She´s a spunky one :)
This little guy is three years old, but isn´t developing as fast as he should be. In this picture we are in the physical therapy room which is where I spend a lot of my time working with the kids.
I had a meeting the second day there with the director to discuss what my role would be at the home. It was decided that one of my focuses would be to work with five 2 and 3 year olds, one on one, who have not yet started talking for about a half hour each day. They are able to vocalize, but not with words or even sounds that begin with consonants. I focus my time with them on speech related activities and exercises. It has been nice to have a focus like this, and I am learning a lot about speech development.
In the afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays I sit in/help with an English class for the staff members at Hogar Belen. There is another volunteer at the home from Trinidad who teaches the class. I really like it because all day I struggle to communicate
with people, and have to put so much effort into every conversation, but for two hours out of the day I can be on the opposite side helping other people with English :)This is Gretel, the physical therapist. She is really knowladgable and puts so much energy into what she does. I really like working with her.
Ruth like to help with the younger kids :)
I spend some time working one on one with a couple of the older kids, in kind of a tutoring type setting. They are at school in the mornings, and get back to the home around noon. I really enjoy when I work with them in the afternoons because I can draw on experience with special education in college, and it reminds me that I really do want to be a teacher :) The rest of the time I really just float around, help out where I can, and try to give the kids as much attention and love as I can :) With 23 brothers and sisters they need all of the attention they can get! This home is a really special place, though. It breaks my heart to hear the stories of where they all come from. They are some pretty special kids, and they keep me going each day. I´m looking forward to being a part of the staff there for the year.
Until next time! :)
