Hellllooooo !
I need to start my blog in my normal fashion....apologizing for not posting a blog sooner.
I'm so sorry, and I will be doing my best to keep everyone updated as things really start to pick up here.
What will be picking up you ask? Well... the project that I was originally supposed to be working on this year.
Last year, Alexa and I started our days at 5:30 and got home around 4 after teaching English in two of the Hogar Escuelas run by the diocese.
This year, I arrived expecting to get right to work in the Teen Center/Women's Vocational Training Center. I was excited to start organizing activities for teenagers during the day and creating a relaxing environment where teens want to hang out after school. I was excited to start looking for people with different talents who would be willing to volunteer time on the weekends to teach their skills to women looking for work and to learn.
Reality: Permits got delayed, construction couldn't start, and I was left wondering why I was here.
I was given jobs when I first got here and would be included in all of the meetings for not only that project but others as well. It was still difficult because I felt like I wasn't being given work that helped me to reach my full potential.
Thankfully the priest of the church I'm attending helped my to get into contact with the psychologist at the school in Barrio Cuba, Sra. Liliana. She works at the school 2 days a week and in those two days, does various therapies to help the kids work through different traumas. A large amount of the children are victims of domestic violence and/or sexual assault in their homes, and meeting with the psychologist is the first step in getting them the help that they need. She also meets with parents and addresses behavioral issues with the children. With over 120 students in Barrio Cuba alone, she works tirelessly trying to get the kids the help they need while buying supplies with her own funds.
So we set up a meeting and talked about my experience in psychology (my degree and that's it haha) and with children. The next week, I started doing play therapy with small groups of students.
We had various games that we would play that would allow the children to share certain feelings or experiences that wouldn't normally come up. And then I would let her know about anything that she might need to know.
I worked doing that for a few weeks, and then she told me her idea for a project that she's been wanting to start about Self Esteem.
The project: Using visuals to tell a story about a turtle named Lentajuela who thinks her only qualities are to be little and slow, in comparison to all her jungle friends who have many other gifts. In the story, there's an earthquake, and an ant takes cover in Lentajuela's shell, and the ant shows the turtle that she has so much to be proud of. We talk about the story afterwards and every kid gets a folder with worksheets in them about discovering the good qualities that they all possess. We meet for an hour with each group and work in the folders as well as doing group sharing.
When she told me about the project, I was so excited. The next week, I had all of the visuals, folders, and worksheets made, all ready for my small group of students (8).
I have been working with the psychologist (and still with my other little jobs) for the past 2 months and what I think I have loved the most is having this more personal and directly with the children and developing my skills as a psychologist and working under someone as accomplished as Sra. Liliana.
Shortly, I'll be starting a project to get computers for a school in the Caribbean side of the country. Right now, they're renting their technology, and it would be far more cost effective to have their own. So after I'm done writing, I'll be doing research for a grant. (If anyone reading this would like to help, let me know! )
Anyways, so far, so good. God is good and always provides.
