Another reason to love Peace Corps...

Oh my goodness! I just had to share this AWESOME email that I just received from one of the kids that I've been working with! His name is Omar and like the others, he just finished his senior year of high school and is now working, as you'll see, in San Miguel, a state located in the eastern part of the country. (I live in the western part of the country.)

I asked the students to create in-depth final presentations about the Ciber Cafe that included their calculations for points of equilibrium, how much they thought we should charge customers per hour, the org chart for how the ciber should run, how we should report earnings to the community, etc. It took them about 20-30 hours to finish these (and they did ALL of this work during their vacations...school is out.)

This student, Omar, worked during all of that time, but the day before the actual presentation, he told me he couldn't attend because he had to start working on the other side of the country. But the fact that he emailed me means that he's continuing to use Internet! (They had never used it previously and I was worried that they would stop when they weren't with me.)

I was about ready to start crying when I read this!! (I hope my translation is ok...it's hard to get across meanings sometimes and make it flow the way it should in another language!)
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Hey, Michelle,

I hope that you liked the presentation that Gilberto and I did and that it was what you wanted. We worked on it really hard.

I really want you to forgive me for not attending the ciber presentation on Monday the 27th. I wanted to be there but it was difficult for me. I knew how important it was for you that all of us attended, but really I couldn't, although, I had all of the intentions of the world to attend.

I wanted, also, to give you my sincere thanks for all that you taught me during this year. I learned a lot from you, for example, not to throw trash in the street and how to look for a place to throw it, not to ruin walls and furniture...those are some examples of what I learned from you not mentioning everything you taught us on the computer. You know a lot about that and I admire you a lot.

The reason I couldn't attend the presentation is because I came here to San Miguel to work and you can find me here now.

I hope that you continue with the ciber project; you've already done a lot to make it happen. You are very intelligent. You can count on me anytime. I will always remember you as a great friend, co-worker, and teacher.

Thank you so much, "thekc you" or something like that.

I hope that you write to me and remember me.
Omar
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Oh, and you can view a project update here, if you're interested.