We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

-Cesar Chavez
 

            Some communities have been blessed with fortune and all the necessities needed for them to thrive and expand their community, while some do not have this good fortune. However, from this less fortunate community can rise the most meaningful and enduring relationships between citizens. Any little thing that someone has can help someone who has nothing. Giving whatever you have, no matter how big or small is what will help start the chain reaction of a powerful community.

The village of Cuyalí was founded by other pioneers just like America was; from their hard work and determination villages were formed. What little they had, they gave and even to this day they continue to work as hard as they can in dealing with their socioeconomic circumstance. Their village is not as deep in poverty as many other villages are, but nonetheless they are in great need.  These needs do not bring them down but draw them closer to one another, showing them the capacity that they are willing to withstand and be there for one another. The villagers of Cuyalí had very little to give us and yet they let us use one of their schools as a clinic. The school could not have been more than six or seven classrooms big but this was enough for them and this is where many of their young children in the community come to learn. The teachers are ones who have a skill in talking to children and some knowledge on the subjects; they are using their gifts just as Kreztman and McKnight explain in their basic guide of the ABCD model. What the children lack is education and there are villagers who can work together to provide some kinds of lesson plans for the children and try their hardest. The classrooms where they teach the kids were colorful and uplifting. Many of the walls were covered with papers and drawings that the children themselves drew and none of this would have happened without the villagers coming together and using their gift of knowledge to teach these children. These classrooms, teachers and school are all the children have in this village, it is not much but this was made entirely out of the villages need for educating their children. The village had to come together and demand a school facility. Just as they recognized that their children needed an education and the teachers that had a gift, the villagers built Cuyalí by recognizing everyone’s capacity and “used them to make a new way” as Kreztman and McKnight say.  It is not a measure of how fancy or new the schools or the communities look; it’s about the people coming together and recognizing one another’s strengths as well as all of their weaknesses to figure out what they need the most.

            In figuring out what communities need the most is where the holistic model of Global Brigades comes in. Collectively, Global Brigades learns what each community needs to help them reach their developmental goals. Not only does GB look for communities that are in need, but also communities that have strengths as well as challenges. The community must also want to help reach their goal with the help of their own citizens as well, not just the volunteers. Each community is in need of different things but GB does a good job in recruiting volunteers for each different brigade. The nine different brigades that help communities are made up of students who are recruited for their skills and knowledge. Together they are using their resources as a community themselves to go out and help other communities who are not so well off. These groups or “associations” as Kreztman and McKnight define are what will improve the community’s future.

On our last day in Honduras, we were able to spend a day doing an architectural brigade; it was more of a pilot to help build a clinic in another village where within a year it would open and provide healthcare for them. I’m not going to lie and say it was easy; it was hard and required a lot of physical labor and endurance. However, all of us working together with our strength (which can be considered a skill and I tried my very hardest even though I am tiny) did what we could to build the facility. Village members from other villages came to help us out as well and showed us what to do. With all of our efforts we worked together even though we don’t live in their community. Global Brigades bridges the gap and allows us to use our skills in the best way that we can: by using our knowledge and strength to better other communities in what they most need.

To move forward in a positive way we must all help each other with whatever skills we have. The people of Cuyalí had an immense silent strength and the will to volunteer and help us help them. The community communicated with our brigade months before we arrived to help us understand what they needed help with. They took initiative and power as Kreztman and McKnight say to delegate with their neighbors to do what needs to be done for their community. Regardless if the only thing the community has is some teachers, day cares, farmers and enough to get by, the people of Cuyalí let us come into their community with open arms, to better their community.