Corps 18 VISTA's: February 2014

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

An Awesome Community Mentor

by Jose Armendariz serving in Santa Monica, CA

Juan is an energetic and positive resident of the Mar Vista Gardens community, and he is much more than a volunteer for the Boys and Girls Club; Juan is a role model for the young members of the club. When he enters the building, he greets everyone with a catch phrase that is his entrance call, “My duuude”. As soon as the kids hear his voice, they all gather around to greet him back with a huge group hug. This warm response from the children towards him is the result of a caring and significant relationship he has built with the members of the club through his constant and enthusiastic presence every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. During his time of service, Juan has given special attention to all the members of the club, their feelings are a priority to him because due to the empathy he has towards them. He does not want them to live under the same conditions as he did. Juan stresses that growing inside the public housing can be difficult, and he wants to impact positively all the children of the community. Also, his service to the club has been essential to sustain the VISTA programs we have created. What motivates Juan is his peculiar perspective to see life, he embraces a philosophy that serves as guidance for his volunteer service and future goals in life.

Juan has been a great influence for the members of the club, and he seeks to change children lives for the better. Juan’s goal is to become an elementary school teacher in order to have a tangible impact on the life of children. Therefore, he intertwines his career goal with his volunteer service experience. He can be seen around the club engaging and brainstorming all sorts of activities. Also, Juan’s willingness to help aids some of the problems this particular Boys and Girls Club encounters. Practically he is an extra staff to rely upon, and he shows interests in all of the VISTA projects. He thinks our work as VISTA’s is crucial for the academic development of the children within the community. He usually supports us to sustain the programs with his direct service. Juan believes that through positive interaction with children, the cycle of poverty can be broken.

Juan’s personal philosophy grants him a great attitude to serve his community. He believes everyone is a mentor and that anyone can give an answer to a problem. That perspective to see people allows him to appreciate anyone’s conversation or interaction. Children really listen to him, and he really listens to the kids, which results in functional relationships. His positive and energetic attitude make a difference inside the building, children behave better when he is around. Also, his support allows the staff and us to do other projects as well. Juan is a valuable asset to the Boys and Girls Club of Mar Vista Gardens, and we want to thank him.

A Class Act

by Noemi Rodriguez

serving at Youth Policy Institute in LA

Miguel stood out to me as soon as I started my service here at Sylmar Biotech Health Academy. He always hung around the school offices after school and was not in the least bit shy around us newbie’s. Not long after our first day of work Miguel approached me with a request, to create his drama club for him. He definitely had a vision and a goal and knew what he wanted. I really liked that about him and appreciated it. Miguel is not the best student, grades wise, but he is very much involved with the school and is incredibly smart and imaginative. After completing all the paperwork necessary for there to be a drama club in our school Miguel got to work, letting me know that we needed to start advertising the club and raising money so that they can have some funds for props. Miguel is always thinking ahead and always ready to work. He has a great determination when it comes to things he is passionate about. Miguel was full of ideas and would bring them to my attention every chance he had. After our adventure working together to create the school’s first drama club Miguel became my go to advisor. I believe Miguel is filled with one great idea after another. A lot of the times he amazes me with some of the things he suggests, not only for the drama club but for other school activities as well. I now search Miguel out when I want to share an idea for a new program, I like to ask him for suggestions and also brainstorm ideas with him. His focus and commitment to his creative vision has really inspired me and has made a huge difference in how I run and create programming for this school. They are no longer my programs or my ideas but the students as well. It is a collaboration between myself and the youth who represent the school. Not only that but the connection I have made with Miguel and students like Miguel have provided me with the drive and motivation you need to get a job like ours done. Miguel’s quick welcoming of me and trust in me helped relieve my first time jitters, allowing me to jump right into my work without any fear.

Promises Kept...

by Krysel Walasik
serving at South Bay Community Services in California

When I first began my service in Chula Vista, I was a bit apprehensive about working within a community that was predominantly Spanish speaking, as my Spanish skills were very low. My position involves community and parent engagement, thus requiring some Spanish knowledge, which made me even more nervous and shy. The community and parent engagement team consists of ten Promotores, community members who work with Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood (CV Promise) in order to engage parents, discuss issues, and bridge gaps between education information and community knowledge. Our parent and community engagement team ranges from ages 22-75 years old, and each of us has different personalities and provides varying contributions, making our team multi-faceted and incredibly interesting.

Most of the Promotores’ first language was Spanish, like most of the Chula Vista community, thus leading to most of our meeting being held in Spanish. Within my first few weeks, I was being taught various Spanish terms and now, 6 months into my service, I am able to understand almost all the Spanish conversations that take place during our meetings or discussions with parents. I moved to San Diego without any family, only a few friends, and no knowledge of the area. However, within my first month here, my team, along with other CV Promise members, became my family, friends, and support.

At the start of my service, I kept to my other VISTA members and was in the background for most of the meetings and simply observed what was going on each day. The parent and community engagement team office is located in the parent center at Castle Park Elementary School, where many parents come in and out. One day in early November, a woman by the name of Graciel Salmeron was in the parent center with her 3-year-old daughter inquiring about information on CV Promise programs. Ica, Graciel’s daughter, came up to me and started talking to me in Spanish and telling me about the community garden that she and her mom had just finished watering; the garden is located at Castle Park Elementary school behind the parent center and Graciel is part of the garden board. Graciel has another daughter who attends the CV Promise preschool, Escuelita del Futuro, and Ica was enrolled in the new classroom opening in January 2014.

