Cultural Trip To Downtown Los Angeles

As part of their curriculum, it is required that the SEED students go on various cultural activities, including seeing major cities and important cultural sites within Southern California. As international students, the 17 scholars were eager to take their first trip to downtown Los Angeles this past Friday.

Lenin Perez who’s only heard stories about Los Angeles, he says from an uncle who lives here and from Hollywood movies, expressed his reaction to seeing downtown "It is bigger and more alive than I thought it would be, but there are parts of it that remind me a bit of big cities in El Salvador, like San Salvador." 

The students in the Music Center Plaza in Downtown LA.
Photo by: Jocelyn Arana

When asked how experiencing downtown Los Angeles for the first time, SEED student Ana Juarez said, "This city is incredible and much bigger than I imagined. Everything is so modern and fast paced; it’s nothing like where I live. I am making sure to take lots of pictures." Ana is from a rural part of El Salvador, a small town outside of Santa Ana, and explains that as the oldest of 9 kids, she never thought she would be able to take a trip like this. She says she is grateful for SEED for this opportunity.

The students began their tour at the historic Union Station, and made their way down to sites like Olvera Street, Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, City Hall, and Grand Central Market. Their trip ended with a ride on Angel’s Flight, a historic landmark and functional trolley found at the heart of downtown. 

SEED Students Arrive in California

The selected scholars arrive for the first time to Los Angles, CA. Photo by Jocelyn Arana.

.A group of 17 international scholars arrived in Los Angeles last week, to begin their six month program of study within the CSU system. They are as part of a USAID funded project called the SEED program. These 17 students in particular are all from El Salvador, but previous cohorts have included scholars from Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.

All 17 are rural primary and middle school educators in their home country. Their purpose here is to learn teaching methodologies to incorporate into their classrooms back in El Salvador. El Salvador is currently facing many problems regarding gangs and gang violence, and many members are recruited at the primary and middle school levels.

Loker Student Union at CSUDH , where the students
 will attend classes. Photo by Jocelyn Arana. 

SEED stands for Scholarships for Education and Economic Development. The program is currently hosted by California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California, and it is the only Cal State so far to host the SEED Program at one of its Universities. Other Schools that have the SEED program in California include community colleges in Modesto and Bakersfield.

Juan Pablo Olivares, one of the 17 students selected for the SEED program says “We are very excited to be here and eager to learn everything we can to help make our classrooms and our country a better place”.  His classmate, Lissette Montes, added “We know we are lucky to be here, it was a long and intense process but we are thankful for all of it”.