Monday, June 6, 2011

Cleanup Slash Orphanage Visit - Kristen´s post

Education groups were interesting, to be sure. It wasn´t just a learning experience for the kids, but for me as well. I´m not a very good teacher, but since Kate and I and Suzi were responsible for putting together the activities, I had to step up and get especially creative. It wasn´t like our audience was going to be particularly difficult. First and second graders, but it was still a little bit of a challenge.

Being in charge of those kids and trying to teach them essential hygeinic tasks started out as a mild test of trial and error. At first they weren´t very cooperative, but when we finally looked like we were having fun, then they started to have fun. The sad part was that while we had the opportunity to pass out toothbrushes and let these children wash their hands, we knew that most of them didn´t have access to those resources for the long term. Many of the kids had hands so dirty that the water we used was cloudy after just a few hand washes, and several had damage to their teeth.

The next day we attempted a different, more hands on kind of teaching. We took three hundred elementary schoolers out on a march to save the planet, passing out garbage bags and gloves and taking the kids on a hike to clean up the community. We and this herd of children carried banners and picked up garbage, separating the recyclable materials from the ´basura´or regular trash and continuing on our way. It was really neat to see all of these kids working together, and after the face the road sides really looked much much better.

A few days later we got to see children in a different kind of environment. The orphanage we visited near boquette was a small establishment tucked away in the mountains, housing over thirty children ranging from ages zero to 12 for boys, and zero to 18 for girls. I could feel my heart break as we passed out crayons and toys and handed out fruit, each of us taking turns carrying babies and playing hide and go seek as we milled around the compound and just absorbed what we were seeing. We didn´t stay for very long, but the little faces were permanently imprinted in my memory, especially the face of one particular little girl, who was no bigger than a four year old, and was seven in reality. She didn´t know how to talk, but she was a commanding little presence, dragging us around and smiling and insisting to be held.

Making them smile was probably the best thing I could have done for them, and it warmed my heart. I was sad to leave those children who needed nothing more than someone to love on them. It was an amazing experience.

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