Friday, May 29, 2009

Hombres de Amor

(written 5/8/09)

Today was the last day of our Business Simulation and it went so wonderfully! For those who may not know, a business simulation is a weeklong activity where groups of three to four volunteers teach basic business principals to a group of people (usually high school students) for two days and then the group creates its own business. Everything from selecting a product to produce, receiving a loan (from the Peace Corps) to selling their product with their own business name and marketing plan. With our training group there were 5 groups all doing a simulation and picking a product to produce and sell on the same day which adds an element of competition to the process which Hondurans really love. Due to our slight setback with the teacher strike, Jesus and the school director helped round up some students who still wanted to learn on their days off (weird I know) and then made a deal with the local Escuela Taller to do the simulation with them. My group was all boys ranging from 14-24 from the Escuela Taller which is a program that basically functions like a JVS for disadvantaged youth who really have no other access to job training. I worked in a group with JP and Taylor and since we lost a day to the strike everyone had to adjust their plans to finish the full simulation in 4 days. The first day consisted of charlas about basic business concepts, picking our product to produce, our company name, and buying the raw materials. Since Mother’s day was that upcoming Sunday my boys chose to make heart shaped boxes out of thick red carton, decorate them and fill them with candy to sell. Going along with their theme and the fact that they were all one of the few groups of all men, they aptly named their company “Hombres de Amor” (basically The Men of Love) and used the slogan “Para Endulzarse su Corazon” (To Sweeten your Heart ). The second day was production day and all the guys worked really hard to not only make their product but to also make signs for them to wear on sale day as a form of advertisement. The third day was sales day which proved to be an impressive day. Out of all 12 boys, 5 were amazing salesmen and ending up selling almost all the products themselves. In the end, they sold everything and made enough money not only to pay back the loan of 350 lemps but also earned a 300 lemp profit which I was very proud of. Although you would think sales day would be the most difficult for the boys, the final day which was presentation day proved to be the biggest challenge. On Friday every group had to make a presentation in front of everyone about the formation of their business, successes and challenges, and what they learned/ liked about the process. Needless to say my “Hombres de Amor” did NOT want to get up and talk in front of everyone alone but nevertheless they worked hard on their presentation and then 6 brave men got up and presented.

The presentation went great and although we didn’t win, we came in third out of five, I have never been more proud in my entire life! At the beginning of the week I was more than hesitant to do this project for several reasons, most of them involving my lack of experience or desire to work with youth and the fact that this project was the type of thing I absolutely hated in high school. However, much to my surprise it turned out to be my favorite activity during training. The guys were all really into the activity and you could tell that they actually wanted to learn what we were teaching them. Some of my boys walked an 1 ½ hrs from their towns to the bus stop to ride for at least another 30 mins to 1 hr just to come to our simulation. It was so amazing to see some of the guys really understanding the material too. This was the first time almost all of them had heard of any of these business concepts which will be so important for them because they are all learning a trade and could each have their own business within the next two years. On sales day and then on presentation day I felt like a proud mother watching her child take his first steps which is ridiculous I know but it was so outrageously rewarding to have taught these boys something and then see them apply it in their own successful and unique way. If this is what being a teacher could be like I think I would like it a lot (scary I know, but don’t hold your breath just yet). I will admit though that I had an advantage by having a pretty captive audience. I was voted most popular volunteer by my peers because all of the high school and Escuela Taller boys were supposedly in love with me according to the other volunteers and the outrageous number of photos I had to pose for with these boys. Apparently boys’ ages 14-18 is my target market haha. Either way it was not only a great experience for everyone involved but it was also a great way to get to know some of the youth in the community. Too bad I will be leaving tomorrow and I am so not ready!

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