Thank You Dads!

By: Micayla Kinder

With Father’s Day around the corner, some of the Children Beyond Our Borders’ Inc. scholars and staff reflect on lessons learned and  memories made with their dads.

This Sunday, families across the country will spend the day celebrating their dads and thanking them for all that they do in honor of Father’s Day. The word father has many different meanings. For some it represents a biological father, for others it may indicate an adoptive father or a father figure who took on the role of a dad. A father is someone who raises a child, someone who nurtures them, guides them throughout their life, supports them and is their number one fan. Children Beyond Our Borders Inc. strives to help children be able to have a future that is bright and filled with possibility and we are grateful for the many fathers who share this vision and have worked hard to empower their children. ​

IAMCBOB Scholar, Jeison Alexander Orrego Toro, is thankful for the fundamental role that his father, Alexander de Jesús Orrego, has played in his life.
“I am grateful for him sacrificing his youth, for him giving me and my sisters what we needed,” Jeison said. “We have never lacked anything thanks to him. He is the best father of all. He is the most hard-working and persevering person I know,  and he’s always striving hard to get what he wants.”

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Yosimar Palacios Becerra, is an IAMCBOB scholar who has also learned important lessons from his father, Jose Luis Palacios.
“He has definitely shown me with his example and just with little things, so many lessons in my life, Yosimar said. “I have learned so many values from my father and I am so proud of him.”
Yosimar stated that he is most grateful for his father’s dedication, hard work and patience.

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Another IAMCBOB scholar who has a lot to thank his dad for this year is Davian De Jesús Ortíz Velásquez.
Davian had this to say about his dad: “My father has been a fundamental support for my life and for my personal development. He has been a very strict, yet very valuable person in my life. My father is an indescribable person, but I would best describe him as a very enterprising person that is able to face many obstacles that life gives him. Despite so many difficulties, he has always been there for my family and willing to make a life for us.”

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Children Beyond Our Borders’ Inc. Executive Director, Andrea Ortega has a special relationship with her father, Jairo Ortega, and sees him not only as her dad, but also as her best friend.
“My dad has been the provider for my family not just financially but also when it came to anything I needed emotionally,” Andrea said. “My dad has always been my best friend even through my crazy teenage years. He's always been understanding and someone I can talk to. The most important thing he has always taught me and supported me by is through education.  For as long as I can remember my dad has said go to school, go to school and never stop.”

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Andrea has learned important lessons from her father and still uses many of the things she learned from him today.
“He taught me to say sorry,” Andrea said. “While our lives haven't been perfect, I am lucky enough to remember the good things because of his ability to push through and put his love for his family first. He taught me money doesn't mean happiness because even when I think about the times we really struggled when he lost his job when I was like 12, I just remember being able to spend more time with him and still always making my education a priority. ”
Andrea has a lot of great memories with her father and recounted one tradition that her and father began when she was a child.

“There are so many wonderful memories with him, something we did all the way through High School was go to the movies EVERY Friday,” Andrea said. “He taught me family was more important than friends and anything else in life. If he was taking the time out every Friday to be with me, then I should too and it became our little tradition so even if there was a party or something I actually preferred going to the movies because it was with him and spending quality time with those we love.”

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Whether you write a card, prepare a meal or make a phone call; be sure to express your gratitude in some way to the man that raised you this Father’s Day. Children Beyond Our Borders Inc. would like to say thank you to all of the wonderful fathers out there who have worked hard to protect, teach, provide for, and empower their children. Happy Father’s Day!