El Sol

David and I each have to get 30 hours of teaching experience before we technically "qualify" for the program that we've been nominated for, so we signed up to volunteer at El Sol, which is a community center for the day laborers in the area.

The idea behind El Sol is brilliant, really. The center keeps laborers (mostly Guatemalan and Mexican here) from waiting to be picked up on the side of the road or at Home Depot and offers them free English lessons, computer access, multicultural programs and breakfast/lunch everyday. It also pairs up workers with employers, which helps with safety for everyone.

Honestly, before yesterday, this wasn't a population I thought much about. There are actually a lot of Guatemalans in Jupiter and I see them all the time but we didn't exactly run in the same circles. I had some totally biased ideas about migrant laborers (especially the illegal ones...which I basically assumed was everyone) but that was about the extent of my knowledge about them.

These little guys have captured my heart though. They work incredibly hard, both for their employers and to learn English (which is tough by the way - try explaining to someone what a "pit" is or what "to dip" means) and are super sweet. I still don't know enough to have much of an opinion on immigration laws but I'm glad that places like El Sol are around to help them and I'm excited about spending more time with them over the next few months.