Team Tobati Helps to Make a Difference in Paraguay

Cara McSweeney
Kingswood Oxford School, West Hartford, CT 2009
Manchester, CT

After traveling for 24 hours this past March, I was completely exhausted. However, I suddenly awoke when the bus stopped and all I could hear was Spanish music blaring and fireworks going off left and right. I looked out my window and saw a crowd of children dancing and cheering. When I finally stepped off the bus, I felt like I was in a completely different world: Toto, we definitely weren’t in America any more.

Instead, I was in South America, in Tobati, Paraguay, at the opening ceremonies for Team Tobati—though I felt like I was at the opening ceremonies for the Olympics instead.

To the poor people of Tobati though, it was just as special. During my spring break, I was in Paraguay along with 133 other Kingswood Oxford students, teachers, dentists, doctors, and alumni that make up Team Tobati to perform various community service projects there. This past March marked the 10th annual trip Team Tobati has made. Ronald Garcia, Spanish teacher and founder of Team Tobati, said that it was the “most ambitious trip of our 10 year trip career. We definitely did everything we wanted to.” Paraguay was of special interest to Mr. Garcia because both his parents grew up in Paraguay and immigrated to the United States in 1971. Inspired to help, Mr. Garcia founded Team Tobati in December 1998 when he first came to K-O, and the trip has grown from a mere 31 members to 133 members.

Most impressive of the team’s achievements is its pride and joy, the Macchi School, an independent school which provides high quality education to talented disadvantaged students. The school is completely funded by Team Tobati. After visiting the Macchi School, it made me proud to see that Team Tobati helped to make such a difference.

This was my first time on the trip, and I was more than ecstatic to go because I’ve gotten such positive feedback from others who had gone on the trip before. My enthusiasm only grew once I got there. I couldn’t wait to wake up and get to work every day. Every task that we did became fun—brick tosses would become a game when helping to build a house, while water breaks would soon turn into a soccer game with the kids. More impressive was the unity that resulted from the trip. “Team Tobati seeks to demonstrate that [by] working together enthusiastically, people can build a much better future for those in need,” Mr. Garcia said.

Moreover, despite the fact that I’ve never taken a Spanish class, I felt that it didn’t matter. No matter where you are, some feelings and gestures are still the same; hugs and laughter are universal. Even with differences in language and culture, the Paraguayans made me feel welcome and made it easy for me to adapt.

Though it was a life-changing and eye-opening experience for me, what really matters it that I helped to change the lives of others for the better.