Day
1:
Today we arrived at
the Best Buddies administration building. Our group walked upstairs to a
conference room and reviewed what we would be doing for the week with a man who
worked in the building. I was surprised when he said we wouldn't be working
with the disabled. (I mean, that was the reason I signed up for the program)
The description said we would be helping out disabled kids. I was even more
surprised when he assigned various groups the jobs of cleaning up cabinets,
filing papers (my job), and going through people's personal documents to make
sure they had everything in order. I didn't feel like I was helping the
community, I felt like a janitor!
We asked if we could go visit the kids,
because that's what we expected to do in the first place. The administration
said we could, but we would have to make a plan of activities to complete with
the children. When we got back to the school we assigned groups of who would do
what activities and on what days. There were physical activities, (my
group) which included games like Simon Says, Mother May I, Spud, and Freeze
tag. There was also crafts, (making paper airplanes, coloring the body parts,
drawing, etc.) singing songs in English, (like the alphabet, Oh Mr. Sun, etc.)
and teaching the kids how to say different foods in English.
It's now the end of
the day, and I'm excited to go help out tomorrow!
Day 2:
Today was
very disappointing. Everyone was let down when we were told that we couldn’t
go see the kids today because the "email verifying that we were coming
wasn't sent in time." Because we would have nothing to do all day, 5 kids
(including me) went back to the Best Buddies Administration building to file
more papers. (The other students stayed at school and planned what we would do
with the disabled kids in more detail.)
The second I heaved a binder full of
disorganized papers onto the floor and attempted to organize them, I was tired
and extremely bored. After I finished one binder I sat on the floor and
wondered if the other group was doing something more interesting. I decided investigate.
I walked downstairs to find the other group staring at folders full of people's
personal, private information from Best Buddies. (They were making sure they
had all the documents they needed.) They were almost finished when I sat down
to help. I tried to finish a folder but all the documents were in Spanish.
Being a non-native Spanish speaker made it difficult to figure out what was
what. In the end the others had to help me (a lot) to verify everything. With
the folders finished we rewarded ourselves with a little free time. A few
minutes later a man came up to us and asked for our help with cutting out,
gluing, and laminating some pictures. It was the funnest work I did in my whole
2 days of being there. When we finished with that it was time to go.
Back at
the school all the students made sure that we would be helping with the kids
the next day, because we couldn't stand another day of office work. Our
teachers assured us that they would try their best to set it up for us, and
that they didn't think it was fair for us to be doing office work when we were
told that Best Buddies was something completely different.
Right now I'm just
hoping that by the end of tomorrow I'll feel like I helped the community more
than I have for the past 2 days.
Day 3:
We finally worked with the disabled students today! I was so happy when I arrived at school and Ms. Shawn told us that we would be going to the school and helping with the kids. The bus ride was an hour long. (We got lost a few times.) When we finally found the building a woman was out there to greet us. She spent a while talking to us about the people who attend the school, what disabilities they have, and who we'd be working with. Then we took a tour of the school. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous and uncomfortable at first. (And I know I wasn't the only one.) I have never had experience working with disabled or mentally challenged people before. As we walked around the building I saw people who's issues varied from speaking a learning difficulties to being physically unable to take care of themselves. But no matter what disability they had they were all very welcoming and excited to see us.
Our guide then showed us the students we would be working with. Compared to others in the school, this group of students had the least amount of trouble. We sat around in a circle and introduced ourselves. Some sang for us. (One performed an art that he called "fusion.") After that we broke up into groups and talked to the kids while teaching them some English words. (It seemed that our very organized plan wouldn't really work out.) I was pushed into a group with peers from CNG that I wasn't very familiar with, along with the kids from Best Buddies. (I'll remind you, I don't speak Spanish very well.) Because I didn't feel very comfortable with the language and being in a group of people I didn't know, I didn't really talk to anyone. I sat, watched, and listened to other people's conversations. (One boy did ask me where I was from and if I liked Colombia, but that was it.)
I feel bad for not having talked to anyone, but it was good for me to sit and listen so I could become more comfortable and understand the kids better. Tomorrow I am determined to get over my fear of speaking Spanish and talk to the kids and help teach them English.
Day 4:
Today was the best day of service so far! It was so much fun!
I walked into Best Buddies comfortable with my surroundings (having been there yesterday) and determined to spend time with the students. I joined a group I had friends in, so they could help me with Spanish when I didn't understand or didn't know how to say something. I spent half of my time rotating with groups of kids and teaching them how to say different foods in English. Some could pronounce the words perfectly, and could remember them too! Others who had more trouble I had to repeat the words multiple times until they got it, but when they did it stuck in their heads! I was impressed.
After the English lesson we went outside to eat a snack. Everyone in the school was out there running around, playing with each other, and having a good time. (I even saw a boy and a girl holding hands - it was adorable!)
After snack we went inside to play tingo-tango. (A game where you pass the ball around the circle while someone says tingo tingo tingo tingo, and when they say tango the person holding the ball has to do whatever the group tells them to.) When people got bored with that those who wanted to got up and sang. Then it was time to go.
Today was such a great experience!
Day 5:
Today was my last day of social service. We arrived at Best Buddies with colored paper, markers, and clay. I spend most of the day drawing the rotating groups of kids while others made clay sculptures and paper airplanes. During my first group, one of the students actually drew me! After he he showed me the picture I asked him to write my name on it, which he did. I also helped another student write the names of pictures he drew in English. (When he got bored of that I taught him to write numbers 1-5 in English.)
My next group of kids didn't really feel like drawing so they wrote a letter to CNG, thanking us.
In my last group one kid kept telling me what he wanted to draw, but wouldn't draw it. When I handed him all the colors he said he needed he finally started drawing. It turned out very nice. He gave it away to my group member Daniel.
After we finished our arts and crafts activities, we cleaned up and ate snack. Our last activity before we left was reading a story called It's OK to be Different. It was a really sweet book. At one part, when it talked about achieving your dreams, one student (who was a particularly good drawer) said he wanted to be an artist. Another student, named Sona, said her dream was to run. (She has knee issues and needs to walk with a cane.) It was inspiring. I was truly sad when we left today. Those kids have grown on me. As I was shaking their hands and kissing their cheeks goodbye, I could only think of how successful they'll be in whatever dream they pursue. They are all smart, sweet, appreciative, and impressive kids.
