La Voz

It took me awhile, but I slowly began to realize how important the talent show was to the staff and kids at Casa Maren, where I’m volunteering with Fundación Poder Joven. It seemed that every day there was some task related to the preparation for the show: cutting out musical notes for decorations, painting signs, helping kids with auditions, and making homemade prizes such as a microphone filled with candy.

The day before the competition, when the last child had left the building at around 5 pm, three staff members and I then began transforming the main room into a stage for “La Voz” (The Voice) as the competition was called. When students walked down the street outside and peeked in, Alba shut the door and told them to go away. This was serious business. We hung decorations from the ceiling, made a “red carpet” out of contact paper, and strung up decorative curtains.

La Voz is an annual tradition at Casa Maren, one that everyone eagerly awaits. Students know that there are many days of hard work, homework help, English, yoga, meditation, and other classes, but they also know that the staff provide lots of fun activities as well. A trip to the countryside, a talent show, a movie, games, and more.

A highlight of the show came when Charlotte and Julian, two volunteers from France and Canada, danced the bachata. They were so good that I caught some of the younger kids turning away and hiding their eyes during the more sensual parts!

We three volunteers were also the judges, and it wasn’t easy to choose just one girl and one boy as the winner. Luckily, the staff had prepared small gift bags for all of the students so we were able to give out prizes to everyone, as long as we came up with a name for the prize. Some were easy: best moves, best energy, best choreography; while others were a bit of a stretch: best shirt, coolest shoes, most courageous (to the boy who cried through the first part of his song, but did it anyway).

The kids were all very supportive of each other. Many got up and helped out their friends when they were struggling on stage, or just gave them reassuring pats on the back while they sang to give them more confidence.

The following day, the decorations were down and Casa Maren was back to normal. I learned a lot of hardware and tools vocabulary while helping a seventh-grader with his homework and Clared led the students in their weekly meditation class. The students were ready for a serious day of learning. Still, there’s talk of special events for Holy Week this week and a possible field trip to a movie theater next month, another experience most of these kids have never enjoyed.

Want to support future events and needs of Poder Joven? You can make a donation on their website. For those who know me, feel free to send me a message if you’d like to send money directly to me via Venmo or another app before April 4 (my last day here). I will use it to purchase needed supplies or make a cash donation in your name directly to the staff at Poder Joven. Either way, consider making a small gift – a little really does go a long way! And send me your questions if you’d like to know more about this organization. Thank you to those who have already made a donation!