Source: Tonic
What does it mean to do service? The group of students who have descended on the Peruvian rainforest as part of Hear the World's Global Explorers trip tried to tackle that question on Sunday when they visited Sapo Playa, a remote village on the banks of the Amazon river to try to give back.This trip is composed of students with varying levels of hearing, some of them have full hearing and some were born deaf and hear through the use of various technologies. Their goal in the jungle is to increase awareness of hearing loss and break down the stereotypes of folks with the disability.
But as part of the trip, the group wanted to give back.
So they traveled to Sapo Playa (which translates to Frog Beach) to paint houses and plant valuable fruit-bearing palm trees.
And, as they did the work, they realized that the service was not only a way of helping the community, but it was a glimpse into the culture of the riberenos, or the river people of the Amazon."The service trip was an insight into community building for us. Everyone in that community accepted us into their homes. The children saw us as their brothers and sisters and that's a value I am trying to aspire towards," reflected Olivia Johnson, 18 (top right, in middle)
For the students with hearing disabilities, the playing field was leveled between them and the students with full hearing, because no one spoke Spanish, much less the lispy river dialect spoken in Sapo Playa.
"Because of my hearing loss and cochlear implants I had a hard time understanding what anyone was saying in Spanish and I felt bad that I couldn't communicate well, but the entire group was having a hard time so for once, it wasn't just me that couldn't communicate," said Zoey Gershuny, 18 (above left, painting). "What I learned was that what really matters is to be there with them, help them and be appreciative of them — even if you don't communicate you can bond."
The consensus was that the entire exercise brought all of the participants a new sense of community.
"Building a lasting life vision starts by focusing on others, not yourself. That's how you change yourself, your community and your world. You try to be free of expecting one thing or another," explains group leader, Bill Barkeley.The group wasn't expecting anything, but they did get something in return, the chance to watch the World Cup final in a thatched roof hut on the banks of the Amazon river with an entire town full of soccer fanatics.
"Television isn't accessible there and only one family had a TV and they let everyone into their house. I felt like I was a member of a big family and it was so heart warming just being another person in their crowd," Rhea McKinzie, 18, said of the experience.