In 2011 Ive helped to organized 2 U-lead in Panama. Each of them have really been an experience.IN March we atendend to the U-LEAD with Carlos Veron, James Raid, Danielle Rivera, Megan Lloyd and Jennifer Mings , they teached us a lot and we learned from them what a U lead truelly is. This group was great. In May 15 we organized the conference for Academia Interamericana de Costa del Este and Cerro Viento School. I started planning and organizing with the leaders as soon as I got the date.Our job started in May 2 when me got together to Nutrition and Dental hygiene material. We worked together to fix the agende to prepare Powerpoints and Videos. We only counted with 8 hours of conference. I think they key of the success was getting together the day before to see the agenda and fix whatever we had to and then see who was going to be in the checking in, see what materials we had missing, and see where we were going to put the rest of our stuff. The truth is, our details with the itinerary was also the best thing we could’ve done. The day of U-lead was finally here. This time is a different experience, one of the leaders wasn’t able to go so I had to take her spot as a leader. Being honest, I was nervous, it was the first experience of the guys giving a conference all by themselves. Our first activity was the Ice Breakers, we all danced together and in that moment I took at deep breath and I knew the conference was going to be a real success. We didn’t had shy kids, they all wanted to participate in the different activities. That’s how we started the speech from OPS,and began with the interactions with the leaders and breaking into groups at 10:00AM. We divided the group in 4 differents groups that represented the 4 pilars. All the pillars were very well performed, the group did such beautiful presentations about education, awareness, service, and lidership. For the students to see what a patient needs to go through we developed a scavenger hunt. My students really impressed me with the game, it was excellent! The groups from both showed us that they had really good fundraising ideas and they expressed their ideas with a unique enthusiasm. The Cerro Viento School did a play about Dental Hygiene that was excellent, sincerely made us laugh a lot, they showed us their presentations that they really got the real purpose of Operation Smile. We had some technical difficulties, the conference was a Sunday so we didn’t all the personal to help ups with the problems, we didn’t know why in one computer we could se the image but no audio we had to connect both of the computers and count 1,2,3. Now and then put the videos at the same time so we could hear and also see them. I really liked how they fixed the problem with the presentations very quickly. This shows that they have the capacity to find a solution and go on. Im very satisfied with all of the team that worked together: Operation Smile Panama and the sponsor of both schools, the group of leaders and the students invited to U-lead. Im sure that Panama is a country that’ll surprise with their volunteers. We’ve found many dynamic people and with a lot enthusiasm for helping.
*Marìa Gabriela Sagel, or "Teacher Gabi," is an Operation Smile club sponsor at the Panamerican School in Panama City, Panama. She has been an key part of developing Student Programs involvement in Panama.
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