3/23/23 Building the Future

Sarah

Today I got a chance to talk with Kendys about the community of Cuesta Arena and where some of our original kids in the program are headed, educationally. I learned today that for the past 10 years Kendys has been working behind the scenes in some pretty amazing ways. When the school started 10 years ago, we knew that Kendys was the right person for the job. Not only did she have a degree in education but also in psychology. Her family was long time members of the church, and in fact, her brother Charlies was our head contraction engineer. With 20 kids and Kendys being from the city, we arranged for a young woman named Daisy to be her assistant. Daisy had always helped missionaries with the children and had a goal set to attend the university before starting a family (which went against the grain of the culture of the town). We paid Daisy to be the assistant teacher with the intention of her using the money to finish her education, which she did. Over the years we have had a handful of assistants, all of which lived in Cuesta Arena. It has been a critical piece to have someone living in Cuesta Arena to be apart of the team.

What I did not know, is the transition of assistant teachers every few years has been intentional. It has continued to be an opportunity to further ones education, not just through the university, but through so much more. Kendys is intentionally teaching them how to teach, how to prepare lessons, how to discipline 20 children, and so much more. What she told me today is that she knows she will not always be around to be the teacher. The more people in Cuesta Arena she can teach, the better the future of the school. In fact, out of our assistant teachers, we now have 2 that are in full time teaching positions in other communities, Daisy being one of them. Kendys has been intentionally planting seeds. The school in Cuesta Arena is not only feeding the children that are apart of the school but so much more. She is planting seeds in so many other areas. Kendys is recognizing the potential in women throughout the community and empowering them to become teachers and leaders. What an amazing legacy she is leaving behind.