As part of an ICDS site visit day, Jacob recently had the opportunity to visit an organization called El Niño y La Bola (The Boy and the Ball). The organization works to empower young people from vulnerable communities around the San José area. His experience in El Niño y La Bola reminded him of the stories her mother tells about her impoverished upbringing in Chile.“My whole life I’ve heard stories of what her house looked like, how she lived, and the sort of things she had to overcome. Going there was seeing all that in person. There are differences, but I kept seeing similarities to what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen in movies and what my mom has said ‘Oh yes, that’s how we lived.’  So, it was really impactful in that way.”

While Chile and Costa Rica are geographically very different (not to mention pretty far away from one another), being closer to a reality that his mother had to live is eye-opening for Jacob. Add to that his experience of contributing to the community by teaching others, and Jacob’s experience of exploring his Latin American heritage has been even more enriching.But he wasn’t always so willing to embrace his roots: “When I was learning languages, I refused to learn Spanish. My mom would speak to me in Spanish and I would say, ‘Speak to me in my language mom!’ I was really pushing up against that. But then, as I grew older and I became closer with my family in Chile, I wanted to embrace my heritage.”  Jacob continues, “As a kid, you don’t want to be different. You want to fit in. Having your heritage is like ‘No, I don’t want to be different; I want to just be a regular kid.’ ”

The community work experience at ICDS is designed to help students empower themselves. From travel to-and-from, to working independently, to assessing their community work site through classroom reflections, it gives them the opportunity to put their skills and knowledge into practice while helping a good cause. Many Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), or non-profits, struggle with the same issues: low funding, lack of resources, and unpredictable changes in the populations they serve. ICDS encourages students to take a hands-on role at their community work sites, and through the classroom component, explore ways to make their organization more sustainable and successful.“I guess the biggest thing that this experience has helped me with is to help me learn that I can do something,” says Jacob.