La Carpio

On Thursday this week we visited a town called La Carpio. La Carpio is an area where many immigrants from Nicaragua began squatting at in the late 80’s. They eventually grew in population and started building tin shacks for themselves and their families. Everyone in the town lives in extreme poverty and drugs, alcohol, and domestic violence are sadly very common. However, a woman named Gayle, has worked tirelessly to help the people of this town and improve it. We had the great opportunity of meeting her when we arrived. She discussed the idea of “poverty as a disease” with us. Many of the symptoms associated with disease and sickness correlate with the symptoms of poverty. It hit me very hard and very quickly that so many children live and grow up in such great poverty – not only in La Carpio but all over the world. We started our walk to the preschool to meet with the “abuelas”. While walking to the school, I noticed beautiful murals painted all over the town. The juxtaposition of the situation was incredible. Here in a town of poverty and dirty tin shacks, there were dozens of hand painted inspiring murals painted all over the walls of buildings. These murals portrayed messages for children and women of La Carpio – that they deserve respect, and that they can succeed, etc. We arrived at the school and met the groups of abuelas. The women in this group were all grandmothers who live in La Carpio and they formed the group as an outlet. It was so inspiring and heartwarming to hear their stories and what the being a part of the group does for them. They plant gardens of food, harvest them, take part in various community projects, and just talk. It gives them something to do and something to feel good about. After hearing about their stories we split into two groups and got to walk around the town with our abuela and talk to people about recycling. Trash is also a major problem in La Carpio and these women we worked with were starting a campaign to advocate for recycling and just keep the litter off of the streets. We handed out brochures and talked to people about the importance of keeping La Carpio clean. Many of the people seemed to embrace the new movement with alacrity. After passing out the brochures, our abuela took us to her house. We walked in and there was a dirt floor, a small kitchen and a small living room with 3 chairs and many decorations. It was enlightening that even though she lived in very dirty and unsafe conditions, she did her best to keep it clean and make it homey. She even offered all of us some soda. The fact that she invited us in her home and gave all of us something to drink reaffirmed the fact that most people in this town are so giving, caring, and happy despite the struggles they face each and every day. Afterwards, our whole group got to see a special dance performance by some of the children of La Carpio. They were practicing a routine that showed the history of La Carpio. They did such a great job! They practiced in a dark room with cardboard as their dance floor in the bottom of a bar. This made me very happy and very sad at the same time. The children were so happy and excited to show us their dance routine which made me happy but the fact that they did not know any different than the conditions that they had to practice in made me very sad. This made me realize that you can hear all about poverty and the effects it has on people but it isn’t until you witness it or experience it that you truly become grateful for what you have. As I reflected on this further, I realized that in my future classrooms I may have students who are living in poverty and not ever know the extent of it. With that being said, I also need to give all students, whether they come from poverty or not, high expectations. The only way to break through the vicious cycle of poverty is to overcome the struggles and for most, that is getting an education. As a future educator it is my job to make sure that students feel like they have the ability to get an education and break through the lead a life better than the one they grew up in. I would love to help La Carpio improve even more than it already has and to see the progress it has already made a few years from now. Visiting La Carpio was definitely the most memorable experience I’ve had on this trip. It had the most effect on me and it is something I will never forget.