“El fiestón” is a party held for children of limited resources. It is organized by CAS students in the IB Diploma Programme and with the rest of the school as volunteers. The 11thgraders have worked for 3 months in the planning and the subsequent execution of the party, learning to collaborate, delegate, take responsibility and work towards a final result.
Having an entire class come to an agreement is not easy. However, the students have done everything they could to make the party a reality with the hope of positively impacting a sector of society as vulnerable as children. Thanks to the support of the entire Greenville community we have managed to get food, toys, candies, piñatas, the space to hold the party and the transportation to bring the children from their communities. All in the hopes of providing these children with a day filled with joy.
The children attending this year´s “El fiestón” are students at the Florentino Hernández, Manuel Campos Payró, and Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez schools (which are located in the surrounding areas and close to the municipal garbage dump) or come from the Salvation Army Home. Each present different and very specific needs, and all have a very low socioeconomic level.
During the visit we made to the schools, the teachers commented on the children’s enthusiasm for attending because they had heard that they will be given pizza. This moved us deeply and motivated us to work harder. In addition to the anticipated pizza, we have gotten inflatables, lots of games, piñatas and gifts for each child attending.
In CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) we seek to help young people understand the great gifts that they have to offer and how much the world needs their commitment. The truth is that sometimes it can be overwhelming, leaving a comfort zone always involves effort and work. However, seeing how they can (from their age and with their abilities) improve the world is something that is priceless.
Last year 100 children attended the event. This year there will more than 150. The idea is that each year we continue to grow so that our desire to serve never stagnates and that we don’t stand idly by with our arms crossed. The needs are many, but we can be satisfied knowing that we have done our part so that the good side wins, to bring hope to those who have lost it.
The size of the effort is not what matters because as Mother Teresa of Calcutta(one of our role models proposed by IB)said,“We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if that drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”
Our society would be incomplete without the commitment that we put in at Greenville to be and to form people of integrity and solidarity.
