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Victoria Gabor's El Salvador Blog
June 22, 2016 | Women's Soccer
Gabor went on a mission trip to El Salvador in May
Sophomore goalkeeper Victoria Gabor recently visited El Salvador for a mission trip in May. She wrote a blog for GoCards.com about her incredible experience below:
My first trip to El Salvador was in April of 2014 with a delegation from my high school. I went to Notre Dame Prep, an all girls Catholic school. Every year my high school selects a delegation of seniors to go on a mission trip to a community called Ignacio Ellacuria in the mountains of Chalatenango, El Salvador. This community has become sort of a "sister community" to Notre Dame Prep, who has been sending delegations to the community for 25 years.
This delegation of senior students organizes many fundraisers throughout the school year in order to raise money and collect donations to bring to this community. The first major contribution that was made was the building of a school in the community. Since then, we have been providing many high school as well as university scholarships to students in the community. This allows them access to an education that they would not otherwise have.
My first trip to El Salvador changed my life and brought into perspective the world that I live in. The relationships that we established with the people of the community were ones that could never be forgotten, and ones that survived the distance of many countries. I swore that I would do everything I could to find the chance to visit the community again. That chance came two years later, this summer in May 2016.
Over the past year the news of gang violence and disruption in El Salvador, particularly the capital, San Salvador, has been brought to light by the news and social media. Because of the concern for the safety of the students should they travel to El Salvador, the NDP administration made the decision not to send a delegation this year. Joan Carlson, the teacher who has been in charge of the trip for many years, was devastated.
As much as she fought to have the trip continue, she was denied. Determined not to make 2016 the first year in 25 years that NDP didn't send a delegation, Mrs. Carlson reached out to alumnae who had been on the trip before, including myself. Ultimately the trip ended up with a delegation of five girls and one teacher, Mrs. Carlson.
The trip lasted six days, May 26-May 31. The most important part of this trip was to express to the community how much we value our relationship with them. With the chance of the trip being cancelled again in the future, we wanted them to know that we weren't abandoning them. We also were trying to hear from the community what the significance of our face to face visits were, aside from the physical donations, so that we could bring this back to the NDP administration. After talking to them we realized even more the impact that our visits and interactions with the people of the community bring; it is an act of solidarity. They also expressed the importance of our trip specifically because we had chosen to come despite the fears of violence.
The trip was heavily focused on our interaction with the community. On the first day each of us taught a class at the elementary school, with the help of an older member of the community. (Keep in mind that most people there don't know a word of English, it's all Spanish. My first trip was the reason I decided to minor in Spanish in college.) We also met with the scholarship committee who gave a presentation on where all of our funds had been going and how much they had left. We also discussed with the women's committee about the status of women and how they have been improving their stand in society.
We met with the scholarship recipients to discuss where they are in school and how their scholarship has impacted their lives. We also visited many historic houses in the community and heard a lot about their history.
Finally, we got to play and interact with the children of the community. Although I was one of the girls who was able to communicate with them in Spanish, soccer provided me with another avenue of communication. When I asked them if I could play they initially seemed timid, but once they saw that a girl from America could actually play soccer, they got excited and began forming teams trying to beat me.
Overall, my second trip to El Salvador was one that I will never forget and one that has taught me many values and lessons. The strength of a community, the power of love and friendship, and the importance of solidarity are just a few of the countless values instilled in me by the people of Ignacio Ellacuria in El Salvador.
My first trip to El Salvador was in April of 2014 with a delegation from my high school. I went to Notre Dame Prep, an all girls Catholic school. Every year my high school selects a delegation of seniors to go on a mission trip to a community called Ignacio Ellacuria in the mountains of Chalatenango, El Salvador. This community has become sort of a "sister community" to Notre Dame Prep, who has been sending delegations to the community for 25 years.
This delegation of senior students organizes many fundraisers throughout the school year in order to raise money and collect donations to bring to this community. The first major contribution that was made was the building of a school in the community. Since then, we have been providing many high school as well as university scholarships to students in the community. This allows them access to an education that they would not otherwise have.
My first trip to El Salvador changed my life and brought into perspective the world that I live in. The relationships that we established with the people of the community were ones that could never be forgotten, and ones that survived the distance of many countries. I swore that I would do everything I could to find the chance to visit the community again. That chance came two years later, this summer in May 2016.
Over the past year the news of gang violence and disruption in El Salvador, particularly the capital, San Salvador, has been brought to light by the news and social media. Because of the concern for the safety of the students should they travel to El Salvador, the NDP administration made the decision not to send a delegation this year. Joan Carlson, the teacher who has been in charge of the trip for many years, was devastated.
As much as she fought to have the trip continue, she was denied. Determined not to make 2016 the first year in 25 years that NDP didn't send a delegation, Mrs. Carlson reached out to alumnae who had been on the trip before, including myself. Ultimately the trip ended up with a delegation of five girls and one teacher, Mrs. Carlson.
The trip lasted six days, May 26-May 31. The most important part of this trip was to express to the community how much we value our relationship with them. With the chance of the trip being cancelled again in the future, we wanted them to know that we weren't abandoning them. We also were trying to hear from the community what the significance of our face to face visits were, aside from the physical donations, so that we could bring this back to the NDP administration. After talking to them we realized even more the impact that our visits and interactions with the people of the community bring; it is an act of solidarity. They also expressed the importance of our trip specifically because we had chosen to come despite the fears of violence.
The trip was heavily focused on our interaction with the community. On the first day each of us taught a class at the elementary school, with the help of an older member of the community. (Keep in mind that most people there don't know a word of English, it's all Spanish. My first trip was the reason I decided to minor in Spanish in college.) We also met with the scholarship committee who gave a presentation on where all of our funds had been going and how much they had left. We also discussed with the women's committee about the status of women and how they have been improving their stand in society.
We met with the scholarship recipients to discuss where they are in school and how their scholarship has impacted their lives. We also visited many historic houses in the community and heard a lot about their history.
Finally, we got to play and interact with the children of the community. Although I was one of the girls who was able to communicate with them in Spanish, soccer provided me with another avenue of communication. When I asked them if I could play they initially seemed timid, but once they saw that a girl from America could actually play soccer, they got excited and began forming teams trying to beat me.
Overall, my second trip to El Salvador was one that I will never forget and one that has taught me many values and lessons. The strength of a community, the power of love and friendship, and the importance of solidarity are just a few of the countless values instilled in me by the people of Ignacio Ellacuria in El Salvador.
Players Mentioned
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