Working with the Kids

I spend my day with children. Here´s a quick sampling:

At Proyecto Rocas:

I help out with homework, read stories, and play games with about a dozen children. Most of their parents work long hours in the market or in poorly paying jobs, so Rocas is a place where they can come to do their homework and participate in cultural activities when they aren´t in school.

• I help Cristina de los Angeles, age 9, with her math homework. She´s doing multiplication and long division. When she gets stuck I remind her the siete por ocho son cincuenta y seis. (7 x 8 = 56.)

• I read the book ¨Los Tres Cerditos¨(¨The Three Little Pigs¨) to Magna, age 6. He loves this story and we have read it MANY times already. I must confess I am also learning some Spanish vocabulary words here. I am getting good at my animal voices in Spanish, sounding like a big bad wolf and a flustered piggy.

• After class, I ride my bike back into town alongside some of my students. Cristina´s sister Otilia, age 7, sits on my crossbar while I wobble my way down a steep dirt road. With my free hand I hold hands with Cristina or her brother Francisco, age 11, as they run along side the bike. I leave them at the main road where they turn for home, slapping them five as I go.

At Las Tias:

I teach an English class every afternoon for an hour. There are six students in my class between the ages of 8 and 11. Most of these children live have family situations that are for various reasons difficult, and so this is a good opportunity to provide them with some stability in their daily life. We do a short lesson with new vocabulary words and sentences, then sing songs or play games that I´ve designed to keep them interested. Kids are kids anywhere, and they really respond to this stuff.

• When I arrive at school with my bicycle, Walter, age 9, jumps into my arms. Lester, age 11, runs in for a hug while Cristobal, age 8, plays with my hair.

• I design our English sentences to be as instructive as possible, and I admit I am trying to cultivate in their young minds a particular worldview. Examples:

1. My school is very good.
2. The boys share the books to the girls.
3. They write a story together.
4. I like to play with my friends.
5. I do not like to eat cheese.
   

• We´ve learned the songs ¨Head Shoulders Knees and Toes¨and ¨Happy Birthday,¨ both of which they love. We sing them everyday. Children from other tables that aren´t in my class also have started doing the motions while they mumble along.

• After the lesson we play the game ¨Red Light, Green Light¨ using the motions walk, run, jump, slide, and twirl. This is a favorite, and again, half the students from the school seem to be joining my class in the courtyard. (Thanks for the tip, Jen!)
  

• If you have other ideas for games or songs that kids might like, please let me know (perhaps by leaving a comment!) I also need to come up with new diversions for them.
  

I´m with the kids so much that I sometimes forget where they come from and why they are here. It´s only occasionally that I remember, with the sight of worn clothing or a legion on the skin, that they are impoverished, at risk ¨streetchildren.¨Sometimes I catch some of them looking sad, and I remember the troubles that lurk beneath the smiling, smooth surface of their face. Most often, though, I just see them as the kids they are: silly and adorable and trying and hilarious.

It´s also been good for me to just volunteer directly with the kids this time around: I am here because I want to get to know them, and to help them if I can. In other situations while working or studying abroad, I´ve concerned myself with how these social organizations run, whether they´re operating appropriately, and how to deal with the egos and issues that inevitably result from that process. For now though, in this context, I am happy to ignore all that other stuff and simply spend my time with the kids themselves.