I arrived at Granada Street Kids after one and a half months of volunteering at a famous volunteer organisation in Granada. I had left it because I was feeling frustrated to not be able to help the kids individually and make sure no one is left behind in the class. So what a relief when I discovered Granada Street Kids!
As I requested, I worked at the administration of the school, helping the director with everyday school-related work. In this frame, I was also able to take the initiative to expand their online visibility. I started, as an example, their official Facebook page. In the beginning, I was also assisting the Academics teacher in Spanish and Math. That is how I realised one of the students of the class could not read or write. Therefore I offered to give him one-to-one lessons and suggested he has a special timetable.
A typical day of a volunteer at Granada Street Kids:
7.30am: breakfast served with the boys
8am: start working (aministration/class)
12pm: lunch served with the boys and the staff members
1pm: start working again
4pm (3pm some Fridays): end of work. Possibility to organise after-school activities with the boys (football, art, dance, making pulseras etc.) or of course to go out.
5.30pm: dinner served with the boys
6pm: More activities or going out
I got to speak Spanish all day long and the boys were mature enough to understand this is not my mother tongue and hence to adapt (speak slowly, explain etc.) I got to improve a lot!
What would you improve about this program?
Granada Street Kids is a relatively young organisation compared to others (it has been running for 3 years). Hence, it hasnt developed much online and is constantly evolving. However, this is also a ood thing since it enabled me to take initiatives, implement new projects etc. The good thing about Granada Street Kids is that they are very-open minded. They see volunteers as an opportunity to learn from their working methods. Because lets face it, Nica way of working differs a lot from the Western way! But after all, that is also part of the experience in an organisation run by locals (for the pratical part at least)
So to fully benefit from their volunteer experience at Granada Street Kids, one should not be scared to suggest changes if they think it is useful:
The only frustrating thing at Granada Street Kids i that Nicaraguan law forbids them to force anyone to stay at school if they dont want to. This may sound logial. It is however very sad when the kid that wants to leave is a 13 year-old who is going to go back to taking drugs on the street because he does not know what is good for him and has no family support to guide him. Facing the rough reality is sadly inherent in an NGO based in such a poor country..
