TRUCE Fitness and Nutrition's 1st Annual Graduation Ceremony

Lindsey, Me, Anthony, Myteeka, and Aziz outside TRUCE Graduation.


After spending countless hours cutting out cardboard stars and wrapping them in tinfoil, hanging streamers from 15 foot high ladders, blowing up balloons and almost passing out, and writing and creating the program for the ceremony, TRUCE Fitness and Nutrition celebrated its first annual Graduation Ceremony on Wednesday June 20th, 2007. The celebration began at about 5:30 pm, when the first parents started arriving at 118th street. The kids were waiting upstairs in their assigned Team Rooms, eagerly anticipating the upcoming celebration. The theme of the ceremony was "A Black and White Affair", and we asked the kids and staff to dress completely in black and/or white to match the decorations we had put up and create a semi-formal atmosphere for the event. I was pleasantly surprised with how serious the kids took the phrase "semi-formal". Some girls went out and got their hair professionally styled while others wore fairly formal dresses, and some boys came in full suits, jackets and everything. While the kids waited upstairs for the crowd to arrive, we served them the free dinner of baked ziti, salad and garlic bread that HCZ was able to purchase. As parents started arriving downstairs, they were seated at a table in the back of the auditorium and served their own complimentary dinner consisting of a choice of baked ziti or lasagna, also with salad or garlic bread. During this time period, the entire staff was in charge of making sure that all those who were sitting were served with food and beverage and happily seated while viewing the repeating slideshow of pictures from TRUCE throughout the year and happily anticipating the arrival of the students.

At about 6:30, Monalisa (the director of TRUCE Fitness and Nutrition) came on the microphone and announced that the students would be entering and receiving their diplomas. The kids promptly began marching onto the stage, with the 5th graders in the front and the grades filling in behind them until the 8th graders all the way in the back. As each child's name was called and they were given their diploma, the crowd continuously cheered. When the names were finally read, the kids took their seats in the audience and the performances began. Kids performed everything from yoga demonstrations, step-dancing routines, a rap song, karate demonstrations, singing and even a speech. One of the most touching speeches to me was given by a shy 8th grade boy who spoke about how much he has changed and turned his life around in the 1 year he spent with TRUCE. He told of how in 7th grade, before he came to TRUCE, "I was a bad student. I never did my homework, I failed out of classes, and I just didn't care." But then his parents enrolled him in the TRUCE Fitness program in 8th grade, "And I got my act together...I started doing my homework, I started getting good grades, I took the tests to get into New York City high schools, and now next year I'm going to one of the best high schools in the city- Stuyvesant." This story really hit me. Watching this incredibly humble, almost painfully shy boy get up on stage infront of hundreds of people and speak of his own success made me realize how much TRUCE has truly affected his life. Before this program, not only would he have most likely not been able to attend the incredibly competitive high school he is soon going to, but he also would have never had the confidence or the venue to speak infront of such a large group of people. While the entire ceremony was unique and a very touching experience, this one boy stands out in my mind as the reason why TRUCE is such a unique and important program for these children.

After the performances were over, the chairs were all quickly brought to the sides of the room, the music came on, and there was a huge dance party that filled the entire room. No one was shy about getting up to dance, but rather it was a fight to see who would get to dance front row on the stage infront of the rest of the crowd. Eventually, the 5 year old girls prevailed and won front row places, but it was the 7th grade girls who really stole the show. Creating a circle and encompassing the best, most daring dancers for each song, the girls cheered and screamed and egged each other on, all the while having a blast just letting themselves go to the music. You could just feel the energy in the room as the entire crowd let lose and enjoyed themselves.

The ceremony, performance, and party were over almost as quickly as they began. By the end of the night the entire staff was exhausted, but when Monalisa asked us to stay for a few minutes and enjoy some cake with her, no one could refuse. There was a tangible feeling of pride and accomplishment in the room as those who had worked with the same group of kids for an entire year watched them walk across the stage with their heads held high as their parents acknowledged (sometimes for the first time ever) their incredible accomplishments. The 1st annual graduation ceremony was indeed a success, and there is no doubt that it will not be the last.

Karate Kids

One of the most unique aspects of the TRUCE Fitness and Nutrition center is the karate program they have established. As most of you CUSPers know, Geoffrey Canada is a black belt in martial arts. He feels that karate is a positive way to take the violence that children growing up in urban environments experience on a daily basis and control it. He teaches the kids that their body is a weapon that should not be taken lightly. Children as young as five years old are taught not only how to defend themselves from attackers, but also how to truly hurt those who threaten them. Geoff has handed the karate program over to a friend that he grew up with in the South Bronx, Charles William, but he goes by Aziz, or to his students, Sensai.

