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Jasmin Harvey
I volunteered at an organization named CAASAH (Casa de Apoio e Assistencia aos Portadores do Virus HIV), a home for the care and support of children and adults with HIV/AIDS and abandoned children. I worked primarily with the babies and adolescents aged from 8 months old-17 years old. As a volunteer with the babies, I worked as a caregiver, feeding, bathing, changing and playing with them.With the adolescents, I tutored them in math and English and played logic games with them. By also observing a newly opened prevention clinic, I was able to get a deeper look into the practices of prevention in Brazil. The combination of CAASAH and the clinic granted me the opportunity to see the effects of not providing sexual and general health education to others and brainstorm solutions to solving those effects.
How did you grow as a result of this experience?
There are very few opportunities other than this that I have taken part in that prepped me for the real world. For the first time in my life I jumped blindsided into a different environment I had to teach myself to adapt to. I navigated around a state on my own and learned a new language from scratch. My former self was left in the United States in June, and by August I was able to develop a fresh new identity with a new outlook on the world and the communities that surround me.
I learned to love myself, despite all obstacles, to love people, music, cooking, dancing, and language. Having this hand on experience and cultural immersion is something that cannot be achieved in a classroom and is an experience I will never forget. Living and working in Bahia will pushed me and forced me to think and live in a way I never have before. In Bahia, very few people speak English and learning Portuguese was not an option; I had to learn it. I wanted to learn it and through classes, friends I made, my house mother, and the kids at my job, I did just that. I am now a conversational Portuguese speaker.
Alongside becoming more proficient in Portuguese and expanding my knowledge, my cultural boundaries and comfort zone were completely rearranged. I now have a heightened ability to work with people from other countries and different social and economic standpoints. The feeling of being uncomfortable in conversation and difficulty in giving a speech to a crowd are gone. Once I became comfortable dealing with a multitude of people all day everyday you internalize that independence, strength, and understanding and they become character traits that not only you feel, but also others can see. While in Bahia, I detached myself mentally and emotionally from the negativity in my life and faced past experiences.
The act of self giving creates a personal power. By helping others with their difficulties I saw mine in another light. When I came back and saw my close friends and family, they all smiled because I finally got my own back.
