Modern Superheroes of Our Times
My name is Jaris Delgado, and I serve as Plenitud PR's Holistic Educational Content Development Lead.
Through my service with Plenitud PR, I have come to understand just how impactful the work that we do really is, especially for the children and youth of our Puerto Rican community.
As a Clinical Psychologist, I understand the impact that childhood experiences and environmental conditions have on people’s lives. This includes the ways that economical, environmental, and socio-political factors affect people's quality of life and health outcomes when they are older. My own experiences have also informed my understanding of important childhood milestones.
Growing up in Rincón, a rural coastal town in west Puerto Rico, the granddaughter of one of the oldest ranchers on the archipelago, I truly connect to the experience of Puerto Rican children and families.
Right now, 80% of children from our community of Las Marías and Maricao are experiencing poverty. This is a number that we should observe carefully, and take the time to understand and digest.
This means that nearly 8 out of 10 children are currently living under conditions that will have a lifelong negative impact on them, especially if we don't act fast. This is the future of our children’s lives and the future of our country.
The work that we are doing at Plenitud PR is what I - and many of my Puerto Rican brothers and sisters - believe should be happening all around the archipelago. We know from research and experience that supporting children in their most basic needs and education helps them to be more healthy, resilient and active in school, and to be more successful in their adulthood.
When I encountered Plenitud PR's mission and their work, I believed - and still do, after one year working here - that they are the modern superheroes of our times.
Plenitud PR has impacted hundreds of kids in the last few years by making spaces in their schools dedicated for gardening, art, and rainwater collection. Now during the pandemic, the organization is still supporting in different ways by: making educational art videos, teaching agriculture techniques, adding art murals in their schools, giving them different at-home kits with art materials, fertile soil, seeds, and even building rainwater cistern systems and gardens at their houses. While I was recording one of the educational videos, a service I love doing for Plenitud PR, one of the mothers of a student said:
“Plenitud does not want to leave anyone behind. They support the elders, the families, and the children.”
Imagine that person or superhero that you needed when you were a kid, and imagine having the opportunity of becoming that person for others right now.
These are the kinds of initiatives that change people’s lives - including our own - and that could make a bigger difference in Puerto Rico and the world.
I believe we came to this Earth to love and be loved, and I have learned that it is through serving others that we truly learn how to love others.
Serving heals us and others through the power of love, and I am grateful to be part of a community that is leading the way in this example.
I am so grateful to Plenitud PR for providing me not only an amazing work environment and experience, but also for being a living example of service to others, changing the lives of everyone they encounter through their demonstration of hope and love.
I invite you to join me in this community of change-makers for Puerto Rico, and indeed for all our communities, and be part of something bigger. Become your own SuperHero!
