TO HONOR THEM – Volunteer teachers

PLAYLEE Popayán

This is the moment to honor our volunteerJohn StydBorrero Sotelo, who, with his service makes PLAYLEE possible.

 This space was created to appreciate and encourage our volunteer educators;here we honor those volunteers that with their dedication and sacrifice have become educational reference points.  For those that perform pedagogical acts visibly embodied in the proactive formation of sensitive and critical beings, capable of engaging constructively in their fulfillment and in the creation of a better world.

John Stydhas been involved with the Club YMCA Popayán for over 3 years.  He has shown his willingness to serve others, to help and change the world.  He has been involved with the Popayán PLAYLEE program from the very beginning; he has devoted his time and effort for the program, giving always his best in each class and showing his commitment with Club YMCA Popayán ideal.  With time and effort he has become an outstanding, committed, loving and persevering volunteer.

Why you are a volunteer?

Above all is the wish to help, to contribute with something to the society, and bring a change to each person’s daily life.

What motivates you to be a volunteer?

I want something different for in my society.  I want a change, so I work for it.

How does been a volunteer contributes with your personal growth?

Being a volunteer gives me a lot; I learn from all those people with whom I interact, I learn from other volunteers, from children, from their parents. From each child case I become aware of their reality and how I can help.  It has helped me to become more disciplined, more human, more organized.

How do you contribute as a volunteer to the growth of the children form the PLAYLEE program?

First, I think the most important contribution is to provide them a bilingual education; I help them to develop their academic discipline, I contribute in their formation as human beings with a special emphasis in values. I think that we, all volunteers, are an example for the children of the program, we are a role model and we are also leaders.  We as volunteers have proper training in leadership and we teach it in each class. The children from the PLAYLEE program receive not only bilingual education, but also they are receiving a leadership formation.

Do you have any Inspiring phrase that you would like to share with us?

I like and use several phrases, but there is one that is especially inspiring, it says “Some people dream with the success, and others make it happen” I think we all have the responsibility to make it happen, to succeed.

TO HONOR THEM – Volunteer teachers

This is the moment to honor our volunteer Maria Alejandra Montaño, who, with her service makes PLAYLEE possible.

This space was created to appreciate and encourage our volunteer educators; here we honor those volunteers that with their dedication and sacrifice have become educational reference points.  For those that perform pedagogical acts visibly embodied in the proactive formation of sensitive and critical beings, capable of engaging constructively in their fulfillment and in the creation of a better world.

Maria Alejandra has been involved with the YMCA of Cali and has shown her willingness to serve others while involved in community outreach programs; giving always her best in each moment and becoming in an outstanding, committed, loving and persevering volunteer.

Why did you become a YMCA volunteer?

I joined the YMCA as a volunteer because I liked the youth movement that it hosts.I like the life-changing perspective they have, since I believe that the idea of contributing into the building and improvement of the society is the one that each child, young men or woman and adult should have. Therefore, my admission to the YMCA was related to how I felt identified with the YMCA volunteer movement.

What do you like to be a volunteer?

What I like the most about being a volunteer is that I feel good about myself and around others, somehow this grants me with happiness, some kind of welfare, since I believe, that everyone should do volunteering. It brings a rewarding feeling to know that you contribute into something in despite of how small the action could be.

How did you get involved with the PLAYLEE program?

I got involved with the PLAYLEE program thanks to Sebastian Cruz. He was the one who talked to me about the project, and since the very first moment I found myselftruly interested in it, due to its methodology and the impact that it generates on the diverse contexts. After this, I attended to the PLAYLEE National Camp along other volunteers from the YMCA Cali, that motivated me even more to make part of this beautiful project called PLAYLEE.

How do you think PLAYLEE impacts the beneficiaries’ community?

I believe that PLAYLEE has a very positive impact with great rewards, if we can call it like that. Due to the fact that it is incredible and satisfactory to see how this children, who I work with here in Cali,  get to learn through games and songs the members of the family, the body parts, among others just after a few sessions. Then, to me PLAYLEE impacts with a new way of learning the English language.

 What is your vision about PLAYLEE?

My “vision about PLAYLEE” relies on seeing this project growing bigger, since I’m sure that this new way of learning is here to stay and to make great changes on the traditional learning system.

How did PLAYLEE started in Cali?

PLAYLEE was held in Cali back in 2013 at a kindergarden called “Aldea de los Sueños”, but it ended after some time. At the beginning of this year, the current coordinator here in Cali proposed to bring back the project with the support of some volunteers from the YMCA and the Youth Colombian Leaders Foundation.These volunteers attended the PLAYLEE National Camp. PLAYLEE Cali started again on April 9th of the current year with the children who attend on a daily basis to one of the houses of the YMCA located in the neighborhood, Alfonso Bonilla Aragon.

What goals have you achieved with PLAYLEE ?

