UNITY - Seventeen-year-old Rayel Green took a unique summer break this year. She was one of a group of teenagers who volunteered through the “Me to We” program to help build a school in Nicaragua. Rayel learned of Me to We through her participation in the We Day celebrations that took place in Saskatoon.
Rayel did not do any fundraising for her trip as she knew working two part-time jobs and monitoring her spending would be more than enough to pay for her trip.
Rayel was in a group of 25 from all across Canada and one from the United States.
“I was the only Saskatchewan participant on this excursion,” Rayel says. “The only other person I know of that has taken part in this program is Kaylee Thomas from Landis who went to Kenya two years ago.”
A facilitator, Natalia, met the group in Toronto and another, Jon, was waiting for them in Managua.
“Surprisingly the language barrier wasn’t a big deal, especially when it came to talking to kids,” Rayel reports.
“Smiles and laughs is a communication all in its own. It was difficult trying to communicate in the market as everything is on the barter system so we all knew numbers in Spanish however the vendors would ignore us because they thought we just didn’t understand.”
Rayel says the experience has given her a new appreciation for what she has.
“We stayed in a completely different community than where we were building. The community we built in was Los Campos and was mainly a farming community. The school already had a preschool, kindergarten, Grade 1 and 2 classroom. The average class had about 25 kids in it. The community was fairly urban and the next closest school the kids could attend was a three-kilometre walk along the highway.”
Rayel says it was a safe environment.
“These people are very grateful and made us feel very welcome. This program is a safe and responsible organization.
The mission has also helped her develop a new appreciation for Canada’s education system.
“We take education for granted and in a country like Nicaragua it is a privilege. Public school is free, but it usually isn’t the best education and most kids have to walk a long distance to get to school, therefore many kids do not go. We take it for granted in a sense that we complain about homework and having to go into my Grade 12 school year will be an eye-opener for me now that I have seen this side of education in a poorer country.”
Rayel’s parents, Trevor and Kerri, were glad to have Rayel home safe and sound, but throughout the experience, other than missing her, felt comfortable with the organization and Rayel’s choice to experience this program.
Since We Day celebrations starting coming to Saskatoon, there have been dozens of kids from across the province who go on to be part of the movement by holding events in their hometowns, fundraising for Free the Children or taking part in charitable work, even overseas, such as this trip Rayel was a part of.
You can find out more details about We Day and Me to We program by logging on to their websites: www.weday.com or www.metowe.com.
