How I Discovered My New Passion
I have found a new passion in my life. While a world of madness swirls around me, I have found my true north, a new direction filled with surprises and smiles every day. I have found a lost treasure that fills me with hope. This year I started working as the Partner Schools Program Assistant Director at Plenitud PR. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this unexpected professional opportunity came up for me and I couldn’t say no. I have known the Plenitud PR family for more than a year now, and I knew that they only emit well-being and harmony. At home, my family tries to stay away from negativity, do our best to eat healthy, and to nurture relationships with people that contribute positively to our lives. And that's why I said yes to Plenitud.
“I didn’t know what I was going to find in this new venture of coordinating efforts to educate our children and youth in three closed public schools, with more than 10 collaborating teachers and 300 students attending virtual classes from their homes. ”
These are homes where there is often no internet access, homes where many of them do not have access to the internet, homes where perhaps only Grandma is there to support them, and homes where perhaps patterns of abuse are present. Without fear, I was all the way in, with the sincere desire to reach these teachers, students and parents hearts. I still have to tell you what my new passion is, right?
In this effort to promote ecological and sustainable agriculture practices at these partner schools, our team designed a model that adapts to today's reality with the pandemic. Our vision was to give planting tools (soil, seeds, and notebooks) to each of our participating children so that they could plant at home with their families. This simple service to students resulted in serving the family as a whole, as fathers, mothers, and grandparents came together to join the effort at home. In addition, Plenitud PR has developed a series of educational videos on YouTube to guide each student, explaining step-by-step the designing, planting, and management processes of their garden.
These artistic expressions inspire me every time I look at them, bringing a smile to my face and a sense of hope that our future is not so uncertain. That the certainty is in each seed sown and sprouted with water, sun, and love of those small tender hands.
We have also integrated to our curriculum the use of visual arts and mindfulness practices that support the mental and emotional care of our children and youth. We have received dozens of drawings depicting what is happening in each of their homes with the seeds they have sown. We have received impressive videos of children educating other children on how to plant.
This process that I have observed from a distance while simultaneously raising my 2-year-old son, has had a great impression in my life. Witnessing how these tiny beings transform day by day by following models at home, imitating attitudes of their peers and absorbing every detail of the human experience with intensity helped me find in that childhood magic a place of refuge, of healing and inspiration.
That is why serving children is my new passion.
If you feel inspired to join this movement of love, I encourage you to give a gift today! Together, we can do even more.