It allowed me to use english again, in despite of having studied some levels of the language, it has been around 2 years since I haven’t practiced at all in any moment of my daily basis. Also, PLAYLEE has contributed to my personal goals by developing my confidence in front of an audience, because the project allows us to empower as leaders on diverse ways; something we do through camp songs, games and even by leading classes. As a result of everything, with PLAYLEE I have improved in many personal aspects, which have formed me in my proffesional area and even in my own life.

What goals you expect to achieve with PLAYLEE ?

I hope to contribute into the learning of the children and the different populations to work with in the project, at the same time, being part of the change in the matter of teaching and learning. Additionally, on a personal level I hope to improve my speaking and my confidence concerning this second language.

TO HONOR THEM – VOLUNTEER TEACHERS

This is the moment to honor to our volunteer Juan Pablo Gil, who, with his service makes possible the realization of the PLAYLEE mission and vision proposed by the work team and other organizations that supports the creation of a better world.

To assess and encourage educators that are educational points of reference, that perform pedagogical acts visibly embodied in the proactive formation of sensitive and critical beings, capable of engaging constructively in their fulfillment and in in the creation of a better world.

Juan Pablo Gil has been a YMCA volunteer for 5 years; he has been involved with the YMCA of Armenia and has shown his willingness to serve others while involved in community outreach programs; giving always his best in each moment and becoming in an outstanding, committed, loving and persevering volunteer. Nowadays, Juan Pablo’s work is essential for the YMCA Movement in Armenia.

WHY ARE YOU A VOLUNTEER? I am a YMCA volunteer due to a program run by this organization called ICCP&SWT, with which I got involved in 2011. I had the dream to travel to the USA and work as a camp counselor, and thanks to the movement I got the chance to transform my life through this experience. Since then, I got interested in the volunteering field of the movement and I started to get involved in different programs. Today, it is one of the most important parts of my life; I always say that the YMCA is my second family.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST OF BEING A VOLUNTEER? The part I enjoyed the most is getting to meet such an immense variety of people, from different cultures, ethnic groups or socio-economic backgrounds, and being able to transform or at least leave a positive mark on their lives.

HOW DID YOU GET TO BE INVOLVED IN PLAYLEE? I got the chance to be involved in such an amazing project thanks to Juliana Marin, a volunteer in the movement and member of Youth Colombian Leaders; a group create d by Youth Ambassadors Program Alumni – program sponsored by the US Embassy and the US Department of State. This group had the idea some years ago, I heard about it and I got really interested in the challenge and the need of that community.

HOW DO YOU THINK THAT PLAYLEE IMPACTS TO THE BENEFICIARY COMMUNITY? That is definitely the most beautiful part of this project. The community called Portal del Linares has been influenced by our project mostly to one important part of the population: the children. They are the ones who attend the classes and get to learn a new language in an experiential way. Besides, we deeply work with the practice of essential values in the class that help the children to be better people every day. In this way, I consider that we are not only transforming the lives of these kids, but also in an indirect way, the lives of their families.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION WITH PLAYLEE? I want to see PLAYLEE as a project that promotes a new way of teaching and learning English using experimental education to more and more children of the country. I want to see more parents involved in the project and encouraging their kids to be bilingual and fulfill their dreams, not matter how far they may be, true. My bigger desire is to hear more children who do not have the economical way to be in a bilingual program, to talk in English and to be better people with our society.

HOW DID PLAYLEE START IN ARMENIA? PLAYLEE in Armenia started on April in 2013. Juliana Marin, who brought this amazing idea from other cities of Colombia, other volunteers from the YMCA and I started this project in a neighborhood called La Mariela. We began the classes there in the small backyard of a house, with about eighteen kids. Later on, we continued our classes in the main social area of that neighborhood and we were there with a little less amount of kids for about one year. Since the beginning of 2014 to the current time, we have been giving our lessons in a different neighborhood called Portal the Pinares, with about 15 children.

WHAT GOALS HAVE YOU ACCOMPLISHED WITH PLAYLEE? We have accomplished a lot of general and specific goals through this wonderful project. On one hand, thanks to the YMCA and the director of the BNC Colombo Americano in Armenia, we could get a scholarship to one girl involved in the project and interested in learning English, in the bilingual program that this well-known English institute offers. She has been studying there since with great results and a promising future coming. On the other hand, I consider that we have achieved to create some consciousness of learning English to these amount of kids as a way of having better personal and professional development.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS WITH PLAYLEE? My goals with PLAYLEE are to get more children and more communities involved. We want to make more people aware about the important of learning English in our current society. We want to see with PLAYLEE more families joined and together with the desire of seeing their children become better people full of values and professional basis.

CONGRATULATIONS !

BY: CESAR VICENTE VALENCIA ERAZO (PLAYLEE CALI) APOYO CATHERINE BUITRAGO (PLAYLEE ARMENIA).