LeapNow Makes the World Brighter for BECA and San Jeronimo School
This past month, two different groups of young people from the organization LeapNow visited Cofradia to participate in a cultural exchange with BECA teachers and members of the San Jeronimo Bilingual School community. LeapNow organizes three month travel and study based adventure programs for young men and women who are in their "gap year" between high school and college. This is the second year that LeapNow has included BECA and SJBS as part of their Central American itinerary. The first group of twelve students and two leaders stayed from October 31st to November 10, and the second group of eight students and two leaders was here in Cofradia from November 13th to the 20th. Our BECA teaching team was blown away by these young people's professional maturity, flexibility and patience in dealing with the heat and constant schedule changes that are part of life in Cofradia, and compassion and love for the 168 children whom we serve.
The Leap students stayed with families from the SJBS community, and really became integrated into their daily lives, giving them a firsthand understanding of Honduran culture. They shared the same food and living conditions as their adopted families, and many were taken on excursions to places they would not normally go, like coffee fincas and hidden away restaurants. The countless opportunities for Spanish to be improved were taken advantage of. Ada from the first group commented on her homestay experience, in a way that reflected the experience of her peers: "The accomodations were amazingly comfortable, and our family was extremely warm and inviting. I also really enjoyed living with students of the school."
Every student from each group got to spend half the day in a classroom at San Jeronimo school, matched with one of the teachers, and this classroom time often included activities and exercises that the students initiated themselves. The other half of each day was spent participating in a variety of important work-based projects that the Parents Association of SJBS decided were a priority. Both the Leap groups were hugely successful in what they were able to accomplish. The two most visible sides of the exterior wall surrounding the school property were covered with plaster, for eventual painting by a future group. The entire exterior walls of the middle school and all but one side of the kinder/prep building were painted two different shades of blue, the right and back sides of the main classroom building were painted yellow and white, all columns and bases on the main classroom and middle school building were painted red, and the lower half of the inner hallway of the main classroom building was painted an inviting shade of beige. The groups also revamped the Art Garden, planting flowers and making nice rock borders. The Leap groups also made a significant financial contribution to the school and BECA, and this contribution helped pay for sturdy shelves for the teachers to use, doors for the kinder and preparatoria classrooms, and various BECA program expenses. For our teachers, the opportunity to interact with the Leap students was priceless-they not only got great help in their classrooms, but will benefit from a more beautiful physical environment as a result of the painting projects. Says middle school Science and Math teacher Hilary Hamell, "the Leap groups were a great help to the school. We loved having them."
All in all, the experience of the Leap students was a seamless blend of socially conscious volunteerism and intensive cultural exchange, which will leave them better prepared for whatever future course they decide to take. A couple more quotes from the Leap participants puts their experience in perspective. Says Peter, "I would recommend that future Leap groups come to Cofradia because the small town life is very relaxing, and the work projects and class work both seemed to teach alot about Hondurans and their culture." Liesl noted, "Cofradia has been my most positive volunteer experience in Central America. It has been fun, productive, and accomodating. The town and school communities are tightly knit and but welcoming to foreigners, which is very unique."