Hello all my name is Saravia and I am from Honduras. I am very grateful to be here today, in front of you, not to say goodbye, but to say see you later. I am very grateful for the program and for the people who lead it and make the experience possible.

One of my favorite experiences in Seattle has been going to school. I have learned a lot and I am very proud of the goals I have achieved, like earning the “Top Student” award. Another one of my favorite experiences has been living with my host family. I am very grateful for you, and I feel lucky to be your goddaughter. I want to say thank you for opening the doors of your home and your hearts.

This year in Seattle, I have learned that I am capable of demonstrating my skills as a leader, and can serve as an example for my other brothers and sisters at the NPH Honduras home. One of my strengths that I have discovered through this time here is that I am able to help others without expecting anything in return. This inspires me to return home and better serve my NPH family and community.

I know that to grow as a leader, it is essential to continue improving my skills and one example is teamwork. Life is a journey, so day by day, in my experiences, I will continue to learn and grow.

To me, leadership means more than standing in front of a group and being in control. True leadership is accompanying your team members, and working side by side. I strongly believe that a good leader is someone who is able to put themselves in the shoes of others. Someone who strives to benefit the whole group, rather than just themselves. This is the kind of leader I want to be.

I want to be more than just a guide, instead, a companion for my other brothers and sisters. This means that I must improve in my relationships with others, learn to be vulnerable, and how to love unconditionally. My time in Seattle has also taught me to fight for equality, social justice, and freedom of expression. This has had a huge impact on me, encouraging me to love who I want love more openly.

When I return to my country, I want to help create a safe space for kids who are marginalized in their communities. I will also continue with college and graduate with a degree in electrical engineering. After this, I want to work in my field somewhere in Tegucigalpa, to acquire experience outside of (the protection of NPH).  Stepping out of my comfort zone will help me grow as a leader for when I return to serve my NPH family that has given me the opportunities to become the person I am today. It is important to me to return to NPH and serve my family to give thanks for all the support they have given me over the years.

I am very grateful for all the people who in one way or another make this program and NPH a success. Thank you to Donna, Jacquelyn, iLEAP, my host family, and all my fellow leadership students. Thank you for being part of this experience with me and especially for believing in me.

Hi everyone, I am Jimmy from Nicaragua. This year in Seattle has helped me to discover in a deep way that we all are the same. That is to say nobody is more than another; and nobody is less than another. I know that every single person is unique, and that we should all strive to be our best selves. I have realized that we all have to love each other and support each other because every person is struggling with something.

As most of you already know, I am a quiet person.  This trait is useful because it helps me to listen more carefully to others. I am also very aware of what going on around me.  I know that I have to be careful with this awareness because sometimes it can turn to judgement, which is not good. I want to use my awareness for understanding,  instead of judgement, so I am able to help people and be supportive.  The most important reason for first knowing myself is that it helps me to be aware of my own behavior toward those surrounding me.

A leader is someone who supports others.  A leader has difficult conversations with people in peaceful way. A leader creates a safe environment for those surround him or her.  A leader serves others without expecting anything in return.  But, to me, most importantly, a good leader is humble. This is the kind of leader I will strive to be.

Being in Seattle has been hard at times because I have been immersed in a new culture and surrounded by a new language; However, it has also been fun because I was able to do activities that I had never done before. For example, the gala, going skiing, spending time with my host family here in Seattle and then with some of their relatives in Arizona and Wenatchee.  I played golf for the first time! And I have had the opportunity to have important and deep conversations with friends.

I have grown a lot as a person throughout my time here and I have also grown as a leader which means I will be able to better serve my community and my NPH family. I know that some of my areas of strength are that I am a responsible person and a good listener. I want to use these strengths to keep working with children because I believe that children are the future of our countries, and to keep our NPH family functioning well will develop good citizens and break the cycle of poverty.

When I return home, I am going to continue with my university studies and support NPH wherever they need me. My major is international relations and I hope to complete my degree in the next couple years and continue to serve my NPH family. Also, at Seattle Central, I took  some Psychology courses and I would like to continue studying.

Finally, I want to thank all the beautiful and kind people who supported me in my weaknesses, and the people who felt proud of me in my strengths –among them, my beautiful host family, The Harts, friends who gave me useful and honest advice, and those who took the time to share with me in one way or another. I love and appreciate you all and will carry you with me when I am home in Nicaragua.