Aziz runs the karate room with strict discipline and control. He practices a philosophy of tough love with these kids, for he knows that when they are out on the street and living in the rough environment that they are in, babying them and coddling them will only hurt their chances of survival. My first day at HCZ, I watched as Aziz screamed at a 5 year old boy named Emanuel because he didn't know his routine. As I watched the tears stream down this young child's face, I thought this was the worst form of teaching I had ever seen. I thought about myself at the age of 5, about how I was timid and fearful and would never have responded well to being yelled at, but would've crawled into my mother's arms and cried and never come back to that karate class ever again. I left that day feeling that karate was not the answer, and if it was then Aziz's style of teaching was not the right way to get that answer. However, since that first day I have gotten to know Aziz, his personal struggles and his teaching philosophy. I have begun to see that although Emanuel cried in the classroom, the next time someone yells at him on the street or tries to mess with him on the playground, he will be prepared for those tears and he will be able to control them. He will have learned, at the young age of 5, how to control his emotions and harness his strength, and most importantly he will know how to defend himself from those attacks that are sure to frequent his life. It's a fine line to walk between teaching self defense and facilitating provocative violence, between tough love and coddling kids too much, and between preparing them early on for the realities of life in an urban environment and sheltering them for too long. I think that Aziz, despite my initial reactions to his rough teaching style, has found a balance that seems to work for his students. They learn to be assertive, to defend themselves, and to be respectful of authority and of their own power. Karate is much more than a sport to this community- it is a way of life.

TRUCE Fitness Health Fair- June 9, 2007

TRUCE HEALTH FAIR

These are some pictures of the Health Fair we helped put on last Saturday. The first photo is of the Karate demonstration that the kids put on to try to get more adults and community members aware of and involved in the free martial arts classes that are offered here at HCZ. The man with the mega-phone is Aziz, the world champion Karate instructor who was born, raised, and is still living in the South Bronx. Second is a picture of the booths they set up to give information to people on Health Insurance, and give cholesterol, blood pressure, HIV and other testing as well as give Breast Exams and other types of health related information and services. To the left is a picture of Lindsey getting down with an old guy!

Above is a picture of the amazingly talented double-dutch girls from TRUCE. Next, you will find photographic evidence of the skills that these kids have on the dance floor. The dance-off was to "Chicken Noodle Soup", and these kids of no more than 10 years of age showed the whole crowd how it is done!

To the left is a picture of our supervisor, Narlene, with some of the TRUCE students in front of the giant blow-up climbing wall that they provided for amusement at the fair.

Barriers Breaking

After more than a week on the job at HCZ, I am really beginning to feel more comfortable here and get a better understanding of the way things work at this place. Despite the slow mornings that we have had since the Health Fair on Saturday, things always pick up in the afternoon when the kids get here. So here's how the TRUCE Fitness and Nutrition Center schedules the time for the kids, just so everyone knows what we're dealing with while we're here...

3:00- kids start to arrive
3:30-4:00- snack is given to all kids, usually consists of apples, oranges, juice and some sort of sugarfree cookies
4:00-5:00- Fitness time (kids are required to take 2 hours of fitness every week, so it's either on M/W or T/R, from 4-5 or 5-6)
5:00-6:00- Team Time (led by two coordinators for each group, the teams consist of all the kids in each grade that come to the program. each team had a different project for the semester, and now that the projects are all completed they do different activities based around health, fitness, and nutrition. Sometimes they do yoga, salsa dance, etc. or sometimes they learn about the food pyramid, learn how/why/where to work out, etc. )
6:00-7:00- most kids leave at 6, but if they need more help with their homework the staff stays until 7 and helps those who need it.
*Sidenote- homework help is also given throughout the day, from 4-7, for those who need it. Also, karate lessons are offered throughout the day, from about 1-after 7pm. more on karate- the instructor, the class, the philosphy behind it, and my own experiences with it, coming soon...

