First year of university, I was involved in a project in a sort school-nursery in zone 3, Guatemala City. It is a low class zone: lots of chicken buses, beggars, a large graveyard and the biggest city dump. Thousands of people live in that dump, literally live from the garbage- eat, sleep, work and survive off it.
I used to go twice a week. I was there to give them Catechism(I go to a Jesuit University and I was there through them) but after going a few times, I learned that wasn't what they needed. They needed to play. They needed to learn to have fun. They needed lessons on love and hope. And especially- they needed intensive lessons on dreaming.
I'm not a teacher, but I love to be around children, to share with them. But being with this group of children was hard. They were bitter old people, abusive, vulgar, very closed to new people, distrustful. It took a while before they started to open themselves to us (my friend Lizbeth and me). They stopped jumping every time I tried to touch them, to hold them. They started asking for us, started caring.
The project was called "La Escuela del Cinco". Sadly, by the end of the year it was closed and I haven't seen any of them for over 3 years. I sometimes wonder...what has become of them, how they are...who they've become. I wish so much for them and hope they kept dreaming and hoping, just like we did together.
Here are some pictures I have from those days...
And a video I found on youtube
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