Hello. Im Allie, one of the sophomores of the group and I’m going to tell you about my experiences today! So first of all our day started out with two breakfasts. The owners of the hotel offered to cook us breakfast which we had thought was going to be tomorrow but was prepared today. We started out our day as usual with cereal and reflection by kevin and one of the ladys set up a table with food for who we thought were going to be business men that are also staying here. The food stayed out awhile with no one coming to get it and everyone was asking me to go ask the front desk if the food was for us. Wellll before I could do that the front desk attendant came and told us the breakfast was for us. So after our cereal and bananas we had some extra energy, that we would need today, by having some eggs, toast, ham, and juice. It was a great start to our long day.
So after such a delicious morning we went to the school to continue our mural. As we walk up to it ever morning it looks more and more amazing. The work the Gerald, the head artist of OYE, has done is amazing and the work each person of this trip has put into it is just as amazing. The mural is nearly done and a cool thing about today was I noticed we keep becoming more and more integrated with the scholars and continue to share our cultures and create lasting relationships with all of them. We’ve even gotten as far as Facebook friends. Crazy! So we got almost All of the mural done today and are finishing up tomorrow! We even have the university of Oshkosh logo started which is awesome! Another amazing thing at the school is not only are we making lasting relationships with the scholars, but the students that go to this school as well. Like yesterday we were walking back to the hotel and I heard someone yell “hola Allie” and it was a little girl from the school that had recognized me. I’ve also made a great connection with my Honduran best friend. Her name is Doris and she is a special Ed teacher that works with deaf students that live in el Progresso. She reminds me of my mom cleaning off my face and teaching me little things. She’s an all around amazing woman. So after painting we ate lunch and then went back to do more painting. From the school we left to go to the infamous soccer game.
I know Dan probably talked a lot about the soccer game but let me just say, I know why I played basketball and ran cross country in high school. Oscar who is one of my favorite OYE scholars picked our team which consisted of Angie, Carly, me, him, the guys named Mario. Needless to say we lost bad. But the experience was more important than the score.
Lastly, we came back and jumped into the pool with our clothes on, and then got ready for dinner. Sam grilled us chicken and tortillas, beans, Honduran cheese, and pico de gallo. Following dinner we had a guest speak about the corporate social responsibility of the businesses in Honduras. This was really interesting for me because the man speaking, Walter, was living my life, but in Honduras. He majored in marketing and works for an outsourcing company generating call leads. I am currently going for a major in marketing and just received an internship that generates call leads for j.j. Keller. But anyways Walter’s company KM2 is an outsourcing company that is extremely involved with OYE. They employ around 600 employees ages 18-24 and they have a program in which the employee can donate 1% of their income to OYE. Over 50% of their employees do so. They also hold resume builders and mock interviews to give OYE students a sense of business etiquette. The interesting thing is that KM2 is the exception. There are very few to almost no companies that integrate with non profits and the community in honduras. Matt reminded me that Morgan made a great point today saying “you don’t have to have a a degree in social responsibilities to have an impact on people” this is a quote that really applies to me and the future that I see for myself. Working for a company that gives back can really keep you grounded in a world such as business which is really money centered. This has been such an amazing experience so far and I have connected with people on more levels than I knew possible. Coming here has opened me to things that are unexplainable and experiences that are unforgettable. Thanks everyone for reading this novel. Until next time, Adios!