Pascack Valley students traveled to Panama for a service trip led by PV teachers Cindy Reese and Courtney Rems from Jan. 11-15. This was the first service trip PV has offered for students.
“It was definitely a change of pace from school,” PV sophomore and traveler Llaoly Coplin said. “[It was] a very humbling experience being able to see how people live in comparison to how we live and [even with] everything they had to go through, they were still really happy.”
The idea for this trip stemmed from the Panama trip Reese went on last year with teachers from around the world. Both trips were facilitated by travel non-profit Global Brigades. The organization also runs service trips to Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia, but Reese explained that she “felt comfortable going back to the same place.”
“I went on it [the service trip to Panama] last year as a teacher, and I saw the benefit and the reward of going, so I wanted to take kids this year,” Reese said.
The group visited the Coclé Province, where the partner elementary school was, as well as Panama City. It was there that PV students participated in service projects.
“They [the group] did small construction projects which involved painting a bathroom, a school wall in their classroom, and the kitchen,” Reese said.
Additionally, the trip was an educational experience where students immersed themselves in Panama’s culture. According to Coplin, she learned a lot about the inner workings of the local water system that makes the water safe for drinking.
“They [PV students] did educational programs where they learned about the culture, the Mola, they did a rainforest hike. We went to the Panama Canal, we saw a sloth sanctuary, and they visited the old town (Casco Viejo). They also played games with the children at the school,” Reese said. “They did have local cultural foods. The community at the schools cooked for us so you had their local specialties and stuff like that. ”
According to Reese, she had two favorite days of the trip. The first was arriving at the partner school in Coclé as she got to witness PV students engage with the Panamanian students.
“Some [PV students] spoke Spanish, some didn’t, and yet they still were able to make those kids have a fantastic day,” Reese said. “And that was kind of special.”
Upon Reese’s arrival to the school, which she had visited a year before on her service trip with teachers, she experiences a more personal, meaningful moment.
“I helped build the bathroom last year and it was functioning this year, so that was super cool for me,” Reese said.
Meanwhile, Coplin chose to go on this trip for two reasons: she wanted to participate in a service trip and wanted to exercise her Spanish.
“I speak Spanish at home,” Coplin said. “It’s my second language, so I thought it’d be really fun to be able to just speak Spanish with other Spanish speakers.”
In fact, speaking Spanish with the kids proved to be a highlight of Coplin’s trip.
“My favorite activity while I was there was definitely talking to the kids, being able to play with them, and just talk to them about how their lives were,” Coplin said. “They asked us questions and I would ask them questions. It was really nice.”
According to Coplin, the conversations she had with the kids were extremely meaningful, especially when talking about school.
“I talked to this one seven-year-old and he told me that he had to walk an hour to school and school started at 7 a.m.!” Coplin said.
Coplin took these conversations and reflected inwards.
“It was very humbling and very good to realize how fortunate we truly are,” Coplin said.
Including Coplin, this year’s trip consisted of eight kids, many of whom Reese and Rems had taught in class or traveled with before. According to Reese, there’s something special about traveling with these familiar students.
“When you travel, like a coach with their team, you have a different bond, and it’s nice to experience things outside the classroom with those kids,” Reese said.
Reese described this first service trip with students as a “cool experience” and plans to repeat it for next year. While she has been on numerous school trips, Reese explains that each one is special in one way.
“There’s one piece that’s always the same and that’s seeing the joy in the kids’ faces as we travel,” Reese said.
