Photo by audreyjm529 on Flickr
Chispudo refers to a person who is proactive, perceptive, curious and clever. It’s a guatemaltequismo, a word found only in Guatemala, which plays with the word in Spanish for spark, chispa, turning it into a personal attribute for those people capable of generating sparks in the different facets of their lives.
Common Hope, the organization where I work, is teeming full of chispudos who constantly impress me. Our national director, Tamalyn Gutiérrez, an inspiring chispuda herself, recently launched a new initiative that aims to channel the creativity and passion of our staff into a renewed focus for our educational work.
Tamalyn sent out a call for interested employees and foreign volunteers to take part in a six-week-long “Equipos Chispudos” or “Spark Teams” project. In this experiment, employees from all areas of our work, from construction staff to medical personnel, were invited to become more intimately familiar with the challenges faced by our educational programs and produce a thoughtful proposal for the future.
I’m excited to be working on the Literacy team, which is currently investigating the best possible routes to improve our students’ reading skills, and thereby, improve their overall academic performance. My fellow chispudos on the team are Alan, our auto mechanic who loves reading science fiction in his free time, and Margarita, who prefers self-development texts when she’s not busy helping affiliated parents to improve their resumes and job skills. So far our discussions have been lively, including debates on the best target population for reading initiatives and the best locations and collaborators for reading promotion programs. In the coming weeks, we’ll be speaking with a range of local governmental and non-governmental organizations about their experiences and advice related to reading promotion, seeking out opportunities for collaboration wherever possible.
The spark team experience promises to be an effective forum for generating new ideas from unexpected sources, developing leadership skills among the participants and promoting inter-departmental teamwork. ¡Vamos chispudos!
Latest posts by Lisa Hetzel
- Evaluating Our Impact - December 23rd, 2009
- Educational Exchange with New Hope Teachers - December 15th, 2009
- How to Get Your Home-Culture Fix - December 4th, 2009
- What Are You Thankful For? - November 26th, 2009
- Nonprofit Network Launches Website - November 20th, 2009
- Graduation Season - November 13th, 2009
- Milking Your Tax Dollars from Afar - November 6th, 2009
- Going Green(er) in Guatemala - October 16th, 2009
- The Hidden Benefits of Volunteering - October 9th, 2009
- Secrets to Landing a Volunteer Position - October 2nd, 2009
Thanks, Miranda, I’m actually scheduled for later this week to tour the centros de estimulacion temprana with Nora of Estemos Listos – looking forward to learn more!
Liza: Don’t forget Pedagogia Basica when you think of programs (10 mins per day per class) to promote better reading, and learning in general.
from Miranda: fellow blogger and former volunteer with F. de Esperanza (mainly with Pedagogia Basica.)