Success in Orlando!

October 2nd, 2010

After postponing the homeless distribution with the fifth grade students of Castle Creek Elementary, I was finally given approval to complete my project on Friday, October 1st, 2010 with the students making the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  The process was actually very fast, which was completely unexpected.  We had a total of eleven fifth graders packing all the donations in about 30 minutes.  I divided the students up by stations; some put the peanut butter and jelly on the bread, some packed the sandwiches in bags, and the last couple of students stored the sandwiches in the lunch bags, along with chips and a juice.  I was very excited to know that we prepared 45 lunch bags for the homeless.  After their hard work, we played soccer and tennis to relax before our distribution the next day.

On Saturday, October 2nd, selected students, some parents, some volunteers, and I went to Downtown Orlando's Lake Eola Park with all of our donations.  As mentioned in a previous post, this park has a lot of homeless people with very interesting stories.  I understand that there are places with more homeless people, but I believe this park was a perfect environment for the children.  We handed out clothes that has been donated to the Beyond the Wall Campaign, as well as the lunch bags that were prepared by the children of Extended Day at Castle Creek Elementary School.  The children also had an opportunity to speak to the homeless, which was very important.  They met people with mental illness, veterans, and some that have been affected by the recession.  An interesting (and sad) event was when they saw a homeless man being kicked out of the park by the Orlando Police Department for sleeping on the grass.  They met a woman that admitted she slept below a 408 expressway bridge.  They also met a homeless man that was so religious, that he even prayed with the children.  After the social work was completed, the children had an opportunity to play at the playground, which they really enjoyed.  We ended the morning by having pizza at the park. 

The event was a complete success!  The students really enjoyed their morning at the park, they learned about the homeless, and they made a difference.  I am very proud that I was able to direct this project with the kids, and that the alliance that the Beyond the Wall Campaign has with Castle Creek Elementary School is working out well.  I want to thank the staff of Castle Creek Elementary School, the students that participated in this project, the parents that allowed their children to help out, and of course, everyone that has followed this campaign.

Delay

September 16th, 2010

This Saturday, September 18th, a distribution at Lake Eola Park in Downtown Orlando was planned with students from Castle Creek Elementary School, as mentioned in a previous post.  Unfortunately, the "Extended Day" coordinator at that school will not be able to assist the distribution as she had planned to, which is required in order for the students to be able to participate in the distribution.  The event will be postponed until further notice.

Let's help the needy in Orlando, Florida (USA)...

September 14th, 2010

In an effort to continue going "beyond the wall", why not help the United States? Many people outside the U.S. do not know that there is poverty in this country...in fact, many people in other countries believe that there is absolutely no poverty in the United States. I have been helping Colombia for almost two years through this organization, but I never forget about my fellow Americans. I have donated over 1,000 items of clothing to the homeless here in Orlando, Florida, and I will continue to do so, especially as winter approaches.

I currently have two jobs, and one of my jobs is at Castle Creek Elementary as a fifth grade "Extended Day" Group Leader.  "Extended Day" is an after school program that is part of Orange County Public Schools, and during my whole high school career, I worked there as a volunteer.  Now, as a college student, I am an employee of this school, and I have decided to combine my social work with the fifth grade students of Castle Creek.  In May 2010, most of the students of the whole school donated clothes for the needy in Colombia.  In fact, if some recall, Miss Colombia 2010, Natalia Navarro, actually visited the school to congradulate them for all their donations. 

Orlando has a high rate of homelessness, and most of them head to Lake Eola Park in Downtown Orlando.  I have worked with the homeless for many years, and I believe it is extremely important for people to help them whenever they can...with food, shoes, clothing, etc.  Since I began working at Castle Creek, I have always noticed how much food the children throw away.  For example, everyday, there are many students that do not even open the snacks we provide them with, and they throw them away simply because they do not like the certain snack.  The correct thing to do is to simply not get the snack, however, most of these students do not even know that they are doing something wrong.  I feel it is important for the students to understand that there are people all over the world, even here in Orlando, that could really use those snacks they throw away.  I decided to start a project that would include giving lunch out to the homeless in Lake Eola Park with the fifth grade students of Extended Day at Castle Creek Elementary.  I believe it is a perfect way for them to understand how important it is to not waste food, and to be more considerate with the homeless.