Now that you have an idea of what goes on at TRUCE on a daily basis, I feel more able to explain some of the things I have experienced since being here. First, the entire staff here has been so warm and welcoming to Lindsey and me. Almost everyone that works here is under the age of 30 (with the exception of the Director and a few others), and they are all either in college or recent college graduates. One of the requirements that Geoffrey Canada has of his staff is that they are either currently enrolled in an institute of higher education, or they have completed a college degree. This ensures that the students in the program are surrounded by educated, motivated people and that they see not only the value but also the reality of higher education. Additionally, most staff here grew up as participants in the HCZ programs and have maintained strong ties to the agency and to the community that supports it. Since the moment we walked in the door, the staff here has been incredibly friendly, smilingly enthusiastic and endlessly energetic. The atmosphere in this place is full of optimism and genuine FUN, and it really creates a wonderful environment for us to work and for the kids to learn.

Beyond the initial warm welcome we received, I have started to really get below the surface with a few of the people who work here. Yesterday I began talking with a staff member named Robert who is in charge of the 6th graders at TRUCE. Robert is a huge guy, he's definitly tough and knows how to defend himself, but inside he's just a big kid. He plays dodgeball and weightlifts and does salsa dance or whatever else with the 6th graders nonstop- he really loves to have fun. When Robert found out that I go to Cornell, he started asking questions about where I'm from, what I'm studying and how the parties are at school. I told him the answers, and then started asking questions of my own. Through a long series of events, we started talking about issues of gentrification that his neighborhood has dealt with recently. Robert is from 108th street and Amsterdam, which is now right in the heart of the Columbia University campus. He told me how his neighborhood used to have a lot of burnt out, run-down buildings that have now been taken over by Columbia and started turning the area "nice". When I asked him how he felt about that, his response was, "Sure my street's nice now, but it's not for me...it's not for us." I asked if people were being kicked out of their apartments by the developers who were coming in, and he said that they were mostly taking over abandoned buildings anyways, so it wasn't the fact anyone was loosing their homes that upset him about the gentrification (note- the word "gentrification" never actually came up in the entirety of this conversation). He talked about how they used to have bodegas on every corner where you could get a great sandwhich for cheap, and you knew the owner so if you didn't have enough cash to pay for it on the spot, you could always come back later and pay your tab. Now, "All the mom-and-pop stores are gone- all we got is chain stores, and the cost of everything is real high now." The conversation then ended with Robert telling me that although he's in college in the city, he really wants to leave NYC. When I asked why he didn't, he replied, "I got too much responsibilty here." I don't know if this means he has family he can't leave, or the cost of tuition if he left is too much to afford, or he has a great job going with HCZ and he can't give that up. Either way, it made me realize quickly that for the people living in this neighborhood, life is not as simple and college is nowhere nearly as carefree as it is for most Cornellians, myself included. Robert's openness and honesty with me during this entire conversation was really reassuring. It's easy for people to smile and be friendly and warm when you first meet them, but when you get below the surface and you start really talking about tough issues like gentrification, issues where it would appear that someone like myself would be on opposing sides from someone like Robert, it's hard to cross that race/culture line and really be honest and open. This is just one of a few conversations I've had with staff members here- some black, some Haitian, some Hispanic, some Peruvian, some white- where I've felt like the honesty is there, the open-mindedness is there, and the differences that exist between races and cultures is appreciated and valued rather than looked upon with suspicion and mistrust. My hope is to continue building these relationships and engaging in these conversations as the summer continues.

About Me

My name is Lauren Wein, I am a rising junior in the School of Industrial Labor Relations. I'm from a small town in Connecticut that's near New Haven, which means that I didn't spend much time in New York City while growing up. I'm really excited to be in the city and experience the sights, sounds and people who inhabit it, but most importantly to figure out the subway system and learn how to get around on my own. I've spent time in Nicaragua doing community service building houses and interacting with the community members to try to find out more about their ideas of community development and how to improve their lives, but while there I always lamented my inability to communicate with more people due to my minimal Spanish language abilities. Now that I am working in a community where I can speak freely with people, I plan on interacting with and learning from those I am working with as much as possible.

I see community service as a way to not only help improve the lives of those I am working with, but also as a means to educate myself on the problems facing inner-city youth and the realities of growing up in a bad neighborhood. Through my experiences this summer with both the Harlem Children's Zone and my CUSP classmates, First, I hope to gain a better understanding of the problems facing young teens in Harlem. I hope to learn about things such as drugs, violence, the public school system and its strengths and failings, family dynamics, mental and physical health, and any other issues confronting young people in Harlem.

My internship this summer is at the Harlem Children Zone's TRUCE Fitness and Nutrition Center. The Harlem Children's Zone has 15 centers that serve as a is a pioneering, non-profit, community-based organization to enhance the quality of life for children and families in some of New York City's most devastated neighborhoods.