Today was Deconstructing Poverty Day.  We woke up, ate breakfast and then we took the bus to Niños con una Esperanza (Children with Hope). A married couple named Elizabet and Pablo founded this place. They first started working with kids in prison and then that’s what motivated them to create Children with Hope with the goal of preventing child incarceration. Niños con una Esperanza was built in a community where a decade ago there wasn’t much there but poverty. Many people in the community work at the near by dump collecting materials to be recycled. This is how they make their living.

Niños con una Esperanza is a recreational center whose goal is to take kids out of the dump and their unsupervised homes while their parents are working and gives them a place to eat, play and most importantly be a kid. We were supposed to take a tour of the dump but we only saw it from a distance. We couldn’t go because of all the conflict going on between the people living and working independently in the dump and the companies trying to take over their work.

After that we went back to the bus and did an independent self-reflection about the topic we just explored. We also tutored this afternoon and did a small group discussion about poverty.

FAST FACTS

Weather: Hot and Humid

Best Meal: Lunch- Chicken, rice, beans, sweet plantains, broccoli, fruits at Ninos con una Esperanza

Best Moment: Playing different activities such as basketball, volleyball, and soccer with the kids from Niños con una Esperanza.

Biggest Takeaway: This experience humbles us Glimpsers and makes us think about how we can help out once we get back in the US and to be extremely grateful for what we have