The project includes the fifth graders and I making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Friday, September 17th, 2010 during Extended Day.  They will be packed into lunch bags, along with juice and chips.  All the items are being sponsored by the Extended Day program.  On Saturday, September 18th, 2010, seven fifth grade students, the Extended Day coordinator, and I will meet at Lake Eola Park to hand out the lunch bags.  All lunch bags will also be handed out with clothing donations that I have received throughout my campaign.  We will end off the day by having lunch at the park.  This Extended Day and Beyond the Wall alliance allows me to reach out not only to the needy in Colombia, but it also allows me to help the needy in the United States.  I'm also excited about this alliance because the fifth grade students of Castle Creek will have an opportunity to speak to the homeless, and learn why they are living under needy conditions.  This will not be the only distribution throughout this school year;  I will have many more as the year progresses, so all the students have an opportunity to go.

I want to thank Castle Creek Elementary for this great opportunity, and of course the parents of the fifth grade students for allowing me to direct this project.

Congratulations!

August 24, 2010

I would like to congratulate Miss Colombia 2010, Natalia Navarro Galvis, for being part of the Top 15 in Miss Universe 2010.  Natalia went to my first distribution in El Talon being crowned Miss Bolivar 2009 for only a couple of weeks.  Since then, Natalia has been supporting my cause by assisting most of my events.  It's an honor to have had one of the fifteen most beautiful women in the universe at my humble events.  Congratulations!

I also want to congratulate Miss Turbaco 2010, Nadia Milena, for becoming the first runner up in the past Miss Bolivar 2010. Nadia went to my last distribution in El Talon, and also supports my cause.

Congratulations to both beauties!

Future projects

August 22, 2010

Distributions of clothes, toys, and shoes have been what I have used to help the needy in Colombia.  I have previously announced the construction of a community center, but due to many reasons, I have had to postpone the construction of the community center to next year.  However, there are still four main projects that will be completed by the end of this year:

1. Another distribution of clothes, shoes, and toys to be distributed in El Talon during the week of Christmas.  I am already receiving many donations, and I am actually going to have to stop receiving so much since I am literally getting packed.
2. I will be staying in El Talon for three days, and with only $1 (USD) each day to learn how it really is to live in that town.
3. I have began writing a book based on the needs in many towns in Colombia.  Part of my book includes my experience living in El Talon for three days.  I plan to finish writing my book by the beginning of next year, and hopefully it can get published sometime during next summer.  The point of the book is to raise awareness about the needs that people have in the South American country.
4. My documentary is going very well!  Unfortunately, while I was in Los Angeles earlier this month filming my documentary, my memory card was stolen with most of my material, and I have to go back in September.  However, I still plan to premiere it in October with special guests, and with an interesting alliance that will be announced soon.

These projects will definitely keep me busy, adding my two jobs and my full time schedule going to school.  All this will be done in order to keep helping Colombia!

Beyond the Wall Documentary

August 22, 2010



To keep promoting the name of my organization, I decided to film a documentary based on the economic inequality that exists in most cities, especially in Cartagena. The documentary includes interviews with Miss Colombia 2010, Natalia Navarro, priests, people in El Talon, and much more. Not only will the documentary be filmed in Colombia, it also includes parts in Orlando and Los Angeles. The documentary is planned to premiere in October 2010. Stay tuned!

July 2010 Distribution

August 12, 2010

After a lot of work during the months of July and August, I finally have managed to find time to write about my experience in El Talon for the third consecutive time. To be honest, I am currently on a flight from Orlando to Los Angeles, and I am taking this opportunity to express how my trip to Colombia was, and what I feel should be done during my next visit this coming December.

First of all, before I went to Colombia, I had to prepare the donations from the garage of my home, where all the donations are. My family and I worked the last week of June until July 2nd tranferring the donations that would be sent to El Talon into large U-Haul boxes. I am affirming that every single item that was sent to Colombia was checked by me, and I am very satisfied to announce that this distribution had some of the best clothing I have ever sent since my campaign began. Everything was done with patience, and with organization; I believe that I am getting quite used to this routine, compared to last year, when everything was new to me, and I was only seventeen years old.

