La despedida :(

To celebrate our year of service with the kids we have a "despedida," or going-away party. 

Here are all the beautiful volunteers (minus Jose Luis) that I am going to miss dearly. Although it's hard to say "goodbye," I'm happy we were able to laugh, grow and support each other throughout the year. 

Kim, Liz, Ale, Rachael and Nona, thank you for sharing an amazing year with me. 

Throughout the year, each volunteer accompanied a section. For the going away activity, each section danced for their volunteer. The day was filled with dancing, laughter, hugs, love and tears. 

Here are the queens of the day, front and center! 

The boys from San Jose have made an impact on my life and I will miss their smiles and hugs dearly.

My section of boys ended up singing to me and it was the sweetest thing in the world. 

All of the volunteers with their thank-you gifts. 

This picture is incredible and I still have a hard time looking at it. Thank you San Jose and NPH for making my year so special.  

Zoológico!

For our going away party, Rachael and I took our boys to the zoo. The zoo was about an hour and a half away. The ride was a little cramped, we squeezed 47 people in two vans... Guatemalan style. 

Cheers to a great day, and year, with a wonderful friend. 

The boys really wanted to go swimming, but in the end they were excited we went to the zoo. 

The kids were running from habitat to habitat checking-out all the animals. The biggest hit wasn't the lions, tigers or monkeys, it was a random squirrel running across a fence. 

Lunch break.

Spending a year and sharing time with these boys has been inspiring, here is a group shot of San Jose. 

Last hurrahs!

I spent a beautiful day in Antigua with thee handsome guys, Gabriel, Chris and Jose. 

We enjoyed fresh air in the Central Park, a first for all 3 boys.

     

We even browsed through the local book fair and everyone found a new book. 

We relaxed at a restaurant where we played x-box, watched movies and ate popcorn. LUNCH was on the HOUSE, I know the owners, hehe. 

Easily my favorite picture :)

The kids were exhausted, but we all had a blast! 

*Meet Jose, my new godchild! 

Special Olympics!

My last Special Olympics practice in Guatemala! It feels good knowing that I helped start the Special Olympics program for NPHG. I am happy that the kids can continue with an activity where they can work towards goals, laugh, exercise and gain confidence. 

Alvaro and Carlos warming up.

My athletes: Alvaro, Emerson, Paty, Carlos, Francisca, Carmen and Odilia. 

Article, day in the life.

A Day with the Special Needs Children

An ordinary day in the life of NPH Guatemala's niños especiales.
31 May 2013 - Guatemala 

There are fifteen special needs children, or niños especiales, that live together in a section at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos™ Guatemala. They have a very different life than the other children at the home, with days consisting of a combination of classes, therapies, and time in the section. This article follows the daily life of the special needs children at NPH.

Francisca matches a number on the wall with help of volunteer Katie. [7/8]

The day begins at 5:30 am as the children wake up in their section, which is commonly called Castillo Mágico, or the Magic Castle. Depending on their level of independence, the tíos, or caregivers, may help them wash, dress, and generally get ready for the day ahead. Then they eat breakfast at 6:15 in their section.

Mornings are a happy mixture of appointments with therapists, class in the integrated classroom at the school, and group therapies with the tíos in the section. The group work prepared by the tíos is intended to continue their education and keep the children engaged and active during the day. Physical exercises, drawing in coloring books, various art projects, or reading a story aloud are examples of the kids’ morning activities in Castillo Mágico.

There are two classes of niños especiales in the integrated classroom. One group of four students attends the earlier class from 8:00 until 10:15 in the morning. After a short break, another group has class from 10:45 to 1:00 in the afternoon. Teacher Alba instructs the special needs kids in the standard curriculum for their respective academic levels, but includes much more individual attention for each child. Today, Alba teaches about the weather and the kids build diagrams of various storms to hang from their ceiling.

Therapies are even more specialized for each child and are coordinated by the pscyho-pedagogy department. A number of therapies are available to the kids, such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, and individual therapy. The purpose of the therapies is to develop and expand on the children’s current capabilities to provide them with a higher quality of life.

Following the morning’s activities, all of the kids return to their section for lunch at 1:00 pm, which several tíos and children had previously collected from the main dining hall. After lunch, the special needs children have an occupational workshop with their care givers in which they work with their hands to develop their abilities. They have also recently begun doing an hour of work in the home once a day in the vegetable garden. The work gives the children the opportunity to learn more about where their food comes from and the chance to be a part of growing the food that they will eventually eat.

The afternoon concludes and the children sit down for dinner at 5:30 pm. After the meal, they prepare for bedtime. They change into pajamas, brush their teeth, and are ready to go to sleep by 6:30 pm. At 7:00 pm, the niños especiales are sleeping soundly in their beds.

Caitlin Zanoni   
Communications Officer

The last of my donation money

The last of my donation money was going to go towards a sidewalk. The idea of the sidewalk was to create easy access to my classroom for the kids in wheel-chairs, balance problems and bad eye-site. Due to unexpected issues the sidewalk was not built.

I ended up using the money to buy a lot of classroom materials. Materials such as a wooden shoe to practice tying laces, math and other books for learning, a series of sex-ed dolls to teach sexual education, and a new table for my classroom! So thank you for making all of this possible.

Let the count down begin!

I am going to miss all of my kids so much. I will treasure my memories with them forever, but I'd rather take some home with me. It's amazing to look back a year and see how much they have grown. 

Chris, Carlos y Kevin. 

Another Chris. 

Jose, Josue, Chris, Alfonso, y Miguel. 

Chris, Edward, y Carlos. 

Edward, Chris, and Carlos. 

Rio Lampara, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

El Hotelito Perdido was a small hotel located on Rio Lampara in the middle of the jungle. Rio Lampara is a small river that is connected to Rio Dulce. Hot springs, waterfalls, manatee reserves and more were all a small trip away.

The hotel consisted of many small private bungalows to sleep, but Tanja and I slept in the dorm room which consisted of 4 beds. There was a very cozy common area and kitchen to gather. The food was delicious and vegetarian because they did not have a refrigeration system.

We decided to be a little more adventurous and take a kayak trip to the Lampara Waterfall. From the map you can see where the hotel is in comparison to the waterfall. It was a good 2 hour kayak trip just to get to the waterfall, about a 30 minute walk (when you don't get lost) just to get there. 

We loved the adventure, minus the fact that we both ended up lost and bare-foot in the jungle. The thick mud broke both of our shoes within the first 20 minutes. The waterfall and natural pools were very relaxing, and we had them to ourselves.