Community projects continue in EI Salvador One o rgani zat io n that many Central American students had been involved in for more than 10 years was the Jesus . Project, made by the numerous interna– tional students who traveled from all corners of the globe to study in Searcy. The organization focused on giving something back to the community in El Salvador. "We take one school at a time, and we develop the entire community through that school,"Jesus Project president junior Diego Alvarado said. "We acnlaUy train the people to have a sustainable com– munity by themselves." Alvarado said the original founders ofthe group were from El Salvador and wanted to find a way to give back to their home countries. Each year the organization provided students in the community with school supplies, uniforms and seminars to work with the parents of students. Throughout the year, students working wi th the Jesus Project on campus raised funds to finance a week-long trip to El Salvador in August. "We do car washes [and] have activi ti es at churches," activities director junior Lucy Velas– quez said. "We work at Pizza Pro and plan soccer tournaments." More than 30 students from varying fields of study came together to contribute their skills to advancing the work in El Salvador. During their yearly trip to in August, around 20 students worked with the community in Ellcacal. Alvarado said that some ofthe work done while in the community ranged from taking a community census [circle k] to escorting all of the students to the movies. Even though the Jesus Projects main objective was to benefit students in El Salvador, Alvarado and Velasquez felt that they had both grown a great deal since they started,working with the organization. Alvarado and Velasquez joined the Jesus Project as freshmen and valued the experiences they had over thelast two years. . When they introduced us to the idea ofgiving something back, I served happily, but it wasn't until the summer when I visited the community that I was able to have a closer experiencewith the people," Velasquez said. "I can see what I'm working for, and I believe in the project." '"The key to the project's success had always been the involvement of the student body, and Alvarado felt that had been the greatest benefit from his wo rk on the project. "The whole purpose and the whole vision ofthe rroject has been to develop Christian leaders, and can see how that has helped me become a better leader," Alvarado said . "We hang out together as friends, and we do so much together while working on the project, so we have grown really close to the people we are working with and helping." The group hoped to continue recruiting students to volunteer their time and skills. In order to expand their efforts to other communities in other coun– tries, additional help would be required. Alvarado hoped that the J esus Project could reach out to non-Spanish speaking students and allow them to be more involved. [hed AbeIson[ [educating for life] Row 1: P. Lee. P. Alvarado. J. Ellis. T. Zeled on. Row 2: L. Ramirez. S. Wade. B. Lopez. K. Masters. Row 3: N. Dean. B. Jaen. E. Iliescas. N.Milier. Row 1: K.Mayorga. C. Aleman. J. Castro. L. Marchena. D. Carranza. Row 2: P. Oropir. G. Velazquez. M. Cojtin. J. Quem. Row 3: F. Ramos. l. Rodriguez. E. IIlescas. 236 [organizations]
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==