Sunday, July 30, 2006
Moving Day!!
From Heather Burns
I think we did it all the moving we could today. We moved rocks, we moved dirt, we moved wood, we moved supplies, we moved chairs. And in spite of all our moving, the children still were able to move us. I am amazed with the sheer camaraderie of the students, their families, and the school workers. They look at you with hope and appreciation, and I in tun look at them with admiration and, honestly, a bit of jealousy. I am humbled by their love for one another. By American standards, most of the people would be considered living in squaller. That is not the case at all. Yes they have little, but that seems of little notice to them. They are proud people, of who they are and of what they have been able to accomplish. I am not ashamed to say that I was brought up in a well off family with resources and opportunities at my fingertips. I am ashamed to say that I did not use those with such vigor as the people use and appreciate what they have here. I am in love with the togetherness they display. If one wants to experience collaboration, then come to Huambalo.
For purposes of time and efficiency, our group has split into teams that each focus on various projects. I am on a team of early childhood and elementary teachers consisting of Sonia, Beth, and myself. We were able to meet with the teacher, Jasmin, at the school who worked with the younger students. In describing her job, she revealed that she works with students from age 2 to 8, plus an additional 15 year old student who is at the same level as some of her younger students. She has all types of disabilities ranging from CP to LD to Autism to who knows. She told us of her trouble in coordinating group activities with such an age and ability range. She wished for more one on one time to spend with each student. Yet the whole time she described some of the more challenging aspects to her job, a smile never left her face. You could almost feel the love for each student as she described all the many activities and plans she had for each student. She looked at these students as a proud parent would look at their first born graduating. Jasmin and her love for the work she does, moved into my heart.
After meeting with Jasmin, my team met to discuss both how impressed we were with her drive and how best we could assist her. We settled on some ideas around more individual tasks for the students. With such great minds put together, we planned well and were able to decide on what supplies we needed. After stopping in Pelileo, we got our supplies and our plans. We are chomping at the bit to get started, so even though we are tired after and very predictive day in Huambalo, we are ready to begin and plan one (or two if we have time) tonight during our dinner. A time when we should be resting up for more great work tomorrow. I guess excitement just gives us a second wind.