Thank you..

Hi everyone. For the people that don’t know who I am, my name is Mariela and I from NPH Mexico.

I want to share about my experiences at the Seattle Institute and at iLEAP.

When I wrote my application to participate in the Seattle Institute program, I thought it would all be easy and exciting. I know now that only the second word was true.

I had a different idea about what leadership meant. In my mind, leadership was more about being the strongest in a group. But through my time in Seattle, I have learned that an equally important part of leadership is believing in myself, sharing my feelings with others, and taking time to reflect on myself. Allowing myself to be vulnerable is also very important.

The Seattle Institute and iLEAP have helped me thoughtfully consider who I am, where I am going, and what I want. We learned how to create goals, and different methods to be able to do them.

A personal goal for me is to be able to be the best version of myself, accepting my weaknesses, and being proud of my virtues.  And my professional goals are continue to grow my knowledge, skills and abilities as a dentist in order to help my community.

This stage in my life is very important for me because I want to inspire my younger brothers and sisters and share what I have learned. I want them to be able to see that being part of NPH is really amazing. NPH is transforming our lives now, and in the future, we are going to be the people who transform others’ lives with love and education.

I know there is a lot to learn, inside and outside the classroom, and this is only the beginning of my jorny. I know I’m going to make mistakes in the future, but something I struggle with is   recanaisin when something is not working, and being able to know when it is time to go a different way.

Now when I think about leadership, words like humility, tolerance, support, empathy, and teaching are what come to mind. These words are important to me and define the kind of leader I am trying to be.

I know now that I am a leader who is good at communicating and supporting others. I enjoy listening to people, being open to their ideas, and working with them.

I want to support and motivate others to give their best in order to make change. It’s not because I believe I have all the answers, but from my own experiences, I understand what it means to have someone who believes and has faith in you, to help you believe in yourself.

This program was amazing for me. I take with me an album of memories of adventures with my brothers and sisters, my host family, my teachers at the school, and all the people involved with NPH. I want to say thank you to all of you for being patient and understanding with this crazy Mariela.

Today is a really good day, not just because it is our graduation and is the end of the program. It is because we know that this is the beginning of something really amazing for everyone. I feel inspired and I believe that everything happened for a reason, like to make a difference, to encourage change, to become our best selves, and help others.

Finally, I want to let you know to Saravia, Roxana, Jimmy, Samuel and David, that it was an honor to be with you in this beautiful adventure and you will always be in my heart. Thank you and thank you all of you.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing the student’s speeches from graduation. They were so great! Each speech was written by each student in their own English. 

Hello, everyone! My name is Roxana and I’m from El Salvador

thanks for being here with us in this wonderful moment. I would like to share a little bit about my experiences here in Seattle.

This year in Seattle, I have discovered that I am a leader. In the beginning, I didn’t believe in myself. But now I have the confidence that I can succeed, can make many changes in my life, and in the lives of others.

A few of my favorite experiences have been in this group with my brother and sisters, iLeap and Seattle Central College. At school, meeting other students from other countries was very interesting for me. I really enjoyed learning about other cultures with my new friends. The retreats that we went on together were very profound for me, and full of new experiences, like kayaking and patel-boarding. One important thing I learned in iLeap is how to put my dreams into action.

Through my experiences, I have discovered some of my strengths. I found that I am good at helping people with their problems. I connect easily with other people. I am a good listener. I want to use these and other skills I have learned to help others, especially those with special needs.

I know I need help with this, so I will work with my other brother and sisters to continue building Father Wasson dreams. How? By teaching each other how to be a good family member, why it is important for a family to be close. Why it is necessary to learn about NPH services and values. To do this, I want to work with small groups. I want them to know there are so many people who believe in us and what we can do. And they should believe me because of my experiences meeting and connecting with other people during my time here in Seattle.

I am also starting to learn more about my leadership style with the help of iLEAP, my peers and facilitators at the Seattle institute and my host family

Part of my leadership means being able to take good care of myself, physically, mentally and spiritually, so that I can help others build their dreams and make them come to life. And in helping other make their dreams come true, mine will come true as well.

. Leadership means working hard in what you believe in, believing in your group, and believing you will do whatever it is you want to do. I want to be this type of leader because sometimes we don’t believe in ourselves. Then we need people like all of you to help us discover what we can do and what we can change. This allows me to teach my brother and sister at NPH that the skills we have are important and that we can make many changes together.

