Su Casa

I enjoyed the visit to Su Casa, but I wish that our group had been given the opportunity to interact with the children a bit more. I believe the teacher in our group was thrown off a bit by our presence and while we got to chat with the kids for a few minutes, I would have loved to be able to read to them. I do believe that it's quite obvious that Su Casa fulfills a significant need in the community. The fact that they have 60 students enrolled in a summer program spanning only four grades in a small area shows that Su Casa is definitely doing something right and helping to meet the needs of those in Carthage and surrounding areas.

The children we met impressed me too. I was surprised at how well they spoke English and also, as one of my group members pointed out, how many of them had "American" names. The children seemed to be well assimilated in some ways (they loved the Bengals and American football), while there were also obvious gaps in their learning (the morning we arrived, their instructor realized that none of them knew their birthdays). I hope the Su Casa program is able to continue to grow and reach the community they are targeting; they're definitely helping already.