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Take in reflections of seniors Gabriella Chehebar and Jordana Zackon and Jonathan Abbo (Grade 10), documenting summers to remember for good, forever. They each made a corner of the world a little better and grew within themselves along the way. Scroll down for more.
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Sport for Peace and Development: Gabriella Chehebar (Grade 12)
Gabriella is no stranger to Barranquilla, Colombia, where her mother was born and where she travels yearly to visit grandparents. As a child, Gabriella perceived the socioeconomic extremes present in the city and soon was able to bring her spirit and leadership to a local social enterprise. In her words:
Barranquilla, my mother’s hometown, is part of who I am. As a young girl, the poverty I saw shocked me. These yearly trips became more of a reality check-an opportunity to see that not everyone has it easy. Every year, I became more and more disturbed by the situation, so I decided to do something to help. This drew me to Futbol con Corazon (fcc.futbol), which is an organization that teaches vulnerable children life skills and values through soccer.
I had the opportunity to work both in the administrative offices and in the field. I traveled to the different “barrios” to play soccer, lead games and team-building exercises, and bond with the children along the way. Putting a smile on these children’s faces put an even bigger smile on my face!
A key insight I gained was that everyone has potential to be an educated, civil person; they just need that tiny push. These children from very poor neighborhoods are exposed to violence, drugs, and other risks. From a very young age, they are trapped in a vicious cycle because they have no one to tell them what shouldn’t be done. FCC proved to me that just being there and teaching them the difference between right and wrong, can provide that little push. Some people say “ignorance is bliss,” but FCC taught me otherwise: It taught me that if you have a mentor-someone there for you-people will want to succeed and success becomes achievable.
I can apply these lessons in my own community by making sure everyone has that extra push to make them succeed. Just like I saw during my time in Colombia, showing someone you care about their future is all they need in order to thrive.
Service and Cultural Immersion: Jordana Zackon (Grade 12)
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Jordana sought out a structured summer program with a solid reputation that would allow her to immerse herself in the local culture and serve the community at the same time. This quest took her to the small mountain town of Urubamba, Peru. In her words:
My community service trip was located in Urubamba, a small town in one of the mountainous regions of Peru. My best friend, who I met at sleep away camp, had done the same service trip the previous year. I looked into a few different programs offered by the same company, Visions, and ultimately decided that Peru would provide the greatest opportunity for unique cultural immersion.
My responsibilities included digging canals, mixing cement, and laying bricks for a school. We built the school from the ground up, and it was incredible to see the physical impact we had made on the community of Huayna Colca.
One key insight I gained is the importance of teamwork and communication. Although many of us had some sort of Spanish-language background, many of our fellow workers spoke Quechua, a local dialect. We had to learn to communicate through hand gestures and demonstrations of how to use specific tools. Additionally, it was incredibly empowering to see the various communities come together to willingly volunteer their efforts and cooperation to better their communities.
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I think that one problem we face at home is our largely commercialized society. If people put less of an emphasis on monetary gains and aimed to do meaningful work out of determination for improvement, society would be more productive as a whole. I hope to spread this belief and make sure to involve myself with more service work on a more local scale.
Roots and Responsibility: Jonathan Abbo (Grade 10)
Jonathan helped lead a children’s camp for a week in a “batey,” a small settlement of sugarcane farmers, mostly of Haitian descent, and their families in the Dominican Republic. What he saw, and what he felt, transformed his worldview and has inspired him to further his work as a changemaker.
When we think of the Dominican Republic, our minds usually go directly to the beach resorts and golf courses that litter this tropical oasis. Growing up half-Dominican, I had visited the island on a yearly basis and seen it in all its glory; it had become a second home and a paradise to me. This summer I took the initiative to explore more, straying from my usual routine to go to a batey, the Dominican equivalent to labor camps. The history of bateys is long and complicated, but in short they are small settlements of sugarcane farmers who are paid astoundingly low wages for incredibly difficult amounts of manual labor. I went as part of a leadership program to an area called El Soco, where we ran a children’s camp for the youth of bateys in the area.
During our trip, we were divided into four groups: education, indoor activities, outdoor activities, and arts & crafts. I was placed in the education group. We created a lesson plan that would teach as much as possible in the short, six-day period we had. We taught English, mathematics, science, and geography, and we added a fun twist to keep the classes interesting and engaging for the campers. For all the lessons we taught, the kids imparted a lesson to me that I could never teach them. Regardless of the intense poverty in which these kids grew up, they were always happy and appreciative.
We took a trip to one of the bateys some of our kids called home. We took a long, bumpy bus ride through sugarcane fields to get to this secluded little village. We were a cluster of Americans in the heart of a village where everybody was of Haitian descent. At first, I felt a bit uneasy with all the stares from locals, but minutes after we got off the bus I felt a small hand in my own and I looked down to see an adorable child I’d never seen before…Parents sitting in their porches would simply hand us their babies to carry on our walk, which shocked me as most Americans are overprotective of their children around strangers.
This short visit to the batey showed me what it truly meant to be a part of a community as everybody knew everybody, and regardless of their unfortunate circumstances, they persevered together. It was the most tight-knit community I had ever visited and it truly left an unforgettable impression on me. We continued camp for a few days after and it was very emotional bidding goodbye to our new friends. I left this program with a new understanding of just how lucky I am. These kids showed me how ingrained it can be in American society not to appreciate things, as they had close to nothing and were still incredibly grateful for every minuscule thing they did have…
Sport for Peace and Development: Gabriella Chehebar (Grade 12)
Jordana sought out a structured summer program with a solid reputation that would allow her to immerse herself in the local culture and serve the community at the same time. This quest took her to the small mountain town of Urubamba, Peru. In her words:
I think that one problem we face at home is our largely commercialized society. If people put less of an emphasis on monetary gains and aimed to do meaningful work out of determination for improvement, society would be more productive as a whole. I hope to spread this belief and make sure to involve myself with more service work on a more local scale.
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Congratulations to 
