I asked Roxana to share a little bit about what her experience was speaking at Faces of Hope. In this blog, she talks about the challenge of speaking, but how it was possible because she had support from her community. A link to Roxana’s speech can be found here. Thank you to all your support for NPH! 

Faces of hope is a great opportunity that is very important for us at NPH as a family. It is one of the ways that we raise funds to continue educating, feeding, clothing and caring for our family. These actions wouldn’t be possible if people like you didn’t exist. I know that merely saying thank you feels short, but we at NPH really feel thankful and blessed to have people like you helping us achieve our dreams. thank YOU for being part of our personal story. Thanks to folks like you, my story is told differently.

I would like to thank all the people that helped me prepare for when I shared a bit about my life at Faces of Hope. A big thank you to my homestay, to the people who work so hard in the NPH USA office, to Bob and Jacqueline, and to my brothers and sisters in NPH. Thanks to all the godparents, benefactors, friends and volunteers who make NPH possible.

I must admit that when they asked me if I was ready to share a bit about my life, I did not feel ready whatsoever. I was scared, and my head immediately began to bring back memories of my childhood. It was a mix of many emotions–happiness and tragedy. With all of these memories, I decided that I had to challenge myself. It was not easy to talk in another language in front of so many people. It was something that caught me off guard. But thanks to all the people who took time to support me with patience and love, I was able to overcome the challenge. Now, I know that anything is possible because I am not along in this journey. It’s easier when people are there to support me. I am and forever will be thankful for the work that YOU do to make NPH and my great family possible.

One of the resources that NPH and the Seattle Institute offer our students is counseling and therapy. Between all the stress and adjustment, it is helpful to find spaces that are safe and confidential to process. Our therapists that we partner with are trained and highly skilled in cross-cultural situations, fluent in Spanish and familiar with NPH. David writes a little about his experience in his own English!

When I came to this program, I had never asked for an appointment and visited a therapist, because I had a negative image of going to a psychologist. My first time was in December when Jacqueline asked us to visit just one time.  I really didn’t want to go because I have had bad experiences. I did not know how the therapy worked here in the United States.

However, I had to go before my trip to Minnesota for Christmas. Once I arrived to the therapist’s office, I was happy. We were able to meet with Kara King, who is an amazing person. I realized that it was a little difficult to express all the things that I wanted to say because I was nervous and I did not know how to start. During my time in Seattle, sometimes I feel like I’m alone. I think about my University, friends in my country, trying to learn a new language, and I begin to lose sense of this program. So then, I began talking about Seattle with Kara. For example, my homestay, school, leadership formation, Seattle’s culture and a little bit about myself.

I really enjoyed my time with Kara despite everything, I felt very comfortable at the end because I could express myself freely. In conclusion, I am taking advantage of this opportunity that NPH offers me. Sometimes, we are looking for someone to tell our personal things to, or you might even have your own person! But if you need any help, you can talk with your loved ones, Jacqueline, or even go to therapy.

Saravia and her homestay participated in the Women’s March in Seattle, which was one of the largest marches ever recorded. She writes about the importance of women’s rights and her experience in her own English!

I attended this march because my host family firmly believes that women’s rights are also human rights. 130,000 people joined in this event to demonstrate that women are not what the president of this country believes or says. Men also joined this march to demonstrate that they respect the existence of women.

I am very surprised with what happened in this march. Because it makes me think a lot about my country and it makes me very sad because my country is going through the same political situations, and I think even worse. In my country corruption is like a disease–everywhere you can see it. Citizens of my country put a president in office who does not respect the constitution of the republic, a person who steals money from the people, a person who left thousands of families without social insurance. But the citizens of Honduras will never make a march like the one I saw in Seattle .

Finally, i hope that the American people will remain strong and united. To fight for their rights and values, to fight for a better country for future generations and for the rights of immigrants

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Below, Jimmy writes about spending time with iLeap a few weeks ago. 

On March 30 and 31st, we spent time at iLeap. They were two days full of happiness, learning, and much reflection for me. It was so good to see the wonderful people that work there as they shared their knowledge and friendship with us.

Those two days were full of learning because I had the opportunity to learn many new things. I learned that vulnerability affects us in many difference situations and that sometimes we become victims of our own lack of confidence and trust.

My favorite activity was that we had to represent our lives as a river. It made me reflect a lot as we had to draw about our lives in past, present and future tense. This impacted me, because it made me think about the things that happened to me in the past that continue to affect me presently. The activity helped me think about the manner of how I’m living my life now and how life could be in the future.

In conclusion, I feel very grateful to iLeap for all their support!

El pasado 30 y 31 de Marzo compartimos tiempo con el personal de iLEAP. Fueron dos días llenos de alegría, conocimiento y de mucha reflexión para mí. Fue muy alegre porque pude ver una vez más la gente linda que trabaja ahí y que comparte su conocimiento y su amistad con todo el que lo necesita.

Fueron días llenos de conocimiento porque tuve la oportunidad de aprender muchas y nuevas cosas como, la manera en la que la vulnerabilidad nos afecta en tantas situaciones y a veces no nos damos cuenta que somos víctimas de nuestra misma inseguridad.

La parte que mas me encanto y que me hizo reflexionar muchísimo fue la de representar nuestra vida en forma de un rio y dividida entre pasado, presente y futuro. Esa me impacto porque me hizo pensar en cosas que no fueron muy buenas en mi pasado y que de alguna u otra manera me están afectando en mi presente, al darme cuenta de eso sentí mucha satisfacción porque gracias a esa actividad estaba revisando mi vida.

La actividad mi vida como un rio me ayudo muchísimo a retroceder hacia mi pasado, pensar en la manera en la que estoy viviendo en mis años actuales y también me ayudo a pensar de la manera en la que me visualizo en algunos años. En conclusion, me siento muy agradecido con iLEAP por el trabajo que han realizado con nosotros como NPH y en especial conmigo.