Day 5 Teaching, planting and giving

After a brief devotion outside with the children standing patiently at attention listening to the story for the day and sharing a recap of last nights festive evening we were off to our various assignments. 

Today we split into three different teams to complete our tasks.  Claudia, Eileen and Judy stayed here to substitute teach for a 4th grade teacher who couldn`t be at school.  This assignment came on a bit suddenly but Claudia as usual took it in stride and whipped up a lesson about math, greetings and salutations in English, readìng a play in Spanish (each child had a part) and then the children had free reading time.  In the afternoon the team rotated teaching 3rd, 2nd then 1st grade English and studied colors, clothes, body parts and sang Head Shoulders Knees and Toes and did the Hokey Pokey.  Then, later that day Susan Malloy caught up with the child she sponsored, Ashley Nicole, who asked her questions in English she learned from Claudia's lessons in class today !

Meanwhile, by the bodega, with the Canadians, Susan Malloy stepped up to the challenge of beginning to clothe 104 children.  Under the expert guidance of Margo and her team, they set up a kind of store for the children to select t-shirts, underwear, pants, socks and shoes.  The children`s faces lit up as they showed their appreciation of their new items in their sparkling eyes and big smiles.  Some of the shoes were completely worn through with a hole or 2 in the soles.  It was wonderful to see some of the girls faces when they put on their new white and pink sneakers or beaded flip flops !  It is not an easy task organizing clothes and sizes for this many children but Margo and her team did an admirable job.

Over in Santa Lucia, the rest of us worked on completely filling in the new flower bed with red earth and "pollo" manure and completing the landscape design in front of the girls dorm with a beautiful chalice shaped walkway (some of us wondered if this chalice shape was a subliminal repressed desire for a glass of wine that we haven´t had in 5 days ...) that Julie and Janet had planned and spread small white stones over a pebble base to complete the pathway.  Then we placed all the plants, some bird of paradise, inpatients, gardenia and other native plants to create a welcoming entrance for the girls new home.  We also created brick borders for the palms, pots filled with herbs and a few larger plants in large pots.  All in all a successful mission and satisfying day.

Back at El Hogar life went on as usual with children everywhere diligently doing their chores, sweeping and cleaning around the campus while others were finishing up classes and still others trying on new shoes right up until dinner time.  Some of us even squeezed in a half hour of yoga with our experienced instructor Pam, who helped center us amidst honking horns sitting in traffic and squeals of children`s happy playing just outside the auditorium.

After dinner the evening was balmy and perfect for playing games with the kids so we brought out jump ropes, games like Jenga and Trouble, coloring books and spiderman puzzles and the kids were excited to join in.  New this evening was a lively game of basketball with some moms challenging the kids in a fast paced game that left all of us sweaty and laughing afterwards.  Kevin, Jill´s sponsored child, who we deemed El Hogar´s little Rondo, had quite the moves dribbling between his legs and keeping the ball away from us with fierce determination while Mychael, Louise van Gelder, Brett and David´s child, played with the passion of Shaquille O`Neil, with one arm and one strong leg (he had been beaten by his mother when he was a child).  He wanted to be treated equally in every way exemplifying a pride and resilience that made us smile.  They had such joy for the game that it was a blast to play with them.  Later Kevin and Jill realized they had gymnastics in common and proceeded to the nearby wall to do handstands together. 

In the volunteer house we wrapped up our day all together again with a time to reflect after reading poetry and inspirational passages chosen by Julie.  Sitting on the adirondack chairs built by the boys at the tech school and sharing some thoughts and moments about our busy days offers a peaceful end to days filled with emotion and bonding moments.

We send our thoughts and prayers to Liz, Jason, Savannah, David and Sandy Kinchen who will be attending Jáson´s father´s memorial service tomorrow. 

Buenas Noches,
Kate