¡R.U.M.B.O. al Cole!


For me there is no greater joy than working with young people. I spent last week in the high school with nearly 60 teenagers in what is by far my favorite project of all. It´s called ¡R.U.M.B.O. al Cole! "Rumbo" is slang for "let´s go" and the letters stand for "Recreando Unidos para Muy Buena Orientacion," which basically means "doing recreational activities for a good orientation" (this sounds lame in English but I´ve been told it sounds cool in Spanish). At the end of the school year in November I invited all of the graduating 6th graders (who will be entering high school next year) from 7 different elementary schools to participate in this week of recreational activities in the high school. I recruited a group of 25 eleventh graders, who will need to complete community service hours this year, and trained them in leadership skills and the facilitation of over 30 recreational activities. The 7th graders were the campers and the 11th graders were the counselors. I had the support of the high school principal, a P.E. teacher, and the school counselor, but we didn´t actually need any adults to run the camp (besides me, but whether or not I´m actually an adult is definitely debatable).

One goal of the camp was to provide 7th graders with a positive orientation to the high school environment and allow them to meet and form strong relationships with older students. A second goals was to provide the 11th grade students with an outlet to participate in a service learning project, gain leadership experience, and earn their required community service hours. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the project got all of these young people out of the house for the week, which is where they almost certainly would have spent the time otherwise.

Every day began with icebreakers and games done as one big group. A rotation of 3 different recreational/competitive activities followed, and each day ended with a teamwork challenge (kind of like low ropes course activities) and group discussion of their ability to work together to reach the intended goal of the challenge. The leaders were trained to encourage sportsmanship, teamwork and active participation in all activities, and groups that worked together well or were able to resolve problems in effective ways were rewarded though a point system that continued throughout the week.

My service provides me with countless opportunities to reflect upon and appreciate the many blessings I have been fortunate enough to receive in my life, and having constant access to camps over the summer as a kid is one of them. My summers in the States were always jam-packed with activities, summer classes, and camps galore. Here in my community the kids generally have nothing to do during vacation time, except maybe work to help their families. Both the 7th and 11th graders involved in this project took this opportunity to have a healthy, fun, energizing experience and ran with it. I could not have asked for a more positive group of campers and counselors. The best news is that the school counselor and principal want to make it a permanent project for incoming 7th graders, to be continued after I am gone. I´ll be spending the next couple months working with the 11th graders on a manual that will give a step-by-step of the planning and execution of the project and it´s over 30 recreational activities.

I´m so pumped and energized by this experience, I find myself missing it this week now that it´s all over. On the last day of camp one of the 7th graders said to me, "Why can´t we just do this every week?" and I´m starting to wonder the same thing....

Check out the video of the camp activities!!!! Be well, pura vida.

Peaceful Toy Exchange

Today was a good day. I woke up at the usual 5:00 am, ran sprints in the pineapple fields, strength training with my body weight and a medicine ball made of a rock-filled coconut, cold shower, banana-and-coffee smoothie...and that was all before 8:00 am. A little later I walked my 6-year-old host nephew over to a neighborhood Christmas celebration in a nearby park. There was music, dancing, relay races, soccer games, and best of all...a nonviolent toy exchange. Yes, the police department sponsored a huge toy drive that allowed them to bring a huge number of nonviolent toys to the party, and any kids who has violent toys at home could bring them in and exchange them for a shiny, new, nonviolent one. I loved it, and so did the kids. It was beautiful to watch all the kids run to their houses, come back with fake guns, knives, and other atrocious-looking things, throw them away and get a nice board game or soccer ball instead.

