-by Lynsie Haley, USA, about her community impact projects in Veracruz, Mexico
Hola from Veracruz, Mexico! A city full of history, humidity and yes, the beach! While the beach was just one thing high on the priority list of Cast B this week, so was our show and of course, Community Impact (CI)! This week consisted of several CI events including cleaning up a beach, visiting a retirement center and re-planting trees. Of course, all of our CI events are incredibly rewarding on a personal level. The CI I enjoyed the most was the retirement center.
Lynsie assisting with morning exercises
On the same day as the beach cleanup, Cast B headed to a retirement home in the city of Veracruz. While we were all sandy, exhausted, and sweaty from the early morning activities, and sun burnt from the day at the beach before, we knew we had a job to do! So we rallied together to bring up our energy and bring a smile to the elderly people who were looking forward to our visit. Once we arrived, we put on a brief show for the residence which included traditional songs from Mexico sung in Spanish, a popular song from America in English, “Are You Sleeping”, a popular children’s song around the world sung in several different languages and of course, Viva la Gente complete with international costumes. The cast even managed to introduce themselves individually in Spanish! It was awesome!
After the show, we all grabbed a grandparent and escorted them outside for their morning exercises. We assisted our grandparents making sure they did the exercises correctly and to their fullest potential so that they could get the most out of it. In addition, we were just a new smiling face to be by their side and brighten up our day. Although many of us found it difficult to communicate with them seeing how the majority of us know very little Spanish, we put to use what UWP had previously taught us about using body language and facial expressions to communicate and of course, a smile goes a long way. With the smiles on their elderly faces, it was very clear to see how much they appreciated us being there.
Lynsie dancing at a retirement home in Xalapa
The next day, Cast B was prepared to be planting trees in Xalapa, a city about an hour outside of Veracruz. Due to the rainy weather that morning, a consensus was made that it would be unsafe for us to be planting trees in such wet conditions. If UWP has taught me one thing, it’s how to be flexible and just “go with the flow”. Slightly bummed about the change in plans, I quickly perked up when I heard what the alternative was going to be. We were getting a second chance to go to a retirement community, much like the one we went to the day before, but this time in the City of Xalapa! Stoked about spending another exciting day with the elderly community of Mexico, we loaded the buses and headed for Xalapa.
When we arrived, we put on a short program compiled of the same songs we had sung the day before at the retirement home in Veracruz. What happened after that, I’m sure was one of the highlights of my week in Veracruz. We had a dance party. The staff cranked up the music and we danced, and we danced and we danced. Ever single person in the room had a grin from ear to ear and everyone was having a blast. We did a conga line, some step touching in a circle, a little cross jig that one of the residence taught some of us and we just jammed out. The staff of the retirement home was so appreciative of us being there! They told us that they had never seen so many of the residence participate in extra-curricular activities nor had they seen anything quite like our UWP Dance Party! It was sad to say goodbye after such a fun and energetic day, but it felt good knowing how much fun both we and the residences had!
With the beach, the aquarium, Independence Day and an amazing show all happening in one city, it’s difficult to choose just one memorable moment. But for me, making someone smile with just my presence and positive attitude was definitely the highlight of my week!
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