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!!

Saravia shares a bit about her homestay and how they have helped her adjust to Seattle. She wrote this in her own English!

I would love to share a little a little about who my host family is. Especially because because they have been excellent people with me. Because they make me feel welcome at home, I am treated more like a daughter and sister. And that makes me feel very good.

Katie: was the first person of this family I met. She was in my country and we met because she is the director of the NPH offices in seattle. She spent a week in Honduras and we talked a lot. She decided that she wanted to be my godmother and that she wanted to support me in my studies and in my life in general. Since then, we have been in contact for many years. Eight years to be exact

Laura: Laura is the wife of my godmother Katie. Laura is originally from Seattle. She is a person who has a lot of patience and that impresses me a lot. She is also very motherly in every way, she knows how to take good care of people and has very noble heart. She is really smart.

Nicholas: He is 9 years old, he is a very cute and very intelligent boy. Nicholas loves sports like me –that’s why we have a good connection because we share things in common. He is a really good soccer player, he plays as a goalkeeper.

Rory (Aurora): Rory she is 9 years old too. She and Nicholas are twins. Rory is a very intelligent girl. When I see her, I think of the great future she will have in her life. She loves to read most of the time she is reading, I think she has read more than any other adult in their life. Also, she has a very strong personality. That’s what i like most about her, because it is how we identify ourselves. She always what she thinks and i like that too, for many girls with the same age i think she is too mature.

Willa: she is 3 years old. She is the most beautiful kid that exists. Thanks to her, children have started to like me more. She is a very cute an funny girl she makes each of my days the best. Willa makes me feel welcome and loved, and I really like it.

I am very grateful to be part of this family and grateful that they are part of my life and my NPH family.

Jimmy decided to share a bit about what his free time in Seattle looks like. He shares about some unique opportunities! He wrote this in his own English. 

My free time here in Seattle has been very fun and relaxing at the same time. First of all, because I´ve shared with my brothers and sisters who are also leadership students and friends who are from Seattle as well. I have learned that skiing that is something super fun and I feel pleased because for me it is a unique experience and I also feel grateful with those who made that possible.

I also had a good time bowling with the other students, Jacqueline, and with the mentors who are super fun people, so I feel grateful with them too. Sometimes I have gone to watch movies to the theater with some of the guys of the group(students) and for me that is one of the good ways to enjoy the youth, and other words this is one of the good ways to be a young man, having fun.

With my family (The Hart family) I learned how to play Golf. At the beginning I did not know how to do it, but they taught me, so I could play pretty good, that experience was unforgettable for me because I had never played that game and I feel so grateful with my family because I am pretty sure they want me to have fun, so this is one more experience on my list.

In conclusion, I have taken advantage of my free time with those surround me, and I do not want to keep mentioning more good and fun experiences because I wouldn’t be able to stop. One person from Seattle and who also is very special to me, told me: YOU HAVE TO HAVE FUN, BUT ALSO YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD, that´s something that I´ll never forget, that makes feel that I have to learn  to have balance in my life.

Spanish:

Mi tiempo libre aquí en Seattle ha sido muy divertido y relajado a la misma vez. Primero que todo,  porque comparto con mis hermanos  que también son parte del programa de Leadership institute y otros amigos de aquí de Seattle. He aprendido a esquiar que es algo súper divertido y me siento muy complacido de haber vivido esa experiencia tan única, también agradecido con las personas que hicieron que esa experiencia fuera posible.

              También tuve un tiempo muy divertido jugando bowling con todo el grupo(estudiantes), Jacqueline y los mentores que son súper divertidos, de la misma manera estoy muy agradecido con ellos. En ciertas ocasiones he ido a ver película al cine con algunos chicos del grupo, que para mí es algo súper relajado y una muy buena manera de ser joven o en otras palabras disfrutar de mi juventud.

              Con MI familia(La familia Hart ) aprendí a jugar Golf, al inicio no sabía cómo hacerlo, pero ellos me enseñaron y al final termine jugando muy bien, eso realmente fue algo inolvidable para mi, muy agradecido con mi familia, porque nunca lo había jugado y hacer que me divierta, ya es una  experiencia más en mi lista, 

              En conclusión, siento que aprovechado mi tiempo libre con las personas que me rodean, ya no sigo mencionando mas experiencias porque si no, no termino, pero algo que tengo muy claro y que nunca se me olvida es un frase que una  persona muy especial para mi aquí en Seattle me dijo una vez es: HAY QUE DIVERTISE, PERO TAMBIEN HAY QUE TRABAJAR MUY DURO, esto me lleva a pensar a que tengo que tener balance  en mi vida.

