Thursday, May 6, 2010

Escuela!

Mornings in the community begins with a long commute. Our driver Louis takes us to the bus stop.

We board a yellow bus to the Hogar de Cristo offices and pick up a few people = 1 hour

Get on a city bus with the locals to the main road = 25 minutes

Get on another city bus to a little town away from the main road = 30 minutes

Waiting time for people at the offices or the right city bus to come = 15-30 minutes

Walking to the school = 15 minutes

It is a lot! I wish I could read but it makes me sick. Speed up, slow down, breaks, speed again. It's a good thing I don't get car sick easily or I would be in trouble. At least I have time to learn some spanish, but there is so much to look at!

My group of 4 students and 2 leaders plus 2 Hogar de Cristo volunteers made the trip to a small escuela for the last two days for measurements. Yesterday we measured height against the cement pillar, weight on a scale we brought. Hearing was check by snapping and they point to the ear they can hear it. They open their mouths wide so we can check for rotten teeth.

Beth and I took control of the eyesight station either pointing to the Snellen chart or standing by the child. The 4-6 year olds were really hard to get talking! They were really shy, not used to gringos. Luckily the teachers helped. I learned how to say boat, circle, heart, star, and cross from 150 kids, it was great!

Yesterday we made them smile! But today we made them cry. Really hard

Time for hemoglobin checks! It was hot hot hot! We had the youngest group all bawling by the second kid to get a poke.

It's hard to get a little blood when the kids would clench their fists or wouldn't hold out their hand. The teachers were a great help!

I was exhausted by the end, but we got it all done quickly considering how many kids there were! We will be doing these checks at several schools over the next few weeks - but with different BYU students so I will be at the hospital some days.


The poking stations just outside the school

Glad I had some help!!


At least they look happy now :)



The village that we walked through to get to the school. The kids were walking home


The school is gray metal paneled with the bricks just outside the door


Do you really have to poke me?



Teaching me Spanish, teaching them English



I slipped into the mud on the way back. My whole shoe. No bueno.
Who knows what was in that mud.
the stuff around sure didn't look sanitary


1 comment:

  1. Love your blog again today! Great pictures and interesting experiences. Did you take your video camera so you can take a few video's as well? A great experience. You'll know lots of Spanish by the time you get back :) Dad

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