One of our favorite parts of the BEST Boys Go Global program is our community service component. In order to graduate from high school in the state or Georgia you must have 75 hours of community service. During our trips we incorporate service and our students earn 50 hours per trip. I have students who’ve earned 200 community service hours in high school, all earned 50 hours at a time in 4 different country. Global citizenship? My BEST Boys got that!!!!
So today’s project was to paint a house. What we didn’t know was that we’d be painting Jaedyn’s host home. Jaedyn’s host family is orginally from Venezuela. Currently Venezuela is in turmoil. People are literally starving to death, the crime rate is like astronomical, and life is beyond hard. His family (as are many other) is here seeking refuge. They’ve been in Cartagena for only 6 months and this close knit community has embraced them. The children in the family attend Alex’s community center are learning to speak English. Our job today was to paint their home, to make life just a little bit sweeter for a family who’s been through so much and lost everything in the process. Jaedyn was the first to start painting, he made it clear that this was "his house and his family" and he would be the first to step up and lend a hand. Our young men from BEST are some of the most fun and compassionate kids I’ve ever taught. Today they gave of themselves joyfully and as always made me proud and made us all laugh. I’ll let the picture tell you the things that words cannot properly say.
While painting the neighborhood kids came running to me saying "they’re dancing and painting, they’re dancing!!! Come look!!" I was NOT expecting this, but I was happy to catch it on film.
https://youtu.be/2uzlljcNmm4
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