We start the day with morning devotional with the children in the school plaza. This week`s theme is on making good decisions in life. This is reflected in their motivation to listen in class and try their best to learn. For three days, we`ve been observing classes and noting the enormous range of academic skills of the children within each grade at this point just 2 months into their school year. In second grade for instance, one older child who was new was trying hard to catch up on learning the alphabet while other second graders could read fluently. In first grade, some children can write their numbers with ease while others reverse their numbers, and their hands cramp with their inexperience in holding a pencil. The teachers are incredibly affectionate with the children while maintaining discipline. The children are attentive and engaged even though they all sit together at a few tables. The Spanish teacher, in particular, is very happy with the extra help we give her by listening to individual children read and answer comprehension questions and the notes we take on their skills. As we`ve come to know the children better, it`s become fun for us to work with them in Spanish, English, or math.
We noticed that today Ivis and Marivel, the two new children, looked cheerful and relaxed during the devotional. They each have buddies who help them get to their classes and introduce them to their classmates.
While not in the classroom, some of us continued with work projects. Since the painting was completed yesterday, we continued with preparing the floor of the expanded dining hall. Today, this involved tamping down the dirt subfloor with mammoth, HEAVY steel posts with flat plates on the bottom. The contractor has been impressed and happy with our female muscles. His smile tells us he´s delighted to have the floor ready for the cement to be poured.
In our first excursion away from the school, we visited Instituto Technico Santa Maria, the middle school vocational program for boys. Here they study academics as well as electrical circuits, furniture making, and welding. Ninety boys, a mix of boys from El Hogar and the surrounding towns, live on a seven-year old campus that used to be a doctor`s weekend place until Hurrican Mitch struck. The shops have state-of-the-art equipment such as a precision lathe and are extremely well swept. Lazaro, the Director, introduced the boys to us in the chapel and they responded with thanks for support and love in beautiful English. They even remembered and could recite our names. The boys are well-adapted even though their bedrooms are spartan by American standards--four bunk beds and eight lockers on tile floors period. They are just beginning to discover Facebook and have a brand new computer lab with 20 Dells all ready for use. It`s amazing that a long bumpy dirt road leads to this treasure trove of resources out in the countryside. The institute is exploring internships and partnerships with local businesses so the boys can move into paying jobs when they become old enough.
Our day ends with playtime with the children before they go off to bed. Today we read The Cat in the Hat and the Three Little Pigs in bilingual books, with them, along with playing the ever popular Uno and gin rummy. The children also strung beads and kicked a soccer ball around. The highlight of their evening was receiving letters from their sponsors. Arturo read their letters to them in Spanish and they wrote back. We think the letters will be ready for us to bring back to the states.
We continue to be amazed with all the children´s joyful, loving approach to us and to life.
Karen Fox and Claire Bahamon
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