This past week was SuperVacas!! All of our hard work and planning finally came together in a week full of dancing, crafting, singing, and water balloon wars.

All the volunteers got their own hand-made sailor hats!

I won’t give a day-by-day account of everything that went on (to be honest, it’s really all a blur of sweaty kids and wiping glue off sticky fingers) so I’ll just give some of the highlights:

Our fearless leader, Jorge, managed to find a complete captain’s suit–much to the entertainment of the kids–and stayed in character all week. One day, he even dressed in a camo army outfit and somehow incorporated salutes and “drop and give me 20’s” into the lesson that day–again, much to the entertainment of the kids in the audience.

Jorge as the captain

One night, Jorge gathered some of us volunteers and told us he wanted to make 100 treasure maps for the teaching the next day. We proceeded to spend the next 6 hours hand drawing a pretty awesome map full of sea monsters, pirate ships and storms (it was super cool if I don’t say so myself ;)) and glueing them onto 100 pieces of paper, all of which we burned the edges to make them look authentic. The maps were meant to teach the kids how to navigate the “storms of life.” I’m definitely learning that it’s “go big or go home” with Fundación Comunidad Viva. And I love it.

The map!

The kids working through their maps

On the third day of teaching, we wanted the kids to learn about serving others. We decided to do something pretty radical and teach them about the ultimate service of foot washing–by washing their feet! The kids were definitely taken aback at first, not sure what to think. We had all the volunteers participate and used cups of water and towels to wash each child’s feet. We told them that before we are able to serve others with a willing heart, we must first learn to accept gifts from others. It was an incredible symbol to demonstrate service and I think all the kids really took away something that day.

Jorge, telling a story about service

Washing the kids’ feet

The last day was chaotic, to say the least. Let’s just say we filled 300 water balloons the night before and the kids went wild. But the highlight of the last day was definitely the meal we shared with the neighborhood. The day before, we asked each child to bring either peeled potatoes, yuca, or plantain to be used for a giant sancocho (a typical Colombia soup) we would make for the next day. So by the end of the last day SuperVacas, we had three huge pots of sancocho which we dished out to all the kids. But what’s even cooler is that we set up tables for the parents to come and spend time having lunch in community. We even passed out some bowls to curious neighbors who had come out of their houses to see where all the noise and music was coming from!

One big party!

Even though the foundation has hosted countless SuperVacas in the past few years, everyone kept saying this one was the best yet. It was such a privilege to be a part of planning something so influential in this community.

While we will use the same theme, decorations, lessons, etc. for the SuperVacas coming up in Pacho, we have another SuperVacas here in Prado at the end of the November. And guess what? We have to come up with a totally different theme and plan. Ah well, the work never ends here in Bogotá but I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world 🙂

These boys couldn’t get enough of the drums

Making boats that actually float!

Time for some singing and dancing

He wanted to make his sailor’s hat Bruce Wayne-themed

The hat’s a little big!