This was an exciting last day of class both in terms of planning and reflection!! First, we are still waiting to hear back from Karen on behalf of Hope for Honduran Children regarding our decision to partner in a capacity that does not include taking on the Transition Home in Casa Noble. After thoughtful discussion we have decided it is not our most feasible option and instead are still brainstorming our contributions to the partnership, in addition to ongoing Pen Pal correspondence and being English language friends. English language friends is a sustainable idea since we are already fundraising for English classes for the boys, we might as well also enable them to practice and allow us to see how they are progressing as we work together. We filmed a Christmas/Holiday video to send back to the boys of Casa Noble, which we recorded in Spanish and are in talks about trying to find a way to send our pen pal letters at more frequent intervals.

Transition Home Happy Holidays!

Also, this week we heard a report back from the group who had a Skype call with Maggie about our future work with Summit in Honduras. Maggie was very positive and encourages more email correspondence between our organizations. In terms of a partnership, Maggie was enthusiastic that instead of beginning new, large-scale projects it would be better for us to focus on smaller, existing projects to make them more sustainable, perhaps an art project or something along those lines. We are excited to increase communications in the near future and cement a project soon early next semester.
Our third partner is LUPE and after our dinner meeting at Mex/Am we have already begun brainstorming how to work between our groups as well as encourage community outreach efforts through involvement of other members in the Elon and Alamance community. First, Olga, a member of LUPE, has a 15 year old daughter named Jacqueline that is very adamant about needing tutors for various classes, including math, biology, and chemistry. Jenna is working with the Education and Teaching departments on campus to hopefully being an ASL class where students can volunteer to tutor beyond middle school, and now into high schools of need. After break we plan to continue working on this educational betterment initiative and are excited after the very positive feedback we received from members of LUPE.
In terms of the CSR Summit for next year, rather than the Fall we feel it will be most feasible if instead it takes place Spring 2016, so we can first focus on implementing and planning with our partners and by the time the Summit comes to fruition the entire class will be back together. Also, we will return to class in the spring with SMART goals drafted over Winter Break and will determine candidates for the 3 Pan-Periclean committees.
Lastly, we were lucky enough to hear about Savannah and Caroline’s abroad experience in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. They shed some light on the very interesting political and cultural climate in those Central American regions with eye-opening first-hand accounts and provocative questions about the gaps in our US education system, in terms of education about our government’s past involvement in warfare and mass atrocity. They compelled us to understand the differences in relationship between citizens and their authority, the mixed feelings of indigenous peoples with a colorful history and pattern of violence and variety of framing various issues have received throughout history. Looking into the Sandino-era reign in Nicaragua and the CAFTA agreements would really aid in a well-informed discussion about Central America and US relations. Thank you everyone for your hard work this semester and have an incredibly restful Winter Vacation!!

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This week in class we reached the overwhelming feeling that we are more than half way through the semester, and still have so much we want to do. We spent a lot of our time talking about LUPE, what our potential role can be on Saturdays when we go to help out during the Spanish classes, and what our role could be on a larger scale. We are really excited about the prospect of making an impact with a domestic partner, and are continuing to learn more about the organization. We are hoping to have a dinner with the LUPE board, where we will have the opportunity to talk to the board members and to listen to hear more about their goals and hopes for the organization. April went to the board meeting last week, and reported back to us during class with some of what she had heard. It sounds like the organization really wants to grow, as they are seeking funds to create a youth center, purchase a bus or van that would help with transportation to and from classes, and are looking to fund more events. Additionally, they are hoping to learn more about getting IDs for undocumented immigrants, which is supposed to be put in place in Alamance County in January. For now, our goals are to really get to know the members, so some of the class is hoping to attend their “Day of the Dead celebration this Saturday at City Park.

We are currently waiting to hear back from Hope for Honduran Children and Summit in Honduras with the results of our Partnership Review Questionnaire. We are anxiously awaiting their answers, so that we can begin to take steps towards determining what our role can be in working with both organizations. Until we get these back, we are focusing on some other tasks, as our progress with them is dependent on receiving the questionnaire back.

We spent a lot of the class talking about some of our goals for the end of the semester, and hearing about Arianna’s planning for a Summit at Elon next fall. She has come up with some really great ideas about different events that can be held, with an overall goal of bringing an event to Elon’s campus that is more universally appealing, bridging the Business school power/interest with that of humanities and human rights advocacy and sustainability. She is hoping that we can bring in some representatives from companies and businesses that can speak about their experiences working in a sustainable company. By the end of the semester, we hope to have researched companies and come up with a list of potential representatives. Additionally, we really hope to solidify what our goals will be in working with our domestic and Honduran partners. We are making strides in both of these areas, and are hopeful that we will end the semester with an idea of what our project should be.

We look forward to seeing everyone at Celebrate Periclean!

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We had the pleasure of talking with Suyapa at our class on Tuesday. We had a really good conversation with her, about the work she does in the local communities, as well as her personal experiences which have shaped her generosity today. Suyapa hosts spanish classes for children (between the ages of 7-16) on saturday mornings to learn the mechanics of spanish. She started this program because she noticed in our community that children with spanish as their predominant language struggled to read and write it because it wasn’t being taught in schools.  With this program in mind, we are going to have members of our class attend a saturday session and see if we could be helpful in any way! We are looking into volunteering to help the children strengthen their spanish writing/reading skills, as well as possibly teaching the families english!

We also talked to Suyapa about LUPE (Latinos Unidos Promoviendo la Esperanza).  LUPE is an organization that seeks out to strengthen the Latin American community in our area.  They offer various educational sessions that families can attend. One of the pivotal focus points of LUPE is education about nutrition, which Suyapa is very passionate about.

Here are some links for more information about LUPE, it’s a great organization and we encourage you all to check them out!

https://www.facebook.com/lupenc and http://www.lupe-nc.org/

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Our second class of the semester was also very productive! We continued to work on the planning for the Periclean in Residence event. We broke up into groups and worked out several details pertaining to the week ahead! We have been brainstorming panel questions, deciding on meals to share with our panelists, and discussing details with Dr. Monico.

Dr. Monico came into our class  to discuss some of the details of the event. She looked over our questions and thought they were good! We are really excited to have her on the panel, she is an amazing person with a plethora of information pertaining to the topic we will be diving into.

We were really lucky to be able to look into some of Dr. Monico’s contacts, all that would be wonderful people to offer extensive information about issues in Central America, as well as issues in our own community. Dr. Monico will be meeting with the UNCG Center for New North Carolinians (discussed in the post from last class) this coming friday to hopefully help us initiate a relationship with them!

We will be working on the final details for next week within the few days we have left. We are finishing designing a program for the panel event, as well as touching up questions and introductions for the panelists. We are getting really excited for next week, and we hope to see many Pericleans at the panel 🙂

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