Together

Not only would there be a light, in the shining of our history, but in that of our future.

There were people in our society long ago.

That yet failed to realize what they had done so.

With so much hurt and agony, that the power went to and fro.

With what we thought could mend.

Would only break in the end.

Our races used to determine our lives and chance.

But that meant our lives we could enhance.

Instead of crying and looking down.

You looked to the sky and had no frown.

Because we had our dignity.

We flashed prosperity.

Wishing for individuality.

A way to leave brutality.

So I ask you.

May this world work in two?

Forever in our hearts.

A way to change our lifes’ art.

To look beyond the stars.

And see our journey from afar.

Only then we will see.

A life filled with you and me.

My personal goals for this trip, are to be as helpful as possible. To know what I can do to build someone up. To put a smile on a face I will learn to love. I want to be able to out do myself, and do everything possible to make this an unforgettable experience. A way that I would encompass that would be to grow bonds with the children, adults and find a way to help them in a way that I know will be empowering, to them and to myself. The fear, I have for this trip is being afraid to try something, to help, or bringing myself down.

With my fundraising I have $2252, and I am still working on fundraising the last bits for my trip by babysitting and working at Batsons’ Corner in Eagle. I am also working on raising some spending money to bring back little ways to remind myself of my experience.

“Why do we close our eyes when we pray? When we cry? When we dream? Or when we kiss? Because we know that the most beautiful things in life are not seen, but felt by heart.”- Anonymous. This quote relates to my trip because I want to feel everything through my heart, and realize how beautiful every person is, not from what they look like, but what they make you feel.

What A Wonderful World

“I see friends shaking hands, sayin’ how do you do? They’re really sayin’ I love you.” -Louis Armstrong “What A Wonderful World”. All I thought about was the smiling faces in Tanzania of 2016, how they all portrayed what love really means. Not coming from much but definitely showcasing what deep human connection is. Are we helping them or are they helping us…It’s all brought to ourselves in our schools, our communities, our society. Do we really truly believe in this “wonderful world”? The more cliche something becomes to us, the more we have to realize that it’s true so yes, to be honest beauty is on the inside and matters more than what the outside looks like. We’re so caught up in looking our best, receiving the compliments, having a higher self-esteem but we must begin being less superficial in relationships, and how we spend our time, and our priorities. We bring ourselves down, each other down. We call ourselves trash, ugly, not worth it, dumb, stupid, unintelligent. Why? What is there that we are so unhappy with? Where do we choose to be grateful. Where do we choose to think about the others around us and not just our families, but our friends, classmates, neighbors, strangers. Where? There is beauty in every person, and in all we see with our naked eye. “So nice to be reminded that it is, indeed, a beautiful and loving world that we exist in.” -Anonymous

The words that leave you to stick with the person you are talking to. “People will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou Authenticity of not just ourselves but of our word, our actions, I praise to be one that will carry good in their soul. You can have the “extra”, the stuff that you realize you have to be grateful for. Thinking of our next time with our friends at school, our job, our college, our times tieing becoming one with our personality. Because when you meet someone in a third world country, their hands in yours looking up at you, a smile radiating, they touch your hair, and tug slightly on your shirt just for the satisfaction of your attention. Cambodia, from a spine-chilling past of the Killing fields, Khmer Rouge, the Angkor Empire, to a country full of bustling crowds filling your ears with the music of their language. The Angkor’s highest times of power were in the 11th to 13th century. These were the Angkor or Khmer Rouge. Three million people killed due to genocide… lives of children, women, men.

Cambodia is an empowering country their history has never stopped them from continuing, from fighting for what is their right. I have longed for this trip because of the opportunity to challenge myself. Fundraising for this trip has been awesome, I have managed to raise a little over half of the $2500 due, to go on this priceless journey. From babysitting to working at the Everything Store. I am so ecstatic to be able to continue with this organization that gives me the chance to love others and get to know different people’s stories. “To be free of your doubts, to learn about purpose and never regret a thing, to be able to say, I lived my life to the fullest.” -Gabriela Fuentes, 14.

Nothing but 8,350 Miles Apart

Wandering.

Saved.

Brought forth.

Pushed into opportunity.

Ignite.

Fighting for our right.

Showing our smile.

Flashing our best efforts.

Persuaded through our judgement.

Inspire.

Courage.

Looking fear in the eye.

Leadership.

Sparkling kindness.

Forwarded.

Empower.

Cambodia.

Smiles filled with a rich culture.

A history of a strong society.

Their lives like no other.

Special to who they are becoming.

Beginning.

“Helping a person will not necessarily

Change the world, but it will change

The world for that person.”

This is why I have chosen CGA.

This priceless experience.

Life-changing.

Lost in their words.

A different language,

But the language of love spreading.

Only smiling because our lives,

With theirs will always…

Be in harmony.

Colorado.

Eagle.

The small town bursting with hope,

Happiness, and originality.

Family.

Armando Fuentes, my father full of love, and laughs.

Tsvetelina Fuentes, my mother who wants our best, encourages, and loves all.

Anna (Lupita) Fuentes my oldest sister, that I know I can rely on.

Paola Fuentes my second oldest sister, who makes me laugh with her sarcasm.

Mando Fuentes my crazy, talented younger brother.

Mila and Stunty Fuentes, our two cats full of energy and meows. (Ha! Are you kitten me?)

                                                                                                                                          

                                          

Tanzania.

Their expressions full of laughter.

Their realization of their paradise.