Here are a few photos from our Alumni Reunion in Honduras this past January! Do you see a few familiar faces??

David had the opportunity to travel to Minnesota to celebrate Christmas, the New Year, and his birthday with a family who has traveled to NPH Guatemala many times. He talks about how it was spending his Christmas vacation in Minnesota in his own English here (with a bit of editing from Jacqueline):

Welcome to my second blog, I would like to describe my amazing trip to Minnesota.

In December, I was excited to finish the first quarter of school. We went on retreat with Jacqueline on Whidbey Island and it was really interesting. We talked about topics such as “How to be a Servant as a Leader” and “How can I Make a Difference.”We washed each others’ feet and talked about humility. December reminded me that Jesus came to earth for us to be the true path and life for us. Christmas is a good season to be thankful for Jesus’ birth.

During my time in NPH, I know that the meaning of Christmas is not only that you have gifts under the tree, light in your home, dinner with family and friends, snow around the house, or stockings hanging in the living room. Christmas is about sharing with others, and even if you have very little, you share it with love.

This experience in Minnesota was really fun because I was invited to sit first class in the plane ride–which has never happened in my life! I also went to Mall of America (which is huge), the University of Minnesota, down a giant slide in the mall, and to Minneapolis for New Year’s Eve. There, I danced the whole night with friends! It was a great experience. It was fun spending time with the Munoz family for my birthday, where we just played many board games.

I thank God every day for the people that support NPH and give me these experiences. I will never forget them!

Mariela comes from NPH Mexico. Here is her reflection on her interaction with iLeap, one of our partner organizations. Her original writing in Spanish follows below:

iLeap continues to play an important role in the NPH Family–a relationship that is nourishing and helpful! I am thankful for the opportunity to be part of the leadership program. This experience will encourage my personal and professional growth. I also feel that sharing this with my brothers and sisters from other countries only enriches the experience.

For me, iLeap has ideas to offer to everyone, not only learning, but also helping discover questions about who you are, where you are going, and what you want. We learn how to create goals and objectives, as well as different forms and methods of achieving them.

A strong leader is able to inspire others and openly express their ideas. We have learned to identify which type of leader we now are according to our own personality, and what type of leader we would like to be.

The goal is to share our experiences in order to learn how to support our NPH family. This will allow us to be more human, more humble, and more committed to our environment and society.

We discovered that by working as a team, we complement one another in our skills, commitment, and be more efficient when making choices. A phrase that stuck out to me has been, “If you want to go quickly, walk by yourself. If you want to go far, work as a team.” There are a thousand ways of obtaining results, but we must learn how to ask for help to reach our highest potential.

This stage in life for me is very important, as I want to inspire my younger siblings and share what I have learned. I want to thank all that form part of the iLeap team for opening their doors and sharing their knowledge with us. iLeap really transforms lives!

iLEAP se ha vuelto importante dentro de la gran Familia de NPH y formar parte de esta unión me da una gran satisfacción, Agradezco la oportunidad que tengo de poder formar parte del programa de liderazgo , es una experiencia que me permitirá crecer personal y profesionalmente, al mismo tiempo que me brinda la oportunidad de convivir y compartir con mis hermanos de otros países enriqueciendo aún más la experiencia.

iLEAP es para mí como para todos y cada uno de mis hermanos un organismo, que no solo nos brinda enseñanza sino que también ayuda a descubrir realmente quien eres a dónde vas y que quieres ; aprendemos a forjar metas y objetivos, propone las diferentes formas y caminos para así lograrlo.

Un buen líder transmite la sensación de inspirar a los demás, expresar abiertamente sus ideas, y compartirlas, aprendimos a identificar qué tipo de líder somos de acuerdo a nuestros comportamientos y que tipo de líder queremos convertirnos en un futuro inmediato.

El propósito de compartir nuestras experiencias es conocer las diversas formas de aportar un granito de arena a Nuestra familia de NPH, este acercamiento nos permitirá ser más humanos, más humildes, mas compartidos directamente en nuestro entorno y en la sociedad.

