Love, Friendship & Miracles

This past month the Make A Miracle team got together fully for the first time in 19 months. Our team from the United States came down to San Juan de Lurigancho and it was my first trip there. I have been an intern with Make A Miracle the past 6 months focusing on social media. It was incredible to see the pictures, videos and faces from over the phone be brought to life in person.

We began our trip by holding interviews for our 2021/2022 new scholarship students at the Isaac Newton school in Paradise. It was inspiring to get to meet each student we interviewed and see how eager they are to chase after their dreams. It was awesome to learn the process of how we select our scholarship students. After the first round of interviews and many discussions later, we called back 7 of the students for second round. The second round gets a bit more serious as it is one student at a time interviewed by 4 of our team members. Our morning was filled really learning about each potential student and the afternoon ended with getting to congratulate and welcome our amazing new students into the Make A Miracle family. It was incredible to see the work ethic of the students, many who had been coming to help us build well before they even began the interview process. Make a Miracle really is a family and its inspiring to see the way everyone in SJL is ready to jump in and lend a hand.

The 11 days I was there were some of the most impactful and happiest days of my life. Over the course of our time there we got to really know and create friendships with the students. Each and every person I met made me feel like family. The language barrier showed me that love is not shown by words but by actions and attitude. Our team workshops with the whole Miracle team gave us all time to grow closer together after so many months apart. We hosted a job interview workshop where Jack Canouse, Lindsey Noernberg and Enessa Mikhaliants all spoke on proper school/job interview etiquette, then we transitioned to a session on social media which was taught by Jasson Caceres. It was very educating as an intern to hear the wisdom they all had to share.

The top hit of all the workshops was definitely our clay ring craft time held by Emily LaCour. The whole miracle family from children to grandparents flourished while making the most colorful and fun clay rings. The workshop ended up being hours filled with crafts, laughter and great talks.

My personal favorite of all the workshops was when we divided into boys’ and girls’ groups. We began with a creative game that taught us the importance of staying connected to each other. This workshop gave each group time to really grow closer and time to share things that had been heavy on your heart. Speaking from the girls it was an emotional but amazing time that really did end with so much love in the room forming strong friendships that I will have forever.

I will cherish this experience and all the things I learned from this trip forever. It was life changing. I can’t wait to be back in San Juan de Lurigancho. Words can’t describe the love I have for the whole Make a Miracle family and I am honored to be a part of it.

Bella Lowery is a Make a Miracle intern and social media guru.