From November to January, Ica would come in once or twice a week with her mom and talk to me, not knowing that I could not understand most of her words, but still wanting to share her stories. Ica helped me branch out of my comfort zone by speaking to me each time she visited and helped me become more comfortable in my surroundings; I learned that any person young or old can impact you and change your life. Graciel is involved with the garden, the elementary school, and volunteers with my new School Pantry program, thus allowing me to become very familiar with her and her family.

I am currently working with Graciel to train her on PTA information, so that she can hopefully become the next Castle Park Elementary PTA president. She has a wonderful family and is engaged in every aspect of her four children’s education, thus making her a role model for other parents and community members. Graciel and Ica have had a large impact on my time here in Chula Vista, and I really enjoy working with such loving and involved families.

“Flash”

by Janel Bituin & Jeanne Kelber
serving at Youth Policy Institute in Los Angeles

Umar “Flash” Ojambo is a junior attending the Helen Bernstein Complex. He is an actively involved student and community member who has a positive influence on his peers. He participates in Serving Our Community (S.O.C) Dragons Club and is involved in a wide array of sports on campus. Flash is a unique individual whose positive energy reaches out and touches those around him.

This relationship is important to us because he has played a large role in one of our first and main projects for the year. He is a great source of motivation and energy for the other students in this club as well as ourselves. While this club got off to a slow start there was a noticeable change in the dynamic and dedication of S.O.C Dragons. His positivity and motivation has not only given confidence in the other members but to us and the service we do on campus.

This club has played an important role in all the subsequent efforts we have made here at the Helen Bernstein Complex. S.O.C has been a jumping off point for many of our other projects as well as a way for us to stay connected to the student body. This is why the students of S.O.C and Flash in particular is very important to us.

An Explanation of Culture through a Promotora's Eyes

by Kelsey Leach

serving at South Bay Community Services, California

Chula Vista Promise Neighborhoods/South Bay Community Services is a pleasure to work with. I have not spent much time with community members because I have been busy finding out were my place is within the school, doing behind the scenes tasks and trying to create new programs to help students. However, I did participate in South Bay Community Services Homeless Count. This allowed me to get to know Teresa, a Promotora, a little better.

Promotoras were started in Latin America in 1950’s, according to Implementing a Promotoras Comunitarias Model by Sylvia Esqueda. Promotoras were created to help people navigate the healthcare system. The Promotoras of Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood help educate parents in numerous ways so they can fully support and provide for their children. They build a sense of comfort to a community that comes together like family. They help bridge a gap between the white dominant cultural practices and the Latino community. Her work as a Promotora helps parents become more involved in their children’s education. This makes a big difference in children’s academics by providing them with parental support which they need to help them thrive. Teresa helps build a bridge that allows the predominantly Latino neighborhood to understand the importance of education. She works within a schools system structured around the cultural norms of a white middle class society to break down barriers that often leave behind minorities such as Latinos.

We started off on a journey that would further help me understand my role as a new community member in Chula Vista working with South Bay Community services to help children succeed. It was very early in the morning but it was time to go count the homeless in the south Bay Region. I was fortunate enough to be paired with Teresa and another Promotora to count the homeless in one of the neighborhoods of Chula Vista.

It was great to be shown a different part of Chula Vista than I am use to while driving around looking for sleeping homeless people. She told me about the different parts of Chula Vista as we continued driving around looking for homeless. Her knowledge of the area was great because it helped improve my awareness of Chula Vista. Teresa pointed out good restaurants as we drove and happily shared about the streets that she had lived on. We even had a brief discussion about Mexican breakfasts. It was so helpful to get to know the area in which the students, I am helping, live in. I also learned about Teresa’s background and personal story of her upbringing which seemed to be similar to many students in the area and the same cultural background my mom had come from.

Although racism may not seem as prevalent when you are minority today, it still exists in our lives. Many families within this community are bilingual or speak Spanish within their home often making it challenging for children entering schools were English is the standard. She made me think about many of the obstacles that Castle Park students face on a regular basis because of cultural differences.

My identity is something I have always struggled with considering I am of a mixed background. I am half Latina and half white, but look white. I identify myself as Latina, but no one else knows that unless I share my background. On my mom’s side of the family my grandmother is from El Salvador and my grandfather was from Mexico City. My grandfather was never an American Citizen. In the 1950’s my mother grew up in a household with parents who did everything to raise their children as middle class white people. Spanish is both my grandparents’ native language, but was only spoken by my grandparents when they didn’t want their children to know what they were saying. Prejudices ran very high in the 1950’s and it was easier to not stand out as Latino, from the brief conversations I have had about it with my mom and grandmother. I really enjoyed hearing Teresa’s story of her family and how they embraced their cultural background. She had cousins that took place in protesting for Hispanic equality in LA during the 1960’s. All of this made me understand my own family a little better and all the hardships the people of this area have suffered. It helped me better understand what the children within Castle Park Elementary face today.

I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to get know Teresa a little better. She has helped me understand the cultural background of the people I am serving and the area in which I am living in. I hope to work with her in the future.