Today was truly life-changing.
Our group visited La Carpio, the toughest neighborhood of
Costa Rica where poverty, drugs, and violence rule the streets and dictate the
lives of three generations of residents.
By growing up outside of inner city St. Louis and working in
rural Southwest Missouri schools, I thought I had an average amount of exposure
and mental grasp on what living in poverty really is. After my morning and afternoon in La Carpio,
my views and understanding on poverty has completely changed.
After listening to Gale speak about her work in La Carpio, I
realized that most times, living in poverty isn’t a choice, but rather it is a world you are either in born into or trapped within. Do you
people really choose or prefer to
live in filth and drink unpurified water? Do people choose to live with low self-esteem and depression? As a mother, would you choose to buy nice smelling shampoo or food for your multiple,
hungry children?
As a future educator, poverty is an issue that I’ll
undoubtedly face within my classroom. It
is fair to assume that at some point in my teaching career, I will have a
student who may not eat any meals besides lunch at school, a student who has
parents in and out of prison, or a student who may not even have a home. These students’ basic needs will not be met
and they will have to work harder and overcome more obstacles than their peers
in both academic and social settings.
After touring La Carpio and visiting several homes, I really
began to think about the circumstances that innocent children living in poverty
must face. I began to wonder when faced
with tough situations in the future regarding low socio-economic students, how
I will react. Will I allow a student who
lives in a state home an extra day to complete his homework? Will I remind a student they must be on time
to class even though they’re late because their parents don’t own a car? I couldn’t decide. I believe myself to be an empathetic and
understanding person- therefore I would adjust to students’ unique home
situations, but I also extremely
value the importance of fairness and consistency within a classroom.
Gale helped make up my mind once we returned to the
Humanitarian Foundation for a reflection on the morning we experienced. Gale shared stories of residents of La
Carpio. These stories included sadness,
death, progress, and perseverance. As I watched young children and teens perform
a dance and play, I began to make my mind up.
Expectations. High expectations. I looked at these students and saw a
universal spark in each of their eyes; hope.
As a teacher who would be lowering expectations or tiering
down guidelines for students living in poverty or going through tough times, I
would inadvertently taking away their hope.
I would be sending an indirect message that I didn’t trust they could overcome
the place they are now, that they are not smart enough, and that I didn’t
wholly believe in them. Those three
things are the LAST thing I would ever want my students to believe I think of
them. They are smart. They are important. They do matter. And lowering my academic and behavioral
expectations would be sending quite the opposite of that message.
I am grateful for my experience at La Carpio and chat with
Gale that helped answer the question I was battling. It was humbling get to know the residents of
La Carpio and listen to their stories.
Although the effects of violence and poverty is easy to see in the
community of La Carpio, the hope that residents hold for the future is
impossible to ignore. As a future
teacher, I cannot wait to instill hope in each and every one of my
students, no matter what their socioeconomic status may be.
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