Nicaragua: Climb up a mountain
Every few months we volunteers face the ever-so-fun task of completing a report showcasing the work we have achieved in that given time period. This report includes data referring to our specific project framework; for example, I report on the number of students reached with the high school entrepreneurship curriculum, the number of teachers I train to teach the same entrepreneurship course, the number of business owners seeking and implementing my advice, the number of individuals I impact via financial education, to name a few. Up to this point in my service I have only completed activities within the small business development project framework which we were given. I have always kept one spot on the report blank: Secondary Activities.
What are those, you wonder? Secondary activities are projects which a volunteer wishes to complete but do not fall within the goals and objectives which are already established in our given assignment. In other words, it is our chance to be creative and do something which we find personally interesting and especially fulfilling. Pretty neat, right?
I had been pondering what sort of secondary activity I would like to try during my service, and nothing occurred to me for the longest time. At least, nothing that really sparked my interest.
Until the day when I saw an electric keyboard for sale in my community. The price tag was a little too high for my current budget, and I didn't want to make such an investment for it to be solely for my personal use. Standing there in front of the store, staring at the keyboard, I thought to myself, "I haven't heard of anybody teaching piano lessons around here." And then I became giddy visioning the possibility of young students in my community taking piano lessons.
My mother signed me up for piano lessons when I was in elementary school and my third grade teacher could tell you that all I talked about was wanting to grow up to be a PPP: professional piano player. I continued with lessons through middle school and by my final years of high school I became a piano teacher. When I headed off to college at a school which offered a Bachelor of Music degree, people from my hometown were confused as to why I wasn't pursuing music further (but let it be known that I did take advantage of the umpteen pianos on campus to practice from time to time).
There have been studies done that show the positive developmental results which correlate to learning to play an instrument. All I know is, playing the piano makes me feel good inside. Such an effect should be pretty universal, I would think. So why not give students here that opportunity?
I'm in the process of organizing the logistics of it all, and I will try my best to get this project up and running. Several community members have expressed interest in signing their kids up, and the kids are hungry for any type of activity that doesn't involve sitting in front of the TV all day long. The new school year begins in February and I am crossing my fingers that this new activity of mine will start around that time.
Hopefully my report in the upcoming quarter will look a little happier than the previous.
What are those, you wonder? Secondary activities are projects which a volunteer wishes to complete but do not fall within the goals and objectives which are already established in our given assignment. In other words, it is our chance to be creative and do something which we find personally interesting and especially fulfilling. Pretty neat, right?
I had been pondering what sort of secondary activity I would like to try during my service, and nothing occurred to me for the longest time. At least, nothing that really sparked my interest.
Until the day when I saw an electric keyboard for sale in my community. The price tag was a little too high for my current budget, and I didn't want to make such an investment for it to be solely for my personal use. Standing there in front of the store, staring at the keyboard, I thought to myself, "I haven't heard of anybody teaching piano lessons around here." And then I became giddy visioning the possibility of young students in my community taking piano lessons.
My mother signed me up for piano lessons when I was in elementary school and my third grade teacher could tell you that all I talked about was wanting to grow up to be a PPP: professional piano player. I continued with lessons through middle school and by my final years of high school I became a piano teacher. When I headed off to college at a school which offered a Bachelor of Music degree, people from my hometown were confused as to why I wasn't pursuing music further (but let it be known that I did take advantage of the umpteen pianos on campus to practice from time to time).
There have been studies done that show the positive developmental results which correlate to learning to play an instrument. All I know is, playing the piano makes me feel good inside. Such an effect should be pretty universal, I would think. So why not give students here that opportunity?
I'm in the process of organizing the logistics of it all, and I will try my best to get this project up and running. Several community members have expressed interest in signing their kids up, and the kids are hungry for any type of activity that doesn't involve sitting in front of the TV all day long. The new school year begins in February and I am crossing my fingers that this new activity of mine will start around that time.
Hopefully my report in the upcoming quarter will look a little happier than the previous.
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