I’ve also discovered that when I am hurting, I need to stop. This is important! Knowing myself is important to my leadership, because it will help me to know when to ask for help, take time to take care of myself, or just keep going!

I’m so happy to go back home and share my experiences with my family and community in El Salvador. I’m exited to finish my psycology degree at the university and use it to help other people, especially those with  special needs.

In conclusion, I would like to say thank you to all of you for making this experience possible. Some special thanks you to my host family, Donna Egge, Jacqueline, the NPH office, leap, Cathy Callan family, Bubar Family and all of my friends. And again, thanks for being part of my history. You are my favorite chapter. Gracias.

David came up to me one day, telling me about how excited he was about a volunteering event he attended with his homestay. He was excited and felt good helping the folks he was with. He wanted to share a bit about it with you in his own English:

Living in West Seattle with this amazing people like Norene and Jacob has been phenomenal so far. They had told me about some of the volunteering they do since they are both retired. They both work at St. Vincent de Paul–which is a group of people that work with a purpose for people in need. Jacob and Norene have been volunteering there for twenty years with a joy and passion for helping others. The organization is huge, but my family only works in the West Seattle area. The Guadalupe Church provides them a place in order to plan and attend their meetings every week. They offer food, furniture, rent and clothing to people in need.

One day, I had a day off of school, and I decided to help them with some of the deliveries during the morning. Jacob, Norene and I had a typical Friday delivering couches, a sofa, a bed, a twin bed, and a set of drawers. Once we arrived at the place with all the things, the family that we met was very kind, grateful and blessed for the support. After that, we ate a well-deserved breakfast and talked a lot about our lives. In conclusion, learning from them makes me feel at home. The way they help the community will remain with me as I go home to Guatemala and try to serve the community there.

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

.

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.

As many of you know or can guess, our students from Haiti are often challenged with learning English as their 3rd or 4th language. I am constantly impressed with Samuel’s willingness to learn English and just how much he has grown in communicating! This is a piece he wrote by himself reflecting on his learning in Seattle. 

I am pretty sure that most of you know that Seattle institute is a program focused on Leadership, English and also Service. I only want to talk a little bit more about my journey in Seattle and especially Seattle institute.

This program have changed me in different ways, the Seattle institute helped me to discover my really personality and help me to know that I have greatness within me. This program taught me that there are more than these three things, which are English, service, and leadership. It is true that we all can be leaders, but being servant leader is not really common and the Seattle institute allows me to be a better leader and even servant leader. The best thing by being a servant leader is to be humble and sincere, I can say firmly that this program has taught me how to be more sincere and how to be a better person every single day.

Being able to be part of this program is such a great blessing for me, and it cannot be possible without NPH (NPFS). I know that words are not enough to express how grateful I am; yes I really know what NPH is for me, but the fact that I am living in Seattle I can say that I learn more and more about NPH and what it really means to be part of this family. When I say my journey in the Seattle institute is more than learn English, leadership and also give service. This is what I mean; first I want to say something, which is similar that Father Wasson said, “ We all from different places, but what we really are is a family”. Father Wasson was more than right about he had said because I am from a different places and being able to live with and call the Marre family (my family) it is such a great thing for me. Being able to meet and spend time David, Roxana, Mariela, Saravia, and Jimmy another way that Father Wasson was right. To be honest, being able to meet all those beautiful people that are so dedicated to NPH explain the idea about the fact I say the Seattle institute is more than learn English, leadership and give service. During my journey in this program I have learned many things, things that help me to be more grateful than ever. The Seattle Institute has helped me to be the best version of me. The Seattle institute is one of the important parts of NPH and also helps me to know and understand what it means to be part of NPH. My journey in Seattle will not be possible without the host families, without those who give bodies and souls to this family that we all call NPH. I know thank you will not be enough to express my gratitude, but I hope my witness will be enough to show how grateful and I am for everything that you have done.

Thank you to my great host family (The Marres) that turns into a real family to me, I need you to know my journey will not be great without you. Thank Seattle institute for helping become the best version of me and I can so far you are the best thing that ever happened to me. I feel blessed enough and honored to be part of this beautiful journey, which is Seattle institute.

I am sure that these experiences will lasts forever. Love and Gratitude!!