After the party my hsot nephew and I went on a long walk in the pineapple fields. As we walked we came upon en empty box that someone had thrown on the ground (very normal occurrence here). It was the box of a toy truck with pictures of the truck and others on it. Now, I don't talk about the economic situation of my host family very often, and you wouldn't know it by seeing the house that they rent, but they are actually quite poor. I nearly started crying as my host nephew RAN over to the box, squealed with excitement, and started hugging the empty box that he found on the ground. "Morgan, look! What a beautiful box! Can I take it home with us???" After checking to make sure it didn't have anything disgusting on it I told him we could (I mean, who's gonna say no to that request?) and we walked back to the house. We spent the rest of the walk talking about all the different things he could do with the box (cut out the individual pictures to make little playing cards, make a Christmas card for his Dad, make a poster to put on his wall....). Although part of this scenario made me sad, it's also one of those situations that happens to me every day here, that just makes me appreciate everything I've been blessed with so much more. It can be very hard not to take things for granted at times, but constant exposure to situations like this certainly makes it easier to appreciate everything. Here's a picture of him with the pictures he cut out of the box:



Getting back into the swing of things after going home has not been easy, but slowly things are coming together and seeming normal again. It definitely helped to have a day to just enjoy being in my community instead of working all day. Once the rush of camps in January is over and the school year starts again in February, time is going to FLY!!!!

Wishing you all a very safe, happy holiday, and hoping that everyone gets to do something to show their appreciation for all their blessings in life. Peace.

Just another conversation in the life....

Host Sister (to my 18 month old nephew): Huguito! Come here and have a piece of chocolate!

Host Mom (immediately after sharing her huge glass of coffee with him): No!!!!!! You can't give him chocolate, especially this late, it will make him hyperactive.

Morgan: Mami, are you serious??? You have been giving him coffee all this time, and you're worried about a tiny piece of chocolate?

Host Mom: You're right, go ahead Jaimie, give him the chocolate.

Morgan: No, I wasn't saying he should also eat the chocolate, I was just.....oh jesus, never mind.

Going Home: Is it Worth the Pain?

This title may seem a little harsh, but that is not my intention. I just got back from being the States for 2 weeks (OMG was it really 2 weeks????), and I must say that seeing so many people for such short periods of time was really tough emotionally. It was also wonderful, while it lasted, but it turns out there's a lot of people at home who I don't just like, but LOVE, a lot, and coming back to CR was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. It's not that I don't want to be here, because I do, but it isn't easy to leave everything behind all over again.

I am already much more settled in than I was, but I thought I would be in the States yearning to return, and that wasn't so much the case. I could have used another month there, easily, but then it probably would have been even more difficult to come back. I spent much of the time at home talking to people about my plans for next year, which were still undecided. I have thought for some time now about staying a third year and working in our country office in San Jose as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader. The job entails supporting my program manager and training coordinator as they train and offer technical support to trainees and current volunteers. I have really good relationships with and so much respect for our staff, and the opportunity to work with them on a daily basis has always been appealing to me. Before I came to Costa Rica, I would have laughed in your face had you even mentioned the possibility of me staying away from home for more than 2 years. It seemed like an eternity at the beginning. Now I realize what a unique opportunity it is to work for Peace Corps, especially Peace Corps Costa Rica, and while I miss home very much I'm not yet ready for this journey of personal and professional growth (corny, but so very true) to end. Am I ready to be with all my family and friends in the States again? Of course! But what it comes down to is that this opportunity to stay won't present itself again, and I know that once I go back to the States I will be there for good.

Soooo, I turned in my letter of intent to stay another year just a few days ago. My bosses are looking for NGOs with whom I could explore my interests of community health and/or exercise science, and I'm looking forward to a complete change of pace in terms of working in a more scheduled, office environment, but with the variety and dynamic approach that is inherent in working for Peace Corps. Not only will I work in the office, but I will also travel to training sites to train new volunteers and do site visits to visit current volunteers and stake out new communities for future volunteer sites. I will also be in a bigger city, which I am beyond ready for. I have learned an incredible amount living in a small town, and I love my community with all my heart, but this girl just wasn't cut out to live in a little pueblo for extended period of time.

So that's my story for next year. Stay tuned for project updates, including an HIV/AIDS prevention soccer tournament, a recreational camp for kids making the transition from elementary to high school, and basketball camp. January is gonna be busy!!!!! Peace.