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Today the EVE Team travelled from Juan Tomás, where we spent the last 4 nights to Batey Vasca (a community in the sugar cane plantation area). Although we were not at Jaun Tomas for long, I believe our program was well received and the team made new connections and reconnected with familiar faces.
The word of the day today was empowerment. The team thought curiosity, holding space, and active listing would be good strategies to keep in mind in our talks/workshops.
Once we arrived in Vasca we met the Saturday Crecer youth group (ages 12 – 25). There were 23 youth and some of their teachers were also present. The Crecer group meets in the Community Center to help engage youth teaching them about identity and values. The group was asked, how has the community center helped them? Some of the responses were: we take our lessons here, we have Christion activities here, and we have the Crecer program here. The youth are very happy to have the Community Center. Our talk with the kids was helping them identify that they are strong and created for a purpose in Gods image. We had a conversation about how important it is to have dreams and hopes for the future. We talked about setting goals and putting in the hard work it takes to accomplish our goals. We asked the question, “Why is it important to set goals and accomplish them?” The responses were as follows: something to work towards, need it for the future, bring happiness, feel proud. The room came alive when it was time to work on the Dream Boards. Which is an exercise to focus on getting the youth to think about the future and support their goals. It also makes them think about what kind of person they want to be. The youth left with their Dream Boards, a bracelet that says “I am strong and a baseball cap with the EVE logo on it. They were very excited when they left, and the team’s prayer is they realize the possibilities of the future.
After lunch we met with some of the care takers of the youth in the Crecer’s program. We talked about the effects domestic violence has on the family and community. We talked about the importance of dreams for our children and our children to have dreams. That parents who encourage their children to dream can influence and shape the values we want to see in them. We all have value and matter. We also talked about the cycle of violence and how difficult It is to change but with taking steps moving forward, little by little change can happen. The power of words can inspire and up lift or hurt and tear down. We talked about caring for yourself and the importance of having a friend connection or support group. The women in the group want to make change. One woman stepped forward to say she would connect with some of the women who were there next week and start a support group. It excited the team to hear this as it is the first step forward to change.
Thinking back to the word of the day empowerment. I believe both groups felt empowered, first the youth by creating dream boards and realizing dreams and setting goals can shape their future and second the woman by starting to connect, talk and support each other in wanting change for their families and community.
The Vasca community has really touched my heart by seeing the poverty and knowing about the domestic and community violence. Connecting with some of the youth and woman in the community will hopefully plant seeds for change.
Sydney Watt
