The twins, Andre and Salome, in our study session going over math problems.
August 12, 2018
Today some of the volunteers and I were taken to the “Hogar Cristo Te Salva” Orphanage to meet the people in charge of the center. They explained to us the hardships that they have of managing the orphanage, it’s mainly due to the lack of economical support from the government. They explained to us that they had contacted the city previously in hopes of getting any type of support for these children, unfortunately the city has turned away from them because of the lack of funds. Most of the money they receive is from fundraisers that previews volunteers have made for the purpose of helping the orphanage. This was very heartbreaking to hear, specially because you would see in their eyes the disappointment they felt. This really puts into perspective how fortunate we are to have fair accessibility to funds, if needed, in special cases like these. Moreover, they explained to us their main needs like keeping the children busy learning, and engaging them in interactive activities. I was very excited to hear this, as I really enjoy working with children and would love to teach them more about art and sustainability, as are two very important subjects to explore, specially at a young age. I am confident that by engaging the children in art projects some may find a new passion and others a new tool to express themselves. Also, it has been proven that the younger children are exposed to sustainability practices, the more they continue to practice it throughout their lifetime. Having that said, I started to brainstorm in which ways I could create activities that would benefit both the children learning and expressive skills. That afternoon after our orientation, we headed back to the volunteer’s house and had lunch. An hour later, I went with Bruno, another volunteer, to meet the children. As soon as we arrived the children gathered up, some were definitely more outgoing than others. We gathered them in a circle and played some name memorizing names. This activity gave me a chance to really get to memorize their names and learn about the mini individual groups that existed among the larger group. Also I met Richard and his brother Noa, they are both deaf. Also, I learned that almost 20% of Riberalta’s Population are deaf. Richard and Noah were so very sweet and didn’t exclude themselves from any activity, I actually got to learn how to great myself and say their names in the Bolivian ASL. The children were very energetic, we played with them for about 2 hours, but they definitely would have wanted to keep on going if it wasn’t getting late. Seeing all the energy they had and that constant smile on their face, makes me feel so happy to be here to help, but most importantly to learn. I see that these children, even though they may only have the absolutely necessary things, they look far more happier that the children that have iPads and electronic luxuries back in the U.S. After saying goodbye to the children for the day, I headed home and started to sketch my vision board for the week. I had only done this vision boards for my design school projects in the past, I was extremely excited to do this for my own project and test how useful it is to implement this as my work ethic. It consisted of what I wanted to teach them and what activities would help me accomplish this. Since I haven’t had any experience teaching before, it is quite intimidating but the children are so sweet I really hope we get to bond more and enjoy our time learning.
Exploring the biodiversity of Riberalta on orientation day with other volunteers.
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