October 25, 2010
I have been back at La Casa de Mi Padre for a week now and am back in the middle of the busyness and adventures here. Last week little Karla (age 5) told me that she had forgotten when I looked like and that she thought I had been a lot taller (like 6 ft tall). I assured her that no, I was the same height as before. One of the teen girls thought I had grown taller while away, perhaps from playing basketball. So based on all of their comments, I am not sure if I grew taller or shrunk. But oh well.
Much of the week I spent reading with various of the children, helping with homework, or leading activities for the girls therapy groups. Because the girls home was just re-organized with the two youngest groups joining forces to be one large group of seven, we had decided to begin with some fun, light-hearted activities. With the youngest girls we played a game similar to "Duck, Duck, Goose" except that you have to run in the opposite direction of the person who tapped your head and then shake hands and say, "How do you do?" Because the housedad was also playing and shook their hands with great fervor, several of the girls could hardly say anything because of laughing so hard. With the middle age group of girls we played a game called "Password" that is a lot like the game "Telephone" except with drawings instead of whispering in someone's ear. It is great for then talking about communication. And with the oldest group we played "Imagine IFF" which is a game of getting to know each other. This coming week I will be doing more team-building type activities with them.
On Friday I went to the children's school for their "Feria de Paises" or "Fair of the Countries." Each grade had a country which they represented through decoration of their classroom, preparing traditional foods, wearing typical attire, and presenting a dance from their country. I felt a bit like I was walking in Europe since the majority of the countries represented were from there. the children were proud of their work and really they had done a good job.
Saturday was Family Visit day and I wandered among the families back in the pavilion. Several of the younger girls have a hard time talking with their grandmother when she comes to visit and rely on their older sister to always carry the conversation. When the older sister left, they were there with their grandmother without much to say. After showing the grandmother photos of her grandchildren, I gave the girls books to read to their grandmother to show her what they are learning. It was a humorous scene because they took turns reading her a page of their book, alternating all the way which meant that the grandmother was hearing both, "The Cat in the Hat" and "Curious George Cleans Up." I have discovered over the past few months that is a challenge to help the children and their families communicate and I am always looking for new ideas to help break some of the walls that they have up.
After the visit I stayed in the girls' home for a couple of extra hours to teach some of the older ones "Settler's of Catan." They had been wanting to play and it had never worked out. It was a good afternoon of play and I am sure we will do it again in the near future.
As we enter this new week, there are definitely challenges ahead. Several of the children are struggling in their behavior. Meanwhile various family members of the children are suffering the consequences of poor decisions which ultimately affects the children and their hopes and dreams. Please pray with us for the children and their families.
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