Afternoon Job

My afternoon job is completely different than my morning one. The kids there can be absolutely adorable and absolutely crazy at the same time. In our first 2 weeks, we had between 45 and 63 kids each day, ranging from 5 to 15 years old. The kids begin the day by lining up, repeating the 3 rules of the program (no fighting, no insulting, and you must listen) and calling out the date and day of the week. Then they separate into 3 groups- homework help, big kids activity, and little kids activity. Usually Ricardo, our 23 year old Ecuadorian staff member, helps the kids with homework while the volunteers (3 or 4 of us depending on the day) rotate between the little kids and the big kids. So some days I am trying to get a group of adorable yet hyperactive 5 year olds to sit still while I read them a book, while the other days I am trying to make sure a group of 13 year old punks don´t start fighting or insulting each other´s mothers during our activity. After approximately 45 minutes of activity (which usually involves something physical and something educational), the kids get 45 minutes of free time, which almost always involves the boys playing soccer and the girls working with art supplies. After free time, bring the kids together again and give them a talk or perform a skit on the ¨weekly value¨ such as responsability, respect, citizenship, etc. Then we say a prayer together and give each kid a vitamin, a piece of bread, and a banana before sending them home.  There were a few frustrating moments when the kids just would not behave, but overall the first 2 weeks went surprisingly well.  A lot of credit must be given to Ricardo, who does a great job of disciplining the kids.  He has worked at the program for several years and is from the neighborhood so his is widely respected by all the kids in the neighborhood.

A few strange images from the week-

- Me leading around about 15 5-7 year olds pretending we are a train after reading Thomas the tank engine. We made train noises and I yelled out Izquierda! Derecha! (left or right) and they had to point the direction that the train would be turning next. We gave a sticker to each kid that behaved.

- Kipp (a fellow volunteer) playing the guitar while he and I tried to teach the little kids our Spanish translation of Old Mcdonald had a farm. The kids were hilarious singing eieioo and making animal noises.

- One day I was interrupted from one of my activities by a fellow volunteer saying ¨Jon, there is a goat loose over there and it is blocking the girls bathroom, what do you think we should do?¨ There are just some obstacles here that you would not have to face running a similar program at home.


In other news, Pancho, one of the patients at Damien House died last Monday at the age of 97. All of the other patients were so depressed, it really showed how much of a family the patients at Damien House have become. So it was a tough start to the week there but they regained their good spirits as the week progressed.

We also were graced with a short visit from Father Jim Ronan, the priest from Boston that founded our organization. He was in town on Wednesday and Thursday, and we had a mass and blessing of the new volunteer house that was recently opened in the neighborhood of Mt. Sinai. The service was beautiful, and he took us out for a steak dinner and banana splits afterward, which was perhaps even more beautiful as my body was really craving some protein haha. He is a great guy and we had a great time getting to know him better and hearing his interesting stories from his development work in Latin America.

That is all for now, I´ll check in again soon. I hope all is well at home.

First Week of work- a bit about my morning placement

Had a great first week of work. The mornings at Damien House have been fun and laid back. I spent much of my time getting to know the patients and staff there.  Some of the patients are the funniest old men. They love to talk about women, even though any of the are in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s. They are always shocked to thear that i am not married and don´t have children at age 22. I want to explain to them that things are different in the U.S., especially these days, but i feel they won´t understand. I´m still not sure how to react when patients tell me that they are in pain It is difficult to watch them suffer and to not be able to do anything about it. One of the old men told us that he wanted to die because he was in so much pain. Luckily he was in a much better mood the next day. I also had a lot of fun in the women´s section. They like having a young man around to help them out, and a few of them remind me of my grandmothers.  They insist that I eat with them (although one day I was served cow stomach soup for lunch, I couldn´t even go near it, and I consider myself an adventurous eater, but the smell just gave me nausea). In addition to talking to the patients and getting to know them, I did a wide range of jobs in the first week to help the foundation run. I helped the nurses to transfer some of the men from their wheelchairs to their beds, I helped Sister Annie organize the donation closet (still a long way to go), helped out in the kitchen, did some sweeping, and will begin working on the foundation´s newsletter and handling email correspondence next week.

I will blog about my afternoon job at a later date!!

Oh, I also had a great birthday get together with my fellow volunteers on Friday, who surprised Christina and I (another volunteer who´s birthday is the 23rd) with cake and cards. My housemates also made me some chocolate chip pancakes with banana on top for breakfast on the morning of my birthday. Thank you all for the birthday wishes from afar, I miss you!

Orientation Comes to a Close

So our two week Ecuador orientation is coming to a close and I´m getting ready to start the real thing. We spent the first week with last year´s volunteers getting to know our neighbors, learning the bus routes, and visiting possible work sites. We gave last year´s volunteers a sad sendoff at the end of the week and made a trip to the beach for some much needed rest and relaxation. We visited a few more worksites at the beginning of this week and also had an all day scavenger hunt all over the city of Guayaquil in order to get to know the city better and practice the bus routes. We were split into groups of four and had to travel to different parts of the city and outlaying areas and take a crazy picture at each of the locations. We definitely provided some entertainment to the Ecuadorians who laughed as a bunch of gringos created a human pyramid on the sidewalk. They were all very eager to help us find where we were going...even when we didn´t ask for help.
We spent yesterday and today deciding on where we would like to work this year. I decided on Damien House for my morning job and Semillas de Mostaza (mustard seeds) for my afternoon job. Damien House http://www.thedamienhouse.org/ is a non-profit clinic for people with Hanson´s disease (formerly known as leprosy) run by Sister Annie, a lively nun from Brooklyn, New York. The clinic serves both live-in patients and outpatients. My main tasks throughout the year will be helping Sister Annie run the foundation, translating for visiting medical staff, giving tours to visiting student groups, and keeping the patients company. Semillas is an after-school program run by our foundation which provides homework help, fun activities, educational talks, a banana, a piece of bread, and a vitamin to the kids in our neighborhood. I will be running it along with 2 other volunteers and an Ecuadorian staff member who is about our same age. Attendance can vary from 40 kids to 115 per day, so it will probably get pretty crazy.

A few other tidbits- I was awoken this morning when my bed was shaken by an earthquake. That was pretty crazy considering it was the first earthquake I´ve ever felt. The epicenter was far away and there was no damage anywhere near where we are, but it was enough to send everyone running out into the kitchen in bewilderment.  Also, I will finally be moving into my house this weekend after almost a month of living out of a suitcase. Up to this point we have all been living together in one of the retreat houses, where student groups stay when they are visiting. It will be nice to finally get settled, especially since I will be starting work on Monday. A few days ago we recieved a somber reminder of where we are living, as we were startled by the terrifying screams of a women in a domestic dispute and the loud cries of her children. (we found out later that no one was seriously hurt.)  So the first few weeks on the equator have been quite an adventure. I will update you all the next chance I get.