When You Give a Kid A Camera
May 16, 2011

She’s probably going to be ecstatic.
I really couldn’t have imagined the scale Kids with Cameras would grow to–how much energy I would put into it, how incredible the photos would be, how proud the kids would be to share their work, how appreciative the parents would become. Truthfully, Kids with Cameras is what kept me going the last two months in Ecuador.
[slidepress gallery='kid-with-camera_final']
I anticipated the educational standards I was accustomed to in the States–letters get sent home with parents, parents send their kids to and support educational events (field trip money, getting to school on time, parent-teacher…

He Doesn’t Have Any Shoes
March 17, 2011

Meet Darwin Montoya. He’s eight, the third child in his family. He has three brothers and two sisters.  He was one of my students in Refuerzo and one of my Kids with Cameras participants.  He’s the first one I told about Kids with Cameras.
He came to pick up his siblings, Camila and Camilo, from the Centro Infantil.  He had on one of his brother’s trucker caps—you know a Montoya when there’s a kid with a bright hat slung sideways, fastened to be too small for their heads so that it rests on top.  While waiting outside the gate, I…

Kids with Cameras
March 10, 2011

During my first two months at Pastoral Migratoria, I worked on the Refuerzo project, an after school program for Colombian and Ecuadorian students, ages six to twelve. Spending several days a week with them teaching yoga, English, and math, as well as tutoring in what ever subjects they needed helped with, I developed close relationships with many of the students. [slidepress gallery='kids_with_cameras_revised'] These photos are from the first assignment where the students went out in groups to learn how to use the cameras. Please scroll over the images for titles and captions.

I began to hear stories of watching uncles murdered in Colombia by the FARC…

Learning to Take Control
February 14, 2011

Recently I’ve been able to identify just what it is about my experience that has been making this last month so difficult. I’ve been in a sort of uninspired slump, dragging my feet through the daily routine. My job doesn’t put me in contact with anyone my age, and my siblings go to university in Quito. I adore my co-workers and the kids I teach—but being best friends with a two year old just hasn’t been giving me the support I need.
…
During some peer-to-peer coaching during our monthly Training Seminar, I started to figure out just what it is

Welcome to the War
February 14, 2011

A few weeks ago, a young woman, Pati, came into Pastoral. She has beautiful dark eyes, a scar on her forehead, and shoulder length hair. She smiles a warm, crooked-tooth smile, and looks up and to the left when she’s thinking. She can’t be more than 26 or 27 and her energy is positive and enthralling.
I was sitting on a bench with one of my students and she sat next to me. During the next hour and a half, we laughed and cried and I became an expert on her life story. She grew up on a coca farm, but nobody in her family actually did…

Looking for Colombians
February 11, 2011

I began a new project at work in January. My job is exactly as the title suggests: I’ve been hiking through mountains looking for Colombian refugees.
Okay, let’s back up for a minute. Pastoral Migratoria supports Colombian refugees in a holistic manner. I’ve been going to court with the lawyer, learning to give interviews with the social worker, and teaching in the Centro Infantil and Refuerzo program.  This new project, REAP supports refugees who have been here for less than six months by providing a sustainable income as quickly as possible; the classic “teach a man to fish” model. We…

Suck it Up and Eat the Pig
January 21, 2011

Many of my family and friends have been impressed with how seamless this experience has appeared. In uncountable ways, I have been blessed in every aspect of GCY. That’s not to say that I don’t break down regularly, struggle daily, and miss home, though. So I thought I’d share some of the bumps in my road. I suppose this isn’t a reflection or a philosophical bit, but instead just some of my day-to-day encounters that may seem outlandishly comical, but are, in fact, my current reality.

Don’t Ask What You’re Eating Until After You’ve Finished

Those of you who know…