Good evening. My name is Liliam Eguino. I am Bolivian and I have five children.
Currently two of them are attending school.
Thanks to the Conquista Tus Sueños program I was able to meet and form
relationships with bilingual parents who participate actively at Garret Park
(Elementary) School. This motivated me to plan a Program of Folkloric Latin
American Dances for the students as a free after-school activity. Because of my
difficulty with the (English) language, I contacted Jane so that , through her, I
would be able to explain this project to the PTA and to the school principal.
The project was realized and had a certain success thanks to the collaboration of
the PTA, which made a small economic contribution to buy the costumes for the
students-dancers, and to the principal for his support and enthusiasm and to the
large number of students who participated, a number that exceeded what we had
hoped for. Also my daughter and three mothers joined me as volunteers.
For me it was gratifying seeing children from different cultures, dancing dances
they had never seen before and listening to music that was unknown to the before,
put on those colorful and elegant costumes and see such surprise on their faces
when they saw how the costumes fit them and as they mounted the stage and
danced fro some 200 persons. That’s what they call courage!
I want to express my gratitude for the support given to this type of initiative and
hope that these, and others like them, can be repeated in the future for the benefit
of the community which can be greatly enriched by its diversity.