On July 3rd, I drove a Penske truck to the Tampa Cargo headquarters at the Miami International Airport with all my donations. I managed to get to Miami at 8:30 AM, and by 11 AM, I was already on my way back to Orlando to prepare for my trip to Cartagena the following day. All the donations were to be picked up by me in Barranquilla on Tuesday, July 6th. I flew to Colombia relatively calm, since everything seemed to be running smoothly.
On July 4th, during my country’s independence, I travelled to Colombia, and I immedietly began preparing for my distribution, which was scheduled to be on July 17th at 10 AM in El Talon. Many people believe that it is easy to go to Colombia, and simply give out the donations as soon as you receive them…but if somebody interested in organizing a project like mine, I strongly discourage you to distribute that way, since your security may be at risk. Everything must be done in an organized manner because wherever there is extreme need, like in El Talon, you must be extremely careful.

Part of the preparation for my distribution includes a trip to Barranquilla, which is where I have to pick up my donations.  Barranquilla is two hours away from Cartagena, and since I was informed that the donations would arrive on July 6th, I travelled to that city with my two cousins, only to find out that the flight was cancelled, and I was not informed.  On my Tampa Cargo receipt, it clearly states that if the flight is cancelled or delayed, I would be notified.  I had to go back to Cartagena, and return to Barranquilla on July 8th.  When I went back to pick up my donations, as usual, I had to get my donations approved by customs.  They were approved, but after they looked at everything in each box.  After we opened the boxes, a special tape was put on the boxes, and that special tape was in the hands of the Tampa Cargo employees.  I had to leave the boxes in their place until I signed a few documents for the release.  I finally managed to get my donations released, and in order to save a few bucks, we took them to the Barranquilla bus terminal, where we would travel to Cartagena with all ten boxes.  Unfortunately, the bus that would transport us was overbooked, and I was left with no seat...literally.  I had to travel to Cartagena with no seat, until the bus company managed to get a small seat in the back of the bus.  We finally reached Cartagena, and I had my donations for El Talon, safe and sound.  When I opened the donations, half of them were a quarter empty, which meant that when I was signing the papers to release my donations in Barranquilla, the Tampa Cargo employees stole some donations.  I will never use Tampa Cargo again for any future distribution, since I can avoid a hassle, and of course, an annoying trip to Barranquilla.

After my trip to Barrnaquilla, I simply prepared for my distribution by inviting Miss Turbaco 2010 and candidate for Miss Bolivar 2010, Nadia Milena, and ex participant in the Colombian series, "Desafio 2009," John Jairo Larios. I always enjoy inviting public figures to my distributions because it always brings more joy to the people of El Talon. I also did another census of El Talon, and everyone was very happy to see me once again. This distribution was completely different than my others; I decided to walk and hand all the donations house by house in order to have a more one on one experience with each El Talon resident. During the census, I gave one person of each house a ticket with a number, and they must have that ticket in order to receive their donation.

After the census, we prepared the donations for each family, and it took about one week to finish preparing the donations for the distribution. After the preparation, I confirmed the presence of the Colombian National Police, Miss Turbaco, and John Jairo Larios, since they would all come for the walk around the El Talon area. Miss Colombia, Natalia Navarro, was not able to attend my distribution, since she was in preparation for the upcoming Miss Universe competition. When we got to El Talon, everyone had their tickets, and we walked all the way to the beginning of the sector. It was a very neat experience because everyone participated with the distribution, and the there was no sense of insecurity. I was somewhat nervous with John Larios and Miss Turbaco's security, but everyone received them with happiness and my distribution was a success. From now on, I will make sure I conduct my distribution this way, since it is a much better and secure way to do it.

I want to thank the Colombian National Police, Miss Turbaco 2010, Nadia Milena, ex participant in the "Desafio" Colombian reality television show, John Jairo Larios, my family and friends in Colombia, and Samuel Alvarez from the newspaper, "El Universal." I also want to announce that I did have some extra donations, and they were given to two churches in Turbaco, Bolivar. One of the churches is very special; Priest Dionisio, a native of Spain, moved from his homeland to Colombia with a mission of building homes for the needy, as well as feeding them every single day. Priest Dionisio had a hard time completing his mission, since he was constantly robbed, however, he managed to finish building his church in a depressed sector of Turbaco called "El Paraiso." Everyday, Priest Dionisio, also a close a family friend, feeds the needy of El Paraiso, and he has given homes to many needy residents of that sector. I am not religious, but I feel very proud to help someone that uses something he is passionate about to help the needy.