Follow our Buckeyes on Service-Learning Trip in Mexico
12/19/2018 10:48:59 AM | General
Fourteen Ohio State University student-athletes, along with three staff members, are voyaging to Mexico from December 14-21 for a service-learning experience.
The OSU Department of Athletics and SASSO have partnered with Global Vision International (GVI) for the third time. Previous Buckeyes Go International trips with GVI have included destinations of Thailand and Costa Rica.
Buckeye student-athletes will perform maintenance and upkeep at local schools, facilitate sports lessons, and assist at a veterinary clinic in the Playa del Carmen area. In addition to service, the Buckeyes are slated to participate in a variety of cultural immersion activities and educational opportunities.
— Day 1 Student-Athlete VLOG —
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As we embarked on our first day of the Buckeyes Go International trip to Mexico, our team was very excited to arrive and connect with our host partners from GVI. This trip marks the first time that many of our participating student-athletes have left the country, so the flight from Columbus was well worth the time it took to start this once in a lifetime opportunity.Â
Our partners from GVI generously coordinated for us to have a home-cooked meal of authentic Mexican food served at our hotel before we started discussing risk management procedures for our next week of service.Â
Tomorrow is our first full day on site and our whole team is ready to get their hands dirty and help with some maintenance at a local school.Â
— Day 2 Student-Athlete VLOG —
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On the second day of our trip, we went to a local Ludoteca, which acts both as school and community center, near the city center. The school operates in partnership with the international organization Save The Children to provide a safe space for children to go to learn and play while their parents are working.Â
We spent the morning painting the main hallway and classrooms of the school. Our partners from GVI have worked with this particular school for over six years and told us the building has been in need of painting for some time. We were very excited to be able to help make this happen.Â
While the work itself was very satisfying, the highlight of the trip to the Ludoteca was the homemade lunch brought to us by one of the mothers whose son attends the school. She graciously offered to bring us some tacos to thank us for our work, and they were amazing!
After lunch, we took a break from our painting to drive into the Midtown section of Playa del Carmen for a Spanish lesson. We covered a number of terms that will be imperative next week as we teach local students to play different sports.
— Day 3 Student-Athlete VLOG —
Today was our team’s first trip to Contando con in Amigo, or “Count on a Friend”, which is a school located in the jungle just outside of Playa del Carmen. We spent some time getting familiar with the school and it’s mission, which is to help provide safe educational opportunities for children who don’t have direct access to the schools in Playa.
We will be returning the rest of this week to help coach the students on different sports, so today we spent the morning painting their school building and preparing their playground for our lessons. The area had a number of tree stumps that we removed to make sure they have a safe space to play. We also painted some of the surrounding trees to prevent insects from eating the foliage. This is important as the trees provide much needed shade for an area where air conditioning isn’t easily accessible.
In the evening our team was able to go to the downtown area for dinner and experience some of the local culture here in Playa del Carmen. Tomorrow will be another early morning as we head back to Contando and our whole team is very excited to start working with the children.
— Day 4 Student-Athlete VLOG —
Today was our first day working with the children at Contando and our team had an amazing time working with them.
Half of our group worked with the younger children on games to help them learn social skills and counting. The other group worked with the older children to teach them about American football and helped them refine their soccer skills.
It was really great to see how excited the children were to learn about new sports and how eager they were to ask our student-athletes about themselves and where they are from.
Physical education is not a consistent part of their curriculum, so we were happy to be able to educate them on the importance physical activity.
Today was a very fulfilling day and the whole team is eager to return tomorrow to work with the kids.
— Day 5 Student-Athlete VLOG —
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Today was our second day at Condado and it was really great to see all the kids that we worked with yesterday and how much they learned in our time with them.
We were able to build on all the lessons we had yesterday and walk them through some calisthenics and relay races. It’s so amazing I see how excited they get about the opportunity to run around and get some physical activity.
We have been trying to impress upon them how continuing these sorts of activities will benefit them down the line. A small group of our team went to Coco’s, a local animal clinic, to help with pets in recovery from spay and neuter surgeries.
With the prevalence stray animals in this animal, the work this clinic is doing is so imperative to help control the animal population.
Tomorrow a group of us will return to Coco’s and the rest will go to Contando for our last day to work with the children.
— Day 6 Student-Athlete VLOG —
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Our team split up today to send a few student-athletes back to Contando to help with the school’s Christmas celebration, while the other group went to Coco’s to help with some of the animals who are awaiting adoption.
The group at Contando helped the staff set up for the party before the kids arrived and assisted with their celebration throughout the day. All the children had been practicing a dance routine for a few weeks, so they were excited to get to perform for the staff and our student-athletes.
The team at Coco’s cleaned the facility and helped to socialize the animals that are being prepared for adoption. This includes playing with them, walking them, and making sure they are ready to find a home.
Today concluded the service portion of our trip, so our student-athletes were sad to leave the work-sites, but everyone is excited to begin the “learning” portion of our service learning trip tomorrow with our trip to Chichen Itza. Tonight we’ll discuss the Mayan and Aztec cultures to get everyone familiar with the cities significance.
— Day 7 Student-Athlete VLOG —
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On our last full day in Mexico, our Buckeyes Go International team visited one of the world’s seven wonders. Our group bused down to the Mayan city of Chichen Itza for a guided tour and it certainly lived up to its reputation.
We learned about how the Mayans built this intricate and complex city to act as a giant calendar and the math that the developed to calculate and predict the movements of celestial bodies. We were all amazed to find out how much they were able to accomplish thousands of years ago. Not surprisingly, one of the highlights for the student-athletes was the impressive Mayan stadium where they played a game called pitz which was a mix of racquetball, basketball, and soccer.
Walking through the stadium, we were amazed by its scale and the complexity of the game. After our tour of Chichen Itza, we drove to the Ik Kil cenote, which is a giant sinkhole that has filled with fresh water.
This cenote was very different from the previous one we visited as the water was about 85 ft. below ground and was around 130 ft. deep. Our group enjoyed a nice swim in the cenote before driving to the nearby city of Valladolid which was founded 1543.
We were given a guided tour of the Municipal Palace before exploring the historical city.
During our tour of the Yucatán, our student-athletes were exposed to over 1,200 years of history and left with memories that will last a lifetime. It was a marvelous experience and one that has definitely lefts a lasting impression on our group.
Tomorrow, we come home! It’s hard to believe our time here is coming to a close, but it has been a truly transformative trip.
GVI is committed to developing global citizens in an effort to build a global network of people united by their passion to make a positive long-term impact. The organization was founded in 1998 and operates in 21 locations around the world.
The student-athletes participating include:
- Niki Carver – Softball
- Casey Cole – Field Hockey
- Omari DeBerry – Men’s Lacrosse
- Reese Devilbiss – Men’s Volleyball
- Anjali Fernandes – Rowing
- Courtney Gazmarian – Women’s Soccer
- Peter Hayden – Men’s Cross Country
- Xavier Kennedy-Reed – Men’s Soccer
- Kristen Lippert – Cheer
- Baley Parrott – Women’s Lacrosse
- Kevin Stone – Men’s Golf
- Jacob Wareti – Men’s Tennis
- Alex Wright – Women’s Golf
- Noah West – Baseball
