230 Strong Smiling Faces and More

March 7, 2019

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Tyler Barry. One of the things that I loved about this whole trip was the Boys and Girls club here in Peurto Rico. It was a great experience to see a different Boys and Girls club in a non-English speaking community, a true experience that you can't get everywhere.
For those of you that don't know what the Boys and Girls Club is, here is a brief description of what it is and what it's functions are in the community. The Boys and Girls Club is an after-school activity facility that is used by all students, ranging from the ages of six to eighteen. This facility offers tutoring for classes like math, English, and even Spanish. They also have a full-size gym and classrooms in the different areas of the building to help assist the students in the best way they can. On average the Boys and Girls Club here in Peurto Rico sees anywhere from one hundred to two hundred and thirty children each day, throughout the day. They come and go as they please and they can do what they want. All the Boys and Girls clubs around the world have the same saying and it is "A Great Future Begins Here" which is seen in the pictures below. Along with the great things like these listed, one thing that all the clubs around the world do is they trade shirts. Each club has a shirt that is special to them and made for their club every year. Being that I have worked many events in the Boys and Girls club in McKeesport, I have many shirts with different designs. I got the opportunity to trade shirts with the club down here in Peurto Rico. It was a memory that I will never forget. I will never forget the children and all their smiling faces and all the great memories we made, not only today, but all the ones made this whole trip. I am proud to be a Penn State student and very happy my school offers chances as grand as this for our Spring Break. I have learned more about my fellow classmates and myself than I ever thought I would. I need to thank Louise, Tony, and our chancellor Dr. Edemondson, for this great opportunity and these great memories that will last me lifetimes.
Along with all this, I tend to have a way with words, as Louise and Tony would tell you. So this was a poem I wrote for the Boys and Girls Club of Peurto Rico. I hope they can get it and they receive not only a shirt but a memory that will bring a smile to their face every day. Please enjoy and thank you all for this great opportunity.

230 Strong Smiling Faces
By: Tyler Barry

Colours seen all around
Broken English
Yet easy to understand
Groups gather round and form ranks
Divide and Conquer
A tsunami of children flood through the clear glass doors
We stand strong in our different locations
Waiting patiently with arms open wide
Waiting for the children
Waiting for the perfect moments in time
Children of all ages and sizes
Tall and short
Young and old
They stormed into each location
Some in the gym
Some in classrooms
Some in the game areas
And some just eating food
Just doing their daily routines
Until they saw us
Standing in the areas
Just watching
Watching the biggest smiles run across their faces
The smile you have when you see your friends
The smile you have when are loved
The smile you have when you are cared about
They ran to us with their arms filled with toys
Hoping to play every game they could make up
Basketball, volleyball, tag, piggyback rides
Games that brought out the kid inside of us all
As sweat dripped from our brows
Spanish speaking all around
Not knowing how to respond
With few words learned
We learned our ways around
Keeping them happy
And their faces smiling
All excited and happy
Happy to be alive
Happy to be cared for
Happy to be loved
As our times together flew by
People moved from place to place
Seeing each of the smiling faces
Of children who just wanted a friend
A friend who will play with them
A friend who will bring the light
A friend who will bring them happiness
And that's what we were there for
To bring them joy
To bring them peace
To bring them unity
With children on our backs
And holding our hands
Laughing and smiling at all the friends that we made
Smiling because they smiled
Knowing everything they needed
A little entertainment
A little friendship
A little happiness
Happiness to bring them back to the light
The light that Maria destroyed
The light that brought them from the shadows
The light that will light their future
We came with our hearts on our sleeves and arms opened wide
We stood strong
Standing in the light
All standing with smiling faces

