Awesome

I had the opportunity to volunteer in the SMEF Program starting from August 2017 to December 2017. Unlike most of the volunteers, who are college students, I am a retired teacher who spent most of my career teaching elementary age children, so having the opportunity to teach students from elementary to college students was a unique and special experience. I love that the program offered enough structure that a young person with no exprerience could step in and make a difference, at the same time it gave me as an old guy the opportunity to be creative within the structure of the program. Beyond the program itself, I loved having the opportunity to meet the Paraguayan people, sharing Sunday barbecues, sitting on the sidewalk drinking tereré, eating sopa paraguaya, and sharing movie nights with Margaret, the founder of the program. Working in Santa María was like having a new extended family. Someday, I hope to go back and relive the Paraguayan experience.