A Little Piece of Venezuela in Portstewart

There is a particular kind of joy that comes from watching a child discover somewhere they have never been. On the 7th of July, at Star of the Sea in Portstewart, I got to experience that joy twenty times over.

I was invited by Building Communities Resource Centre (BCRC) to lead the Venezuela day of their Globetrotters Cultural Summer Scheme, a wonderful programme that takes children on a journey around the world across a single week. India, Ukraine, and my own home country, Venezuela, each got their own day, their own culture, their own adventure. And for three hours on a summer morning, a room full of six to eleven year olds became honorary Venezuelans.

Music, maracas and a country that comes alive

We began where Venezuela always begins: with music and colour. The children heard joropo, the joyful, foot-tapping folk music of the Venezuelan plains, and then made their own maracas, the instrument at the heart of that sound. There is something magical about handing a child an instrument they have just built with their own hands and watching the whole room fill with rhythm.

From there, we travelled across the country together. We explored Venezuela's extraordinary geography, its animals, and the meaning behind the colours and stars of its flag. Each child got to see that a country is not just a shape on a map, but a living, breathing place full of stories, creatures and colour.

The moment the room went quiet

Every session has a moment that stays with you. For me, it was the Catatumbo paintings.

Catatumbo lightning is one of Venezuela's natural wonders, an almost never-ending lightning storm that lights up the sky where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo, night after night after night. When the children set about painting it, something shifted in the room. The focus, the wonder, the pride in their work... wow. Just wow. Their paintings were extraordinary, and watching them pour themselves into capturing something so distinctly Venezuelan was one of the proudest moments I have had as a facilitator.

Learning Spanish, together

Rather than simply teaching Spanish words, we turned it into teamwork. The children went on a Spanish scavenger hunt, working together to find items and write them in Spanish. It was collaborative, energetic and full of laughter, and without quite realising it, they were learning a new language while building friendships and problem-solving as a group. That is the kind of learning that sticks.

What I hoped they would take home

More than any single fact, I wanted the children to leave with a feeling: that Venezuela welcomes them. That it is a beautiful, warm, colourful place, and that one day, if they ever wish to, they would be welcome to visit and see it for themselves.

Sharing my home country with these children left me feeling hopeful, and honestly, proud. Proud of where I come from, and hopeful about a generation of children growing up curious about the wider world, open to it, excited by it, unafraid of it. That openness, nurtured early, is how we build communities where everyone belongs.

Thank you, BCRC

None of this would have happened without Building Communities Resource Centre. Their commitment to bringing the world to local children, and local children to the world, is exactly the kind of work that quietly shapes a more connected, more welcoming society. Thank you to Gosia and the whole BCRC team for organising Globetrotters so beautifully, for creating such a warm and safe space, and for the privilege of being part of it.

And a heartfelt nod to my fellow facilitators, Shikha, who brought India to life, and Olena, who shared Ukraine. Their days were every bit as magical as mine, and together we gave those children a whole world in a single week.

Humanitas Initiative delivers cultural intelligence, integration and human connection workshops for children, families, schools, community groups and organisations across the Causeway Coast and Glens and beyond. If you would like to bring a workshop to your group, school or organisation, we would love to hear from you.

Warm regards, and as always hoping ye have a lovely day.

— Zilka Gerritsen, Community Bridge Builder, Humanitas Initiative contact@thehumanitasinitiative.org | thehumanitasinitiative.org | Humanity before passports

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