Descubrimos que el trabajo en equipo complementamos habilidades compromiso y desarrollo incrementamos la eficiencia en la toma de decisiones, hay una frase en lo particular que a mí me agrada “SI QUIERES LLEGAR RAPIDO CAMINA SOLO, SI QUIERES LLEGAR LEJOS HAZLO EN EQUIPO” hay una y mil maneras de poder obtener los resultados, nada mejor que realizarlo con un poco de ayuda, no solo lo lograremos si no que tendremos óptimos resultados.

Esta etapa para mí es muy importante, quiero inspirar a mis hermanos pequeños y compartir lo que he aprendido, agradezco a todos y cada uno de los que forman parte de iLEAP que nos abrieron sus puertas, nos comparten experiencias y conocimientos , es una oportunidad de aprender cosas nuevas gracias iLEAP verdaderamente transforman vidas!

Roxana comes from NPH El Salvador. She offers a reflection on studying at Seattle Central Community College. The original version in Spanish follows:

Seattle Central College is a place that offers everyone the opportunity to study English–no matter the color of your skin, race or religion. All of us are seen equally by our highly qualified faculty, who are always read to help us when we need it.

Seattle Central is also an incredible opportunity to learn and meet many new people in our classes. We come from many different parts of the world, which means that we learn about different culture, religions, politics and economics from worlds different than our own.

Personally, I’m very happy and thankful for this opportunity to learn English and make new friends. Sometimes I get tired when I have to work in a group, as it is challenging for me to communicate with my classmates. Our English is not very good, but we are able to communicate with a bit of work together and help from our professors. This is truly one of the best opportunities in my life.

Seattle Central es un lugar especializado donde todos tenemos la oportunidad de estudiar ingles no importando el color, religion, ni raza todos somos vistos de igual manera y lo mas importante que este colegio cuenta con los maestros calificados que siempre estan en la dispocicion de ayudarnos cuando lo necesitamos.

Seattle central es una gran oportunidad para aprender y conocer y hacer muchos amigos ya que dentro de nuestros niveles de ingles habemos de diferentes partes del mundo, mediante la convivencia con nuestros companeros aprendemos otras culturas, como por ejemplo: religion, politica, economia todo un modo de vida diferente al nuestro.

Saravia, our student from Honduras, was asked to offer a reflection on the NPH USA Gala that took place on November 5th. Here is the translated version of what she said (the original follows below):

“Charity is a virtue of the heart, not of the hands,” said Joseph Addison.

I want to start with this thought from Joseph, which applies very much to the Gala, where people who both know and don’t know NPH joined together. The event was very successful in raising money for my NPH family. This event was very important in my life, as it as changed much of my way of thinking and how important it is to love without condition, barriers or borders. I was incredibly surprised to see that so many people were so generous with what they have. As Addison said, “Charity is a virtue of the heart,” thus it was good to see that so much money was raised to help kids from other countries and sponsor a child while only seeing their photo. These people are committed to helping and are showing kindness to their neighbor.

I would also like to mention the wonderful work of the NPH USA Northwest office. I was able to see Katie Hultquist (Director of NPH USA Northwest) and her staff work hard every night to make this event possible. As students, we tried to collaborate with them to contribute to this work of love.

To finish, I just want to thank all those who helped make the Gala possible, and thanks to those who, in one way or another, are involved in the growth of NPH. Thanks for being part of our NPH family!

Quiero empezar con este pensamiento de Joseph, que para mí aplica mucho a la Gala de NPHI un evento en el que acudió mucha gente que ya sabía de NPH como al mismo tiempo mucha gente ajena de lo que NPH significa. Un evento en el que se recaudó dinero para la salud de mi familia de NPH. Este evento a marcado mucho mi vida, ha cambiado mucho mi manera de pensar, me ha enseñado lo que significa amar sin condiciones, sin barreras, sin fronteras. Realmente lo que me sorprendió de todo esto fue ver como hay tanta gente dispuesta a dar de lo que poseen, como dice Addison la caridad es una virtud del corazón, no me sorprende el hecho de el número que se recaudo es ver a la gente dispuesta a ayudar al prójimo, dispuesta a ayudar a los niños de diferentes países, personas que decidieron apadrinar un niño con solo ver una fotografía de ellos, personas que quieren comprometerse a ayudar, personas que se muestran sensibles al prójimo.

