So, this post is a mish-mash of a few things, but they’re all things I’ve
been wanting to blog about…so without further adieu:
Top 4 things I’ve been saying (or thinking) this week:
1)
“No soy de Canada!” (I’m not
from Canada)
…Most of the ‘gringo’ volunteers here are from
Canada…so that’s what the people assume of me.
2)
“Soy Tara… ‘ta-ra’… como
guitarra sin la ‘gui’.” (“I’m Tara…TA_RA…Like guitarra (guitar) without
the “gui”)
…For some reason my name is hard to say here…
3)
“No, no
tengo esposo.” (No, I don’t have a husband.)
..23, not married, so wierd, right? Haha.
4)
(Paradoxical
thought: ) “I sure am learning lots about American politics from Canadians in
México…”
Maybe I’m not well informed, or maybe it’s that
the Canadian political scene is so boring that they follow the US’s instead.
Why do places like this have to exist?
A thought I can’t—and may never get over: How could anyone leave these children? Abuse them? Abandon them?
Each and every one of these kids here is special. They are fun, loving, open,
trusting, caring, and responsible. They’re eager to learn and eager to love. I
don’t know and I can’t imagine some of the hardships that many of these kids
have faced—but you’d never know it
when you come here, meet them, and watch them live. You’d never know. They’re just kids. This place is a home. The kids
receive a good education, lots of love and support, and three meals a day (and
lots of candy otherwise!) There are birthday celebrations, a soccer team, a
dance group, and a sweet playground. Honestly,
I can’t say why orphanages have to exist, why families fall apart. I wish it
wasn’t true. But this is the world we live in…and I can only believe that life
is much better here than it was at their homes. For this reason, I am
incredibly grateful to God that places like Dulce Refugio exist! ... A place
that is true to its’ name…Sweet Refuge.
Education:
When it comes to education here, Mexico is much different that the
States. If I’m not mistaken, there are ‘free’ public government schools, but many
kids who are poor don’t go. Even for those who do, the resources available and the
quality of education in public schooling here is not up to par with education
in the States.
Fortunately, the kids at Dulce Refugio who go to school attend private
Catholic schools—where they are receiving a higher quality of education. Even more, I have been pleasantly surprised
to learn that the older kids do group research project presentations every week
in the summer!! (This makes the educator side of me want to do backflips! :) ) And,
because Marce (the directora) has been so busy this week, she gave me her
group, and I will be in charge of a group every week that I’m here! (*Answered
prayer!) This week, my group of boys studied Queen—their members, music, and
the impact they have had on young people. Specifically, all of the
presentations also have a focus about the Religion/Spirituality of the group,
which brings on a discussion as to how important it is to guard our hearts and
minds in Truth. (One more thing about these—seriously they’re better than 95%
of the group presentations that I suffered through during my undergrad career!
The presenters actually care and know what they’re talking about…and they’ll
still remember the information the next week! (*Interest-based learning…research…sociocultural
group project work...analyzing information…presenting and elaborating on
information…HELLO this is going into my teaching portfolio!)
When it comes to the education of the younger ones, this is where God
really answered my prayer this week. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy
construction work—I didn’t mind grouting in the bathroom or shoveling sand and
rocks to pour cement on the third floor this week…but construction certainly
isn’t the area I’m most gifted in! So, yesterday, I got the chance to ask Marce
if I could help out with anything educational at all—she gave me an hour every
day with ALL the kids in primaria (elementary school—K-6!) So, as you may imagine- I’m on cloud 9 right
nowJ.
Yesterday was our first day, and I had NO IDEA what to expect—who could
read, how much could they read…honestly, until they got there, I didn’t exactly
know what ‘primaria’ meant. (In my mind, primaria=primary=K-3= my degree!) Anyway, I got to look in the supply room and
find a few books to start with—by a few, I mean maybe 2 shelves of books to
read, and 1 or 2 workbooks per subject per grade. The kids will have to share,
and I can’t make copies…but I’m also excited about this, because I don’t particularly
like to waste, and it’s important as a teacher to learn how to be smart with
limited resources! (But, it would be AMAZING if there were more books here... hint hint for anyone who will be coming down here anytime soon...)
(Sorry, I don’t have pictures with this one, the internet in my building
is too slow to load them, but hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to upload some
from the other building’s internet that’s much faster!)
