Well... Monday was our first day at the Hispanic Center and I think it's safe to say that it didn't quite turn out as we expected. Coming into the center a couple weeks before our actual volunteering began helped Autumn, Becca, and I to be familiar with the place so we weren't in need of a tour so we met with *Victoria as soon as we got there. We set up a schedule, of course making sure to include one Fun Fiesta Friday, in which we thought we would be working with the students and tutoring. Our scheduling included both Mondays and Wednesdays. Well come to find out, there was no after school program available on Mondays so of course we met with *Victoria as soon as we found this out and changed it so that we would no longer come on Mondays since there wasn't much to do.
Well obviously since there was no after school program for us to help out with, we were given other tasks. We were sent to a guy who works with the Language Department. As we sat in his office, we talked about our majors and why we were interested in working with the Hispanic community. He then asked us to write articles for their blog involving something with our majors. I was asked to write about upcoming events in the Hispanic community which was very interesting to research. The only one I had really known about before was the Hispanic Festival which happens in September so it was cool to learn more about events happening around town.
After finishing with those articles, we were asked by *Greg to help him prepare for the Community Parent Night that was going on that night. The whole focus of the parent meeting was to help the people prepare their children for a college future. Our goal in our research was to look up savings plans. We actually found a lot of stuff that I didn't even know about myself!
Next we spent some time talking with *Miguel. *Miguel, he is an awesome man that is deeply devoted to these kids. He moved to the US from El Salvador when he was 9 and he told us a little about he got into the gang scene when they first moved here. It wasn't until he moved to Michigan that he decided to shape up and live a better life for himself. He told us how he was originally a well-respected architect but then realized that his heart was devoted to working with kids and helping the Hispanic community so he started volunteering with the Hispanic Center and eventually became part of the staff. It was really amazing getting to know him and then working with him again on Wednesday! I mean he's hard on the kids, but that's what they need. They know that he loves them and is just trying to motivate them to a better life than they have set out for themselves.
So after talking to *Miguel and hearing about his life story, we went across the street to the Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School across the street from the Hispanic Center to help *Greg continue setting up. They have these meetings monthly, at least I think so, and they hold them in both English and Spanish so the parents can choose their preference. *Greg said that at least 50 families show up each month. I thought that was outstanding! I was so blown away by just the small part of the school that I saw. We went over there around 5:15 and they were still holding after-school programs until 5:45! It is just very inspiring to see how much the community is involved in helping out these students and families. The after-school programs are run by volunteers which is totally something I could see myself getting involved in since I am going into Elementary Education.
Well, that was it for the first day! Totally not what I was expecting to do for the day, but definitely a memorable experience!
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