Common Values

This picture showcases one of the may eye-opening and rewarding activities that we performed with the high-schoolers in Nicaragua. This activity was called “Picture of Self”, and each student, both Nicaraguans and Americans, were given an empty template on a piece of paper with just the shape of human body on it.  Students were asked to fill in the human figure with words, pictures, and symbols that they felt described and defined them as a person. The outcome and take-away messages learned from this activity were more eye-opening and rewarding than I could have expected.

Looking at this photo, it is evident that no picture looks exactly the same; each of us are different and unique in our own way, and that uniqueness is shown to be universal cross-culturally.  No matter what country or culture you are in, no two people are exactly the same.  We may share in certain communities, but it is shown here that we each have a different view of our self than anyone else has of their own self.

This uniqueness in our own self-view is mainly focused on our outward views of ourselves though. If you look closer at each picture, you will see more similarities than differences of how we define ourselves and what values we all hold close to us.  Many of the pictures read words such as: “family”, “friends”, “God”, “One Direction”, and “love”.  No matter if we are American or Nicaraguan, we share in our similar values and certain aspects of our lives.  We all seem to see ourselves as a byproduct of our family, our environment, and our culture.  We may not share in the same culture, but our different cultures seem to evoke similar values and promote similar ways of acting. 

This activity opened my eyes to how we may differ on the outside and with where we live in our local communities, but on the inside, as human beings sharing in this global community, we seem to be connected much more than we realize.  This was one of the first activities of the trip that helped me to understand how united all human beings living on this Earth truly are. We may see and portray ourselves differently, but our basic human instincts and truths evoke similar principles and ideals within all of us.

~ Charles D'Alessandro