Nuevo Amanecer

This morning we were able to visit a community center in San Salvador called Nuevo Amanecer. The agency is doing some really cool stuff in terms of outreach and engagement with the community. Some of the activities/areas of service include a child development center (equipped with a volunteer social worker), an organic garden to supply additional vegetables for the meals that are served through the agency, outreach with persons living with HIV/AIDS, and micro-finance activities for small business owners such as the production of soaps and environmentally friendly shampoos and conditioners.

When we arrived at the center, they were having a farewell party for one of their volunteers. They also had several other volunteers who have been living in El Salvador and doing social work and teaching at the center for the past few years. When we arrived today, one of the social workers became very emotional and noted that she has found such a passion for this country, for its people, and for bringing about restorative justice. She was very excited to see an interest in El Salvador from other persons in the USA-we were very blessed to be able to hear some of her story and to be able to spend some time with the kiddos as well. We were able to dialogue about how discipline is provided to children at the center, how prevalent the cases of child abuse, and about how children with different learning styles are accommodated. To all of the teachers in my family reading this, you will be interested to note that there were many similarities between education in the USA and in El Salvador. "Agreements" are posted in each classroom, somewhat like a learning contract, discipline is based on these agreements and is posted in each room. Additional discipline includes time outs, group consensus on additional punishment, and involvement and engagement of parents into the strategies laid out in the classroom. Further, for early childhood education, the day is structured into centers focusing on fine and gross motor development and dramatic play. The kids were very excited to see us and we had a great time playing with them on the playground. It is amazing how the language barrier evaporates when playing with kids. Despite so many differences, kids are still kids...with the same needs and hopes....and when it comes down to it...they simply want to have fun and be loved.