The Camp Rising Sun experience completely changed my way of looking at the world. It all happened the summer of 2008 when I was awarded a full scholarship from the Louis August Jonas Foundation to attend Camp Rising Sun Europe in Stendis, Denmark. The great thing about the CRS experience was the pride I felt when I was chosen as the only Central American girl participating and the first Salvadoran in Camp’s 70-year history. Camp Rising Sun opened new doors in my life, doors to a variety of truths about people, cultures and religions. I had never encountered vegetarianism or veganism as lifestyles, and animal rights as a life cause. Living with 40 other girls from different countries, and having close interactions through everyday experiences, such as sharing bathrooms and rooms, helped me commit to the understanding of diverse ideologies.
Camp Rising Sun was instrumental at that period of time in my life, when I was developing maturity, determination, and responsibility—personal characteristics that are evident in my goals, actions, and dreams today. At that point in my life, I uncovered my desire to help women, children, and my country overcome difficulties. Most importantly, I uncovered my potential to do something about it. Camp Rising Sun helped me realize that I was ready; ready to open new doors in my life and embrace education and any opportunities that were presented to me to get the preparation needed to make a change in the world. Camp Rising Sun inspired me to help the youth, to cooperate with people, and to be a proactive citizen. Those who knew me before, and who know me today, trace back the changes that I went through to that specific summer, while I was temporarily living approximately 6,000 miles away from home.
My experience with CRS sparked my interest to inspire women and girls and motivated me to become active in my community, both nationally and internationally. At the age of 17, I became involved with the international NGO Youth Action for Change (YAC), an international youth-led organization that inspires and empowers young people worldwide to become active agents of change through ‘leverage-impact’ models such as free online action courses and grassroot youth empowerment projects. Over the years, I became the organization’s Course Program Coordinator, organizing courses in a variety of fields, especially gender and democracy. Being a part of a youth led organization of this kind, especially as a young woman from a developing country, inspired me to instigate positive change in my community, especially on gender issues.
In the future, I hope to bring the ideas of cooperation, help, understanding, and mutual help to the international community and represent my country internationally. Hopefully, I will be able to give back to LAJF for everything I have learned, experienced, and received from such a supportive organization and alumni network.