Before the experience: I woke up this morning very excited! Today is the day we were going to start our service learning project and I can’t t to see the kids. Being an early childhood education major and also being born in a first world country, I really want to see the difference between the way their educational system is set up versus ours.
After: Today was SUCH as AMAZING and HUMBLING day! As we rode through the city to get to the El Comderas, I quickly seen the shift in class. We went from being on paved streets to driving on a rocky dirt rode. That same shift continued with the people in the community as well. The community in which the comderas is located is in a format similar to an African village. There were houses very close to each other and the houses were made out of wood or tin. I seen people outside without any shoes on and those who did had torn shoes. When we arrived, students were standing outside waiting for us with the teacher Wendy. Wendy was very soft spoken and did not speak English but I could tell she loved the students very much. Wendy told us about the Comderas and it’s purpose which is to be a support to the community especially the children. I quickly tried to interact with the students just because I love children but I found it frustrating to talk to them because I had so many questions but could not communicate without a translator. The overall experience of day one of the service learning was great. I was in the group assigned to task of painting outside fences. Since we were out, I had the chance to see that some of the students go to school in the morning and some of them go in the afternoon. I could already tell that the comderas is a vital part in this community.
Rowan University Service Trip 