Hola!
So the title is actually something one of the 6 year olds said to us the other day. Fair to say he was being a little over dramatic.
Got a few things to write about today as it’s been a while since I posted last.
Louise and I have at long last got a finalised copy of our new post summer timetable! It took forever but I’m just glad we have it now. It’s looking pretty good too. A lot of the summer activities are being carried on for the children who don’t go to school for a full day. These include the Baking class, cosmetology class and the art class. Although we aren’t needed at these classes we like to go along as it’s a really good way to bond with the kids and get some good banter going. Another thing that’s being kept on the timetable is swimming! It means giving up our Saturday afternoons but we don’t really mind as swimming was our favourite summer class. One downside to the new timetable is the length of days we work. We’re up every day at 7.30 and don’t finish the day until 8pm nearly every day. It’s a lot of work but we’re busy with things we enjoy and activities we want to be doing with the kids so the 12 hour days aren’t a problem. Fingers crossed I’m still saying that in a months’ time!
A big part of our new timetable is the Self-esteem classes we take twice a week. We’ve joined up with a local Peace Corps Volunteer, who was interested in creating a project within the aldea, to start up self-esteem classes for both the primary school kids and the older kids. From what we know schools here aren’t big on teaching things like self-esteem, respect and individuality so we thought it would be a great to do it with the children here. It’s really important that the kids learn to appreciate themselves and respect others which can be difficult especially as so many of them have had difficult pasts and a lot of problems to deal with. So far we’ve had great feedback from all the kids that came. The younger children don’t understand it as well as the older kids but they still enjoy it as it’s mostly all fun stuff for them. The first classes were pretty easy going for everyone. We did activities like getting the kids to write nice things about their friends on their backs and make their own Coat of Arms. Hopefully as the classes go on we’ll be able to take it a little more seriously but still keep it fun…if that makes sense. Currently we’re taking the classes alone as Christina is away on her holidays but when she gets back we’ll have all 3 of us to keep control of the 30 odd teenagers that turn up! The hope is that we can continue this class until we leave at the end of June when Christina will be left to take it alone or with the next volunteers.
Other big news is the change about of the Tias and some of the kids. We weren’t really expecting it and it pretty much came out of the blue, well for us at least. On Sunday the 31st all but 3 of the mama Tias left their houses to be mamas in new houses. It’s a pretty big change for everyone as the kids now have to get used to new rules and their new Tia. This has been easier for some than others. One example is Emiliano in casa 5 who hasn’t stopped crying for the Tia this whole week! The poor boy has worn his voice out by crying continuously through the day and night. He has some attachment issues which is understandable as Tia Isabel is the only Tia he can remember having, it’s like he’s had his mum taken away from him. The crying is hard to put up with and not just for us. We came into casa 5 the other morning to be greeted by a very sad David. We asked why he was sad and he told us it was because he had sore ears from Emiliano’s crying. He’s only 3 and although it was very cute it was sad to see him so depressed and tired. This is a good example of why the Tias change though. Not just for a change of scenery but for the benefit of the children. It may seem silly to disrupt the routines of the kids but it’s so important that neither the Tias nor the children get too attached to each other. The kids here can leave with barely any warning so it would be distressing for them to be taken away from someone their really attached to. There are a few exceptions though. The Tias who work with the severely disabled kids have stayed put. I’m guessing this is because it wouldn’t be wise to change them for the sake of the kids and because their used to the routines of the kids that need extra attention and help. There have been changes with a few of the children too. I’m not sure why some of them moved casas but for the others it’s because they need to move on to a casa more suitable for their age group.
The next few weeks are going to be fairly busy for us. We have a visit from our UK desk officer Samina early next week, my first birthday away from home is also coming up and mid-April we’re heading for a 2 week break in Bolivia to visit other volunteers and renew our passport visas. I’m pretty excited to be out seeing more of the world again. Another thing I should maybe mention is the length of time I have left here. In total there are only 18 weeks left in South America for me and 10 left in the aldea! It may seem like a while but the days are moving so fast now that it’ll fly past and I’ll barely notice. It’s sad to be counting down such a short time but I’m going make the most of it whilst I can.
Until next time!
X
