La Carpio

I am glad the La Carpio visit was on our agenda.  This is a side of a community that you usually do not get to see when visiting a new place.  This was my first interaction with a refugee community.  I had no idea what to expect going in.  It was nice to see that most of their basic needs were covered.  From our quick visit it was hard to tell if the basics that I did not see were missing or just out of sight.  I know we were not the first group to visit but the people we interacted with seemed genuinely glad to have us.

The people we interacted with were willing to open up to us.  I felt they were very real with us.  The daycare classroom we visited appeared as though what we saw is its usual state.  The children  seemed as though they we very familiar with the environment.  While we ate by ourselves the meal felt very comfortable, as though it was the regular routine they said it was.  I think this was because they were so welcoming.  A part of that was the sharing of some of the painful aspects of their lives.  This obviously hit close to home for me.

Something that I noticed was that the primary focus was on meeting basic needs.  This is understandable as having a lack of basics interferes with anything else.  I did find it slightly troublesome that there was no expectation conveyed to ever move past substance living.  In my experience settling for just existing does not lead to a stable future.  Once again there may be things that I did not see as were were only there for a short time.

A place that I think we all noticed that was lacking was supplies in the daycare classroom we went to.  I do not know if this was a temporary situation as the Montessori class area in the community center seemed much better stocked.  It was mentioned that they were in the process of switching teaching styles.  Despite the lack of supplies the teacher seemed able to obtain and retain the attention of the students.  It was helpful that she changed activities before students became overly distracted.  Having more supplies would have allowed all of the students to participate in an activity at a time instead of being split up.  This shows the teacher's ability to adapt and read the students.  It would be interesting to see how regular lessons go.  Students coming from a poverty situation often have a lack of background knowledge.  Having a school in the same situation can make it difficult to help students gain the knowledge needed to make connections.  I wonder what the regular school looks like in all regards.

Another issue that the teachers and students may be facing is the cultural differences.  While some of the population was born in Costa Rica some came from Nicaragua.  It can be difficult to understand what is is going on around you with you are in a new culture.  This would potentially be extra difficult for kids who are just trying to figure out the world in general.  This would be the case for students coming to the US as well.  Immigrants often face prejudice as well.  The one thing the students of La Carpio have going for them is that there is no major language barrier.