Jeanne was a traveler on the Allowance for Good / Spark Ventures trip to Nicaragua this August.
During one of our trip participant dinners in Leon,
Nicaragua, Jeanne, a 43 year-old, mother of two shares, “I have done some
reading and studying about Nicaragua since my last visit.” The unexpected
reply, “I love to read about history. I read about Nicaragua too! It was a wonderful
book, called The Jaguar Smile: A
Nicaraguan Journey by Salman Rushdie,” says Nina, 14 year-old member of
Allowance for Good. I, Jeanne, sat back, amazed that this young woman has read
this book. Amazed that she has chosen to take the time to prepare herself for
her first experience with global philanthropy.
This was just one piece of the tapestry of conversations that I would
have, as we traveled with the youth group, Allowance for Good.
My husband, Jeff, and I have been Spark Ventures investors
for many years. In 2013, we travelled to
León, Nicaragua to see and participate in the work that Spark has been doing at
a grassroots level. What we saw stunned
and changed us in so many ways during that trip and for the months to come.
Soon after our return, we decided that we would bring our boys, Luc (12) and
Ben (9), back with us some day.
We were committed to the idea that we must raise global
citizens. That we had to challenge our children to step away from their day to
day lives, look up from the screens and frankly, out of their comfort
zone. How can we make the world better
if don’t truly experience many of the cultures, people and perspectives that
make up our mosaic called Earth?
Early in 2014, we heard that Spark would be partnering with
another philanthropy on the next trip to Nicaragua, a group that worked with
teenagers in the areas of leadership and philanthropy. While 10 months was a
bit faster than we had planned, we decided this was our opportunity and the
group to share our family experience with, down in León.
Being in a completely different country, with a different
socioeconomic environment, speaking a different language, eating different
food, hearing different music and doing it all in a very different climate, can
be unsettling. The closer it drew the
more we went through our concerns. We
didn’t know how our children would react.
We weren’t sure how the other group would either. Would we and/or our children be welcomed or simple
tolerated? Will they befriend our boys
or think them too young to bother with on this trip? As it turns out, everyone exceeded even our
highest expectations.
You see, these are not your normal teenagers, enamored with
Disney, Xbox and the multitude of burgeoning social media tools. Remember that Rushdie novel Nina mentioned? It
was just the first of many pleasant and impressive surprises they had up their
sleeves. Spending time with Allowance for Good and the five youths that we had
the honor to accompany on this trip was, frankly, an inspiration to us as
parents with children just a few short years behind the AfG youths.
There was Turner, age 15, he came with an open mind and
heart to everything that was happening around him. When matched up with children who couldn’t
speak English, he kept smiling, made up a game and in no time had a shy little
child at Las Tias laughing and happy.
And Turner, well, he has a plan.
A sophomore in high school already thinking about what he wants to be,
where to go to college, what that means to his family and maybe win a few more
diving medals in the process. Turner
participates, he is present, he wants to learn about everything and
everyone. And how was he with our
boys? Well let’s just say that our son
Luc is begging us to let him head out to Africa with Turner next summer, so
that they can continue their journey of friendship and immersing themselves in
global philanthropy. And there are so
many other moments, memories and stories of how each of the teens made an
impression that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
It was very clear to Jeff and I how lucky we were to have
our children spending time with and learning from our AfG companions. They are not the teenagers who move quickly away
from something new and uncomfortable, or find their friends to avoid being part
of the community. They engage, they
learn, they teach and they are infinitely interested in growing.
Isn’t this what it’s all about? Our world is getting smaller, true. But it
can also be more isolating. Social media gives young people windows to the
world in ways that were never before possible.
Yet, Nina, Turner, Nicky, Orleana and Sylvana, that just isn’t enough
for them. They are not content watching from the sidelines, or watching a video
of someone else creating an experience. They wanted to a part of every moment
we had with the women and children of Las Tías. To learn and grow EVERY single
day. It wouldn’t have been the same trip without them. We are blessed for having spent that time
with them, they were a part of OUR learning and growth experiences, as well as
our children’s.
It’s a tradition on these trips to share your experience
with the other participants at the final group dinner. Well, AfG was already doing that in their
daily Reflection sessions. We were just
blown away how deeply these teens were thinking about the experience, how to
build on it, how to integrate these thoughts and feelings into their
development. And at that final dinner,
their thoughtfulness, maturity and character was on full display. We’d heard from our peers during the other
trip and spoken with many that had visited Spark partners in Zambia and
Nicaragua. And these teens were just as
self-aware, had grown just much, and were developing plans on how to continue
on their philanthropic life journey.
Keep your eye on these kids, help them if you can and they
will ‘help’ you in ways you hadn’t thought possible. These are the youths that will help us evolve
as a global community. The kind that
will lead their generation and others, into the future and do it for the
betterment of ALL of us.
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| Jeanne, right, presents Las Tías with educational materials for their students. |