Louise's Stray

Thursday, March 7th



We returned to the school, Escuela De La Comunidad Mata De Platano in Luqillo. We worked delighted to scrape paint off of the pavilion. We cleared the back of the schoolyard with rakes with Ilu's dad, while D.J. and Adam had an interesting discussion about politics.  There was an adorable chihuahua mix mutt that was at the school.  The dog was very friendly and Louise fell in love with him.  She got approval from the people at the school to adopt the stray.  Then she got approval from her husband and the vet.  She adopted this stray dog and is going to give it a loving home.  Now, she will have two dogs.  Then after, we finished at the school we returned to the camp and had lunch, followed by an hour-long bus ride to the Boys and Girls Club of Puerto Rico where we helped children.  The facility is very nice and offers tutoring to the children, along with a place for them to express themselves.  Sabrina and Ronnie tried to help children with their homework, even though they knew some Spanish but not enough to be fluent, but they did help the one kid learn the difference between similes and metaphors.  Natalie and Rachel communicated with a few children.   In the teenage area, Wyatt and TJ helped a student with his English and Math homework.  In the gym, the majority of the Penn State Greater Allegheny-New Kensington group played basketball with the kids and we're excited to spend time with the children and brighten their day.  In the Lobby, the children danced and had fun playing with toys.  At the end of the trip, we danced with the children to songs such as Baby Shark and the Meringue.  Then we returned to camp and had a flounder and rice dinner.

Culture, food, and music!!

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

After a hot day of work, we have the chance to stop by the kiosks in Luquillo, PR. Some of the vendors sold authentic Puerto Rican food, such as al capurrias, arepas, tostones, chicharrón, and many more. However, the number one dish students purchased was monfongo, which is a mashed plantains baseb dish mixed in with your meat of choice, in our case pork, and vegetables. Other vendors sold fruit and dessert smoothies. Ronni got a delicious dessert smoothie with Nutella, chocolate wafers, and and Oreo. In addition, there were some vendors that sold artisan, handmade items. TJ bought a beautiful and very colorful bag that he could carry extra items with him. The music was playing at every kiosk! The music was so upbeat and we danced down the street, saying hello to all of the people in Luquillo and just having a wonderful time. This day was Paulina and Ronni’s favorite day of the trip so far; being able to help people and also have a little fun!




Paulina Iniguez
Ronni Corbett

Highlight from Service on Tuesday

After service activities!

School Prep

Day 4: 

Today started as a typical morning in Puerto Rico, the birds were chirping, the frogs were coquiing, and we were surrounded by the fresh morning air once again. We got our typical island breakfast and loaded onto the bus with our favorite driver, Tony. We braved the tsunami of potholes, as Tony so graciously put it, and made our way to the Luquillo community school which was forced to close its doors after Maria hit and is currently being restored into a Montessori, which is a low-cost option for the education of younger children. 

When we arrived, we split up into several work parties to help revive this place of learning. Some of us were tasked with removing the old and destroyed furnishings from all the buildings, some were power-washing inside and outside the building to remove the stains brought by Maria, others assisted in reclaiming the area back from mother nature, while others removed paint from the past so we can repaint the future. 

Soon the entire area was filled with the heart-wrenching screams of Tyler and DJ as a rat leapt from an abandoned cabinet and ran past them into the surrounding wildlife. After this excitement, Greater Kensington and Harrisburg made strides in the rejuvenation of this school. By lunch, most of the area had been trimmed, many of the walls had been washed, and all of the debris was cleared from all the rooms. 

After eating lunch and a quick dance session featuring the exotic moves of Tyler Barry, everyone was granted the second wind to make it to the end of the day. We finished most of what we started, but we left some chipping and painting for the next day. 

We then came back to camp and played some intense games of water polo and bonded with the other Penn State campuses staying with us. 

Painting in Puerto Rico

Today we got to work on a painting project for a family’s home in Playa Guayanes. The project also included prepping the building to be painted on. One of the ways we prepped was by chiseling paint off of a wall in front of the family’s yard. This was a challenging task since the only way to consistently get the paint off of the concrete wall was by hitting it with the chisel. Wyatt was a professional at completing his section on the wall. Other things we did for the house was paint the porch area ceiling and the walls high up on the house. The family was very appreciative of our work, making the experience very rewarding. After we finished up for the day, we went to a beach briefly. There were several stray dogs roaming the beach making it nice for those of us who missed our dogs (which would be everyone except Tony because he doesn’t have a dog). Then we came back to the campground and had dinner which was delicious. For dinner we had the selection of salad, rice, veggies, beans, and meats. After dinner we finished up on writing notes to each other and put them in  everyone’s “Feel Good Bags.” Then we did some reflecting and bonding from our experiences. It is currently night time at our rainforest campground and it is such an increadible location with so much green and wildlife. Tomorrow we will continue the painting project from yesterday and go to a new location. Goodnight from the rainforest in Puerto Rico to everyone reading our blog. I hope you feel inspired to do something to help someone else after reading our blogs.
-Raeann (aka. Captain Rae Rae)