of education and the inability to live their childhood.
Recognizing these needs, this project was aimed at stimulating these children to live their lives through dreaming and setting future goals. The first part of the project was dedicated to getting to know these 25 children, with ages ranging from 3 to 17, and their lives.
At first it was very confronting for us, the students to see and experience the lives of these children that have been scarred by traumatic experiences. This community 13 de Enero is portrayed by the media as a very dangerous place and has been left on its own, Salvadorians tend to avoid being in this type of community.
Reflecting their hunger for change, these children themselves designed several murals which reflected what they want in their future for themselves, their community and their country. Before starting to paint these murals, we discussed the choice of murals with the children and reflected on why it was important to paint them. The final product of this project is four painted murals, three with the designs of the children and one wall called ‘My Dream for the Future’ where every child put their handprint, their name and a goal they want to reach in the future. This mural is a product of group conversations we had in which everyone exchanged their dreams and goals for the future. We didn’t want these to be lost or forgotten and thus we came up with the idea to make a mural out of it, so that every day when these children pass this wall they are reminded of their dreams and goals for the future.
Israel 2010
SEED project in Israel took place in July this summer in Tel Aviv and lasted for 2 weeks and a half. 10 students from our college from the countries: Malta, Israel, Canada, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Mexico volunteered in a summer camp for children of work immigrants. These kids suffer from discrimination, bad economic conditions and the risk of deportion.
We joined and helped to the activities in the summer camp and also passed activities involving UWC ideals such as cultural diversity and sustainability.
The project also involved visits and trips in Israel, and some political talks about the current affairs in Israel.
This project was a valuable experiance that exposed us to differnet cultures, people and to different realities. We learned how to overcome a language barrier and to comunicate with childern with more than just words, and we benefitted a lot from the presence of the children.
We joined and helped to the activities in the summer camp and also passed activities involving UWC ideals such as cultural diversity and sustainability.
The project also involved visits and trips in Israel, and some political talks about the current affairs in Israel.
This project was a valuable experiance that exposed us to differnet cultures, people and to different realities. We learned how to overcome a language barrier and to comunicate with childern with more than just words, and we benefitted a lot from the presence of the children.
Bolivia 2010
The SEED project in Bolivia (Chiara,Emma,Emilian,Flavia,Viviana,Alma and Sergio E.) was divided in 2 parts: the first two weeks we collaborated with Suore Rosarie, a group of missionary nuns from Udine that has been working in Bolivia for the past 30 years, the second part (last two weeks) consisted in a collaboration with the NGO WHY BOLIVIA. We mainly worked with children coming from difficult family situations, staying in orphaneges or living in poor conditions. We played and entertained them with games, english lessons,our multiculturality and we gave wortkshops about environmental issues (with WHY). The warm hospitality and the enthusiasm shown by the nuns, the children and all the people who has helped us made us learn a lot, together with the group work and the experience of living together for one entire month. This experience will stay with us forever and it's a good start for future projects.
Cambodia 2010
The SEED project in Cambodia this year was full of surprises, excitement, and flexibility from the very start. At the last minute one of our key organizers was unable to come with us, so Stapor Phoung (UWCAd 08-10, Cambodia) took the project on her shoulders with incredible success. The first week we were in a very rural area leading a summer camp with students from the local state school, encouraging interactive and fun methods of teaching and playing in the lessons, as their school days are usually quite monotone. We also visited and learned about the new United World Schools project recently initiated by a graduate of UWC Ac. In the second week we intended to work with Project Riverkids, combating child trafficking in Phnom Penh, but due to communication errors this project fell through at the last minute. Instead, we headed to Stapor's home town early, collaborating with the local NGO Sustainable Cambodia for over a week. We worked with local teenagers on leadership development, sponsored a community education evening, and led local students in a garbage collection and cleanup. Overall we had a busy month, and have all learned a lot!
Thailand 2009
The group spent one month in Thailand with the cooperation of Burapha University and Thailand’s Ministry of Education, visiting schools of varying social class, orphanages of HIV/AIDS positive children whose parents had died of the virus, as well as other organizations to search for possibly permanent, local funding for these schools and orphanages. The group gave various workshops, aiming to encourage the youth to think critically and constructively, and to exchange and learn from our cultural differences.