We look to them as unfortunate.

They’re not.

They have everything they could ever want.

Standing.

Their eyes on you.

Eager to learn.

Eager to receive.

The dusting of chalk across your fingertips.

You unleash a new understanding.

Gain.

Summer of 2017.

8,350 miles away.

Find happiness.

Bring home an experience to re-tell

To enjoy for the rest of my life.

“Not everything that counts

Can be counted,

And not everything that

Can be counted

Counts.”

-Albert Einstein

Appreciation.

Love.

Grateful.

Approve.

Celebrate.

Give back.

           My name is Gaby Fuentes.

I shred on Beaver Creek and Vail Mountain.

Shoot hoops.

Capture moments on my camera.

Enjoy helping people in my community and some 9,043 miles away.

“I truly believe that the only way we can create global peace

Is through not only educating our minds, but

Our hearts and our souls.”

-Malala Yousafzai

Asante Sana Arusha Tanzania

           8 months before this trip, I would have never been able to imagine what a person can do to change one’s life. I could only listen to the information that people would give me. Stories about people in horrible conditions, seeming unreal. Now that I get to see these people, and confirm the truth in these stories, it’s heartbreaking. One child, one adult, one human being, may be going through the hardest phase in their life, but continue with the biggest smile ever. You would never in the slightest think that anything was wrong.

When I first met Ebenezer and Enoch, they were full of love, and had kindness in their soul.     You could notice it within everyone; they would wave, and smile, while you smiled back, your hand moving to the beat of your heart. Getting to know these two boys, I went on a home visit to their house. Automatically seeing their circumstances and wanting to help them. Their mother, who is blind, has inspired and motivated me beyond belief. Looking at their house, I saw a mattress that took up half the space, a chair, and a small sofa. It was no bigger than a large dinner table, but withheld a story, that made me feel honored to be in their presence. Everything about how these people were, and how they lived surprised me, and gave me a chance to realize what it meant to have nothing. I can’t put into words how much more grateful I can be, and how much harder I can work, with what I have.

At LOAMO, so many smiling children would run up to you, yelling your name, while looking up at you, clinging to your legs. Being able to teach Preparatory, and Class 2 made me notice how amazing these kids are. After our last day at the school, saying goodbye, and leaving the kids was no easy task. Tears running down my dirt covered face, and the faces of kids buried in my stomach. Some of them telling me not to cry, and some of them crying with me. For this experience, I thank LOAMO Primary and Nursery School for everything that the kids taught me, that as a teacher, I could never teach them. With all I have gained from this, I plan to take home all the good, and keep the misfortune as a distant memory.

                              Kwaheri (goodbye) Arusha, Tanzania.

           

Nakupenda

Happiness, misfortune, and the art of tranquility. All intertwined like a Hadzabe bracelet. Having happiness brings great depth to who you are as a person, and who you become. Maintaining a contagious smile, even when your life is dependent on everyone and everything around you. Holding you to the circumstances you were born with, until you learn to break free.

On Friday, July 22^nd I met a woman who held my heart in her hands. Her name Lillian, 37 years old, and blind. She was unable to see the world through the eyes of a human, but she saw through the windows in her beautiful soul. She trusted a man eleven years ago; who got her pregnant with Ebenezer, soon after he was brought to this world, the father took him. Two years passed, Enoch, her second born, also being snatched away by his father. Not until 2015, did Lillian get them back. Without her presence for eleven years, they only did slave work for their father. When Lillian heard one of her children had been severely kicked in the head by a cow, Lillian decided she would have them visit her, then refuse to return them to their father. She cooks, cleans, and cares for herself and her children. Her story can only continue, and her pain will never be mine, but will remain within my memories. 

To say is one thing, to hear is another. When someone says “I Love You” you respond kindly back, “I Love You Too”. In all of reality, you may not even mean it. You say it to be heard, not said. Then when someone who is underprivileged and has known you for less than 24 hours, tells you, “I Love You”, your heart stops from the shock and power of those words. You look through their misfortune, to see their love. Feeling their gaze on you, awaiting your response, eagerly… Nakupenda {I Love You}. 

Karibu Means Welcome

              The people of Tanzania see you as one of them, holding you close to their heart, all the while the good you obtain floods into their eyes. Upon arriving to Tanzania a new language captured us, surrounding us with, “Mambo,” “Poa,” and “Karibou.” People wearing the warmest smiles, look at you with interest in whom you are.

One of these people was our tour guide Rasta John; A man with both swag and a love for everything. On our tour with him we saw through his eyes, when he showed us the clock tower, and when we stepped on the ground in which many Germans slayed Tanzanians. Emotion rushed through me, as I realized how the same thing could happen to multiple countries and people, but each time the outcome is different. Your roots come from who you are and what you are, branching out into your memories and experiences that grow with you the old and new you. My old self was always someone who wanted to do things, but wouldn’t think they were important enough. My new self strives to make everything better and keep everyone happy.

At LOAMO, they strongly believe that you should, “Leave the world better than you found it.” My first day at the school had me looking around at the eager faces of students, while my arm went around giving high-fives and fist bumps. My first experience teaching I realized that the kids wanted to learn as much as some children in America hate school.  Their faces lit up, pencils in hand and then it began; The laughter, the learning, spelling the word “kitten” and also accepting people. Whether being engulfed in African song and dance, with the dirt flying upward; or being surrounded by kids with “teacher, teacher,” ringing in my ears, I feel I belong.