Outreach, Dancing, and Guatemalan Travel: Tales of a Social Media, Communications, and Marketing Intern

Across my time as Social Media, Communications, and Marketing Intern at EFTC, I discovered that the foundation assisted my growth as a professional, leader, and human even more than I assisted them.

My first week arriving in Antigua was full of so many new moments. New culture, new people, new home, and most of all, a new job. I was so nervous for my first day; I recall my host mom asking me why I hadn’t eaten all of the breakfast she’d prepared for me. My co-volunteer and friend, Katy, and I were greeted at the front doors of the school with smiles and open arms by all we met that day.

We spent our second week at the school celebrating Independence Week at the School of Hope. I got to run in the Antorcha, a torch run and celebration, as well as march in two parades with our students. Katy and I were quickly exposed to a lot of the culture and customs of Guatemala during this week.

As we settled into our first month in Guatemala, I established my daily routine at the School of Hope. 8 a.m., I would be greeted by our outreach office and set up my desk. Every day looked a little different, but I would always have the chance to bounce ideas off of our Communications Coordinator, Roxana, for the day. Daily to-do’s always included a social media post for Instagram and Facebook and a TikTok. I helped with filming and editing videos and writing blog posts for the website. We also went about taking photos and videos frequently throughout the classrooms. This was my personal favorite part to the day because I got to interact with the children and build connections with them. At the end of the school day, we had regular visitors from Primaria coming into the office to say hi and get a piece of paper to color on or make paper planes. They were so sweet; they were always giving me stickers or drawings and helping me practice talking in Spanish more.

It was difficult to track an improvement in my own Spanish for the first two months, but in November, I could feel the consistency in my Spanish increase when I was speaking to my host mom or employees of the foundation. I am super grateful to the EFTC faculty and staff who’ve been so patient and kind with helping me with my Spanish. The culture at the foundation among all of the office staff and the teachers was built so beautifully. I enjoyed getting to know everyone and their backgrounds and sharing stories from our countries.

On the weekends, Katy and I traveled about Guatemala. I saved up videos and articles prior to traveling with recommendations for where to go. We checked off every single thing on my list in a span of my first 10 weeks here. Highlights include: El Paredón, hiking Acatenango Volcano, Lake Atitlan, Flores and Tikal. Every place had something new to offer and most importantly, really great food.

In my last four weeks, I led dance classes with the students. My background as a dance class assistant in the States came in handy, but it was the first time I had led classes on my own in Spanish. I am grateful that dance is a form of communication that doesn’t require much speaking after all. The students got engaged and would come up to me during the days following and ask when our next class would be. It made me so incredibly happy to see the small impact I had made on their time in summer school. I am grateful that my position in the outreach office allowed me to bend my job description and ask for the experiences I wanted to gain from being in Guatemala.

If I had to sum up my experience in one word, it would be: growth. As cliché as it sounds,I knew prior to leaving the US that this experience would have a profound impact on my development as a student and human, but I wasn’t prepared for how much of that growth would come from being at EFTC. I felt so comfortable walking in the doors every day. The kids make you forget what other projects and tasks you have going on when they are hugging you or playing with you. I felt so much pride seeing the Prepas, 6th grade, and 9th grade graduations. When you realize how far these students have come, thanks to such an incredible foundation, you can’t help but feel such immense pride for all of them.

I am forever grateful to EFTC for giving me the opportunity to work alongside the Guatemalan staff and students for four months. I will always have these memories and stories to tell family and friends, and I know I will always have a connection with EFTC for future visits to Guatemala. My parents will be supporting the social department and my grandma will be sponsoring a student, because they too have had an opportunity to see such a phenomenal impact the foundation has on these students. Thank you EFTC students, faculty, staff, and donors for making my junior year of college an unforgettable one!