Sponsor My AFS Community Service Gap Year!

Greetings Family and Friends,

My name is Valerie Palmer, and I will be turning 18 on September 1^st, 2014. I was born and raised in Oakland, California. My mother is Rose Palmer and my father is Dennis Rowcliffe. I have a younger brother, William Rowcliffe, who is 15 years old. For those who don’t know yet, I’m about to start a Gap Year in Paraguay before entering college in fall 2015. This has been my dream since returning home last summer from volunteering there.

So, why Paraguay? What is it that draws me to such a small, unknown country that many confuse with Uruguay?

Last summer, I volunteered in a small rural community in Guairá, Paraguay with the non-profit youth organization Amigos de las Américas. My AMIGOS partner from Seattle, Washington, and I got extremely close to our large extended host family – an older couple with 10 daughters and their families. We worked with community leaders to carry out a community-based initiative (CBI) to re-build the play structure at the local elementary school. We involved the youth to help paint it, and organized daily extracurricular activities for kids at the school. I fell in love with the culture, lifestyle, landscape, and people of Paraguay.

I recently graduated from Oakland Technical High School with honors and a 4.07 GPA and I have deferred from a college back east. I am about to embark on a new adventure in Paraguay — a year of community service with the non-profit, non-religious organization called AFS (formerly the American Field Service), which promotes international and intercultural learning and understanding as a path to world peace. I leave in August 2014 and will return in July 2015.

Now back to what draws me. Allow me to paint a picture for you. This is what most of rural Paraguay looks like:

    

  A Gallup Poll released in May 2014 claimed Paraguay to be the happiest country on Earth, showing that its people were more likely to report positive emotions than any other country. I can speak to this. The Paraguayans I know are intelligent, good-hearted, full of life, and dedicated to their families, friends, and communities.  Not only do they have a strong, deeply-rooted culture that they are extremely proud of, but they are especially fond of food, dancing, music, family, and soccer.

Paraguay has two official languages—Spanish and Guaraní (the native language). Although most natives speak both languages fluently, Spanish is spoken more frequently in large cities. In rural areas people speaking informally use Jopará—a mixture of the two languages. Paraguay is considered a third-world country in which more than 60% of the population lives under the international poverty line, but most homes have a TV and radio, and many people have cell phones. Much of the rural economy is based on sugar cane farming and processing. The diet consists mainly of meat and carbohydrates (bread, rice, potatoes), although vegetables and fruit are not non-existent. Most people are practicing Roman Catholics.

Although I don’t know yet where in Paraguay I’ll be placed or what my project will be, I will update this blog when I find out. I have a few goals that I hope to accomplish this year. I want to become fluent in Spanish. This goal shouldn’t be too challenging, since I will be completely immersed and already have advanced Spanish-speaking skills, but it will definitely be beneficial later in life to be fluent in a second language, especially Spanish as it becomes more widely spoken in the United States. I also want to learn Guaraní. This will be more difficult, but would be really helpful to becoming completely immersed in the culture because, as I already mentioned, most people don’t speak Spanish to one another. Another goal of mine is to improve my leadership and communication skills when working with people of all different ages. I aim to learn everything I can about Paraguayan culture, to immerse myself completely, and to share parts of my culture in an intercultural exchange. The goal most important to me is to empower Paraguayan youth to be leaders and catalysts for change in their own communities and beyond.

The AFS program will allow me to fulfill my dream of living and working in Paraguay. But with the expense of college looming for both my brother, William, and me, the program’s fee puts a strain on my family financially. I entered a local Bay Area AFS scholarship contest and won $820, but that’s a small amount compared to the cost of the program, which will be more than $1000 a month and must be all paid before I leave. I have been working at a small local bakery in Oakland all year saving money for my trip. And now I’m reaching out to those of you who have patiently read all the way to this point, to donate whatever you can—$1, $10, $20, $50, $100—anything helps!I promise to all my donors that I will keep this blog up-to-date with stories and pictures* during the time I am in Paraguay, and I will send all donors a letter about my trip when I get back.

I am beyond excited for this opportunity, and I cannot even begin to express my appreciation for your time and contributions. Simply and humbly, I thank you.

Here's how to donate: Just click this link-- SmartyPig Widget, and if nothing appears click the small shield in the search bar. Your computer may say something like "load unsafe script", please do not worry. SmartyPig is approved by the FDIC. Then, click the circle that says "Feed Me" and then "Contribute". SmartyPig is a safe, secure website, and I can directly transfer the donations to my AFS account. 

*To start off, here are some pictures from my trip last summer: