4/15/13- Day 2

Last night I hardly slept because I was so excited to meet all the kids. The van was a little late so we arrived at the school around 7:30. We were instantly greeted with warm smiles and hugs. One of the first was Maura. All throughout the day she was smiles and laughter. We got to work right away and all went to our separate classrooms. I was in the first deaf classroom which had 6 kids. The kids were so smart and so sweet they had me introduce myself and they introduced themselves too. There was Tania, Samuel, Jeyson, Lisbeth, Jennifer and Kassandra. At first it was awkward because the room was completely silent and they are signing but you don’t know what they are saying. Although, it was very interesting to see their lessons and what they were learning. At the beginning their teacher was writing on the board and they were all signing to each other about me, they talked about headband and my red cheeks! They then gave me a note asking for my name and age. I wrote down Allison because they don’t understand AJ. 2 minutes later I got the note back and it had all the girls ages and names. I was so excited to be there and to be interacting with the kids I was shaking while I read their note! They started to write down what was on the board and I got some time to just take it all in and process the situation. The classrooms are nicer than what I expected but nothing like America. They are all separated by huge wooden dividers and you can usually hear what is going on in the classroom next door.  About an hour into class I got the translator and he told them how to do my lesson plans. We started with the matching one where there are pictures on some cards and matching words on the other cards and the kids have to find the word that matches with the picture. After watching them in class I was worried that my lesson plans would be way too easy for them and once we finished the matching game I realized it was too easy but the kids still enjoyed the new lesson. Next one was a math game which you drop one block on the floor with a problem on it and then find the answer on the other. Again, this one was too easy for them but they still enjoyed the fun new lesson. By the time I finished with both lesson plans it was time for their lunch. After lunch we all went to different classrooms and Harry and I went to the pre-school room. We met Victor Manuel, Janian Javier, Jose, Francisco, Ever and Josue. After talking with the teacher I learned that Jose had multiple different diagnoses but he could walk if someone helped him. After we helped him walk we learned that he could walk on his own he was just too scared because no one ever took the time to try to let him walk on his own. If they just took 10 minutes out of their day to work on it with him he would be walking by now. Ever was 7 and was diagnosed with autism. He only talked when he needed something but was capable of walking and talking. It was sad to see how these little kids spent their 4 hours at school. The teachers usually don’t do anything with them so some of them end up literally sitting there and staring at walls. When we come we try to engage them in activities but you know when you’re,  gone they will go back to sitting and staring at walls which breaks my heart because these kids deserve nothing less than love and attention. The school is nicer than I expected but still very low class. I wish I had the money to buy them new schools and new teachers because these kids deserve so much more than what they have. Pretty soon 12 rolled around and the kids went home. At least 15 different kids were stuffed into one tiny van and they all went home waving goodbye out the bus windows. Ansley and I were assigned to go with Magalee on home visits. We went to see two boys. First was David Antonio, he was 4 years old and when he was 9 months old was dropped and cracked his skull open. This caused leisure to form in his brain causing him to have seizures. His mom took him off medication because it was bad for his heart and the doctors said the lesion was closing too. They said he only gets seizures when he is agitated and pissed off, he turns purple in the face and is unresponsive for up to two minutes. The next boy was Carlos Jesus who was 2 and a half and suffering from hereditary epilepsy. They had him on two anti-seizure medications and he hasn’t had a seizure since October 18, 2012. Seeing all these kids today made me realize how much we all take for granted. These kids usually don’t have good home lives and aren’t treated well but they are still so thankful for school and everything they have. In America we live in a society where kids hate going to school but we need to be thankful for school because we are fortunate to be able to go to a clean, safe school. The kids are so nice and so happy and they lighten up our days. 7:30 to 12 o’clock is not a long enough time to be with these kids. I wish I could be here every day, all day.