It’s been almost three weeks since I last wrote (yikes, sorry!) and I’ve had a lot of new experiences! I’ve started teaching English one day a week at another school, I became a dance instructor and I was a dentist for a day! I love the fact that here in Santiago I am helping students learn but at the same time am learning a lot myself. Also, lots of fun things have been happening at school. We have had a week of sports competitions and student government elections!
The new school I’m working at is called ADISA, which is a school for people with disabilities close to my house. They specialize in education, health, vocational training, job placement, awareness and empowerment. I was informed that some people here think that disabilities are contagious or that absurdly, it is a sin. In this community, many disabled people are not even considered people at all and are not treated with the respect that others receive. It is an incredibly sad situation but ADISA has done wonderful things and is helping to change the view of disabilities in this community. In fact, some past students at ADISA are in my school Chu’ul today because of the help and specialized education they received. I think ADISA has a great thing going and when asked by a friend to teach English, I readily agreed.
The first day I was nervous because I didn’t have any experience teaching students with disabilities but I gained confidence when I noticed the enthusiasm of the students! They were so eager to learn and were absorbing so much of what I was saying. A lot of the students can’t write so I used a lot of visuals and repetition. I really think it will be a good tactic for them because we speak so much and practice a lot of pronunciation in class, which overall will make them better speakers. There are around 8 students ranging from teenagers to adults and along with my friend Maggie who helps me, we all laughed and joked a lot in class. I think a sense of humor is a great tool and I was so happy with how it turned out! At ADISA, many of the students make artesanias out of recycled newspaper which are really unique and pretty. Last week in class we learned all the names of the tools they use to create them. I’m hoping to teach them vocabulary that they can use in everyday life. I’m really happy to be working at ADISA and getting even more teaching experience. I really hope that one day everyone in Santiago will put their judgments behind and have the opportunity to see how wonderful the people are that I work with. They are so brimming with life and enthusiasm; the real “non-humans” are the ones who can’t see that.
As for Chu’ul, things have been going wonderfully! I’m obsessed with the kids and look forward to seeing them every day and miss them when I don’t see them. Lesson planning has become a lot easier because I really know what works and what doesn’t with the students. I’ve been incorporating a lot of art projects with my lessons because it keeps their attention and they are super excited about them. Though the kids do projects and what not, there are some things they really don’t get to use all the time so I like to do special projects with them. We have made masks to learn parts of the face, mini bilingual books to take home and read to their families, paper dolls to learn clothing and lots of others. I’ll admit, I probably have just as much fun as they do making the examples :)
Recently, the fifth grade had their “acto civico” (my error on the past blog, it’s not a “trabajo civico”). The fifth grade girls, assuming that a gringa holds the magic key to dance moves to American music, asked me every single day to help them with their dance to “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO. Eventually, I was holding dance lessons at recess and with some large speakers (god knows where they came from!) we basically had a full out dance party every day! Seriously, I have the best job ever! When they performed their dance in front of the school, I was so proud and happy to see them grooving with my moves. You go girls!
Last week, a dental hygienist and her husband and son came from Canada to give out toothbrushes and floss and give a demonstration on how to keep teeth healthy. I translated their lessons and loved seeing how excited the kids were to get the brushes. They went back to Canada and left me to teach all of Panul the lesson on Thursday! Basically, I was a dental hygienist for the day- minus the teeth extractions and terrible metal-scraping thing. You all know what I’m talking about.
This week at Chu’ul there has been soccer and basketball competitions between the grades. Can you even imagine the cuteness of kindergarten vs first grade soccer matches?! Absolutely adorable! Everyone cheers on the side with homemade pom poms and I love the competitive spirit in the school. There is some real talent here and I’ve been so impressed with some of the students. Watch out Messi!
Lastly, the kids this week have been campaigning for student government in Chu’ul and Panul. Today at Panul, the students came in and gave a little speech to the class. One of the vice presidents running is a little first grader who recited from memory a speech in Tzutujil about their campaign. For about the 3 millionth time this week, I almost cried because it was so cute. Though I don’t choose sides and am neutral, I secretly hope he wins :)
This weekend is a huge music/hippy fest here in Santiago and I am off to Panama on Monday! I’m super excited to see another country, though I’m really going to miss the kids. I love my life here and I am so thankful for all that I have been blessed with <3
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