Por otra parte me gustaría mencionar el maravilloso trabajo que hace la oficina aquí en Seattle. Vi cada noche trabajando a Katie Hultquist y su Staff para que este evento fuese posible. Al mismo tiempo nosotros como estudiantes del programa colaboramos con esta gran obra de amor.

Para finalizar solamente quiero decir gracias a todos los que asistieron a la gala, gracias a los que de una manera u otra se involucran para que NPH siga creciendo. Gracias por formar parte de nuestra familia.

Jimmy was asked to to reflect on what he has learned in the leadership formation meetings. His original reflection was in Spanish (below), which has been translated into English. 

I want to share a bit about my experience in Seattle from the lens of leadership development and spiritual growth. In the time I’ve been here, I’ve realized that God is the the only way of guiding us towards where we want to go and to have peace of mind.

To develop oneself as a leader isn’t as easy as I thought it was. Something that we’ve learned from our formation is that we have to know our deepest selves–which can be difficult because our daily routines distract us, sometimes so much that we forget to spend time with our personal self.

I thought that to be a leader only meant guiding a certain group and have strategies to obtain the highest results from the goals we pose to ourselves. I did not realize that to be a leader is to have high self-awareness. In this way, one can address our own weaknesses and try to be better every day by being better to those who surround us, to love what we do, and to see God in others.

To act and think with integrity is something many look for, and that is often difficult. I cannot ever forget that service and humility must come first in a leader. Padre Wasson wanted all of us to have in mind and practice these values, as he did. To be a pequeño in NPH isn’t easy, but with the help of God, we can be better examples to our brothers and sisters.

In our leadership formation meetings, I have also learned that it is good to know how others look at us because we also have a perception of ourselves. Other people have different views of ourselves. In this way, we have learned that it is important to ask for feedback from those around us so that we can better ourselves and our actions. But before asking for such an opinion, we must be prepared to receive any point of view and be objective with ourselves.

Quiero compartir sobre mi experiencia aquí en Seattle desde el punto de vista de desarrollo de liderazgo y crecimiento espiritual. En el tiempo he estado aquí me he dado cuenta que Dios es el único que nos puede guiar hacia donde queremos ir y es el único que nos da paz interior.

Formarse como líder no ha sido tan facil a como pensé que era. Algo muy importante que se nos ha enseñado en esta formación es a conocernos a nosotros mismo desde el fondo de nuestro ser, lo cual a veces es muy difícil por la rutina que llevamos con el día a día en nuestra vida cotidiana, a veces estamos tan distraídos con lo que pasa a nuestro alrededor que nos olvidamos de pasar tiempo con nosotros mismos .

Pensé que ser un líder solo encerraba la parte de guiar a cierto grupo de personas y tener estrategias para obtener buenos resultados de las metas que nos proponemos, pero me he dado cuenta que ser líder es conocernos a nosotros mismos primero, para así mejorar nuestras debilidades y tratar de ser mejor cada día, y ser mejor con las personas que están a nuestro alrededor, sentir amor por lo que hacemos y por las personas que rodean nuestra vida y ver a Dios en esas personas.

Pensar y actuar de manera íntegra, es algo que muchos buscamos, y que muchas veces se nos hace difícil. Sin olvidarme que el servicio y la humildad es lo primero que un líder, pequeño e hijo del padre Wasson debe practicar y tener en cuenta, porque es el ejemplo que nos dejo nuestro querido padre, ser pequeño no es facil, pero con la ayuda de Dios seremos buenos ejemplos para nuestros hermanos y hermanas .

En las reuniones de formación de liderazgo también he aprendido que es bueno saber como los demás nos miran a nosotros, porque nosotros tenemos una percepción de nosotros mismos, pero los demás tienen diferentes percepciones de nosotros, para eso se nos ha enseñado que es importante pedir la opinión de nuestros superiores o de quienes nos rodean sobre nuestros actos para así mejorar en lo que creemos que estamos haciendo bien, pero que tal vez no es así. Pero antes de pedir esa opinión debemos de estar preparados a recibir cualquier punto de vista de la menare más madura y objetiva con nosotros mismos.