Cultivating Smiles

by Wendy Klarman (United States of America)

Making a local connection USA

It was a beautiful, jungle morning in Medellin, Colombia. While I’m sure I was already dreaming of eating arepas per usual, little did I know it was going to be an especially delightful day... There were fifteen of us gathered on the bus. Some leaving the co-work space for the day, others just getting out and excited to volunteer. Jumbling along some pretty rough terrain, we ascended into the mountains leaving the city landscape and chaos far behind. A few heads pounding into the ceiling - ouch. We arrive at the gate. Well... after the bus had to go backward for about a half-mile as the driver had apparently missed the sign. We are staring at the large door. There’s no one there and doesn’t appear to be an access point. We are in the middle of nowhere. No cell service. We all look around with a tinge of “yo, we are in the jungle of Colombia with no direction - I hope we aren’t lost!”. Not to mention a bit of extra hurry was needed as our bladders had just been inside of a bouncy house for over an hour. We are becoming uneasy. We wait 5, 10, 20 minutes… Eyes getting bigger... Then the gates open and a smiling woman with arms flailing appears waving us into the property. We see a house, and as we disembark tiny little welcoming hands and voices reach up towards us accompanied by smiling faces and giggles. Vaya vaya!” (Come come!) We were all a bit trepidacious about how we were supposed to act because we had been told about the struggles these girls at such a young age had already been through. But all of that concern was instantly removed as we started to set up activity tables and snacks together. It wasn’t a house of pain and suffering, it was full of joy and laughter. The day was straight-up magical. We did simple things, braided hair, sewed buttons to make little pouches, painted pictures, learned some self-defense from our Irish group leader. I think every girl was a little too excited to be able to kick and punch a grown male! He’s fine. He loved it. Though he has become a Hindu spiritual guide since then... Anyway, we danced, rolled around in the grass, and played jump rope. I realized how fortunate we were to be exposed to this incredible community. These children wouldn’t normally have a chance in hell of having a healthy lifestyle let alone room for dreams and ambitions. But now, they were students and cheerleaders dreaming of being writers, and doctors, and traveling. The sun set, we took some silly group pictures as we snacked and took in the day. Fresh fruits, veggies, and the like from the delicious markets. The girls were all radiant and silly, without a care in the world. It was amazing. It also made me think, hard. How is it that in a situation where most would be scarred for life, there was no sign of pain, trauma or neglect. The caretakers for Cultivando Sonrisas, literally translating to cultivating smiles - the best named nonprofit I’ve ever come across - are therapy miracle workers? All of the girls had chores and house responsibilities, they were all learning at least English if not other languages as well (tri-lingual at age 8). I think they have something here. Women run. Girls only. Happiness abounding. Rarely in life do we find a group of people who only know how to share and love on one another. Hugs were highly encouraged, and as we took our final photo and started to say goodbye, a few of the girls started to cry. It took about three seconds and all of us were wallowing. These sweet, wonderful girls had touched our souls. How do we leave? What do we even say? Just lots of hugs and more hugs. On the ride back, we were all on top of the world. Singing, jumping around, we were on a high of pureness like pure oxygen. It was such an opportunity to be able to spend time and share energy with truly marvelous humans. A day and feeling I’ll never forget. Gracias mis amigas.