Blog 3 on Trip

I believe that one of the best feelings in the world is to teach someone something. It doesn’t matter what you teach them or who it is, but to know that they have learned something and they appreciate it is amazing. I have learned this so far on our trip, and I think that most of my fellow students would agree.

            On Wednesday, I taught in the classroom for students with multiple disabilities. My brother, David, had been in the classroom the day before and told me that I might have trouble with the class and that the students could frustrate me. I found out that that was true and false at the same time. The students would answer and they would understand, but it was hard to get their attention sometimes. I was the only one teaching the class, but I had the help of one of our translators, Mario. At first, I had almost no idea what to do, but once I asked them a few questions and learned their skill level, I figured out what to do. I was really happy to see them look at me, listen to me, and write it down in their note books, because as a small younger brother, I haven’t had very many people learn from me and respect me that way. My lessons were mostly about shapes, colors, and math, although I think they liked math the best. I helped them with simple addition and very basic subtraction by drawing dots and then erasing or adding a few. I’m proud to say that I think most of the students improved their math skills at least a little bit.

            Today, Thursday, I taught in the class for younger kids with autism. The thing about learning with autism is that while people who don’t have a disability can learn really well in

 at least one way (visual, verbal, kinesthetic) and okay in the other ways, people with autism learn okay in one way and not so well in the other ways. So today, when I was working with certain students, I had to find the one way that they learned well. For example, if I was teaching a shape, I would show the shape and say its name over and over again or I would draw the shape and write the name under it. For kinesthetic learners, I would give them the shape to hold and feel and say the name. At first, it made me very frustrated, but once I started smiling and having fun with it, it was much better. The teacher, Nora, was very nice and helped me a lot. It was a very good day and I’m sad that it is our last full day of teaching.

            I’ve met some amazing people on this trip and I’m very grateful. I can’t believe this week has gone by so fast; I wish it could be longer so I could spend more time in this incredible place. 

Second Blog

     After only the third day here, I feel like I've learned and changed a lot. Yesterday, I got a small taste of teaching when helping in the preschool class. I was pretty nervous at the start, but once I started to get involved and I interacted with the students it was much better. There was one child in the class that I really connected with named Erik. He was the skinniest kid I've ever seen but also one of the smartest 4 year olds I have met. He was quiet, but very happy and his attitude made me feel very good. By the end of the day, I was exhausted but fulfilled.
    Today was a very special day for me. For about the whole morning, Fiona, a fellow student named Jenna, and I went of home visits with a physical therapist and a translator. We visited infants and toddlers who lived in the most rural places to some who lived right in the middle of the city. While we were on the visits, we would ask questions such as the diet of the child and if the child took any medications. Some of the answers we got made me sad. A lot of the fathers had abandoned the family either because he did not want a family or he was scared by the disability. Many of the families could only travel so often to places such as Managua to get medical care for the child. The third visit had the biggest impact on me. We went to visit a 2 year old named Juan Fransisco. He had a rare unknown disability in his circulatory system that made it very hard to get air to the rest of his body from his lungs, and he also had a cleft pallet. His family lived in a more rural place, and they had been without water for 20 srtaight days. When we first met him, the first thing I noticed was how purple he was. With his disability, he could only get so much oxygen. Even so, he was still smiling and playing around. I was amazed at how well he was doing, because his mother had told us that a relative was born with the same condition and hadn't even lasted 6 months. It was really sad to see Juan Fransisco in that situation but the determination of him and his family was very inspiring.
    I'm so excited for rest of the week. I'm really starting to like the students at Escuela Especial, and I can't wait to go back there.

First Day

      My first day in Nicaragua has been very interesting. This country is like a completely different world from Colorado. It is a little hard to believe where I actually am. Driving through San Jorge, I saw random animals in yards, 6 people on a moped at once, and everything in between along with the incredible environment. I was amazed by the diverse birds and the massive trees. I also like the culture and the atmosphere in the town. There is a lot of music and parties, and there was even a parade as well. On the sad side, I also saw trash piles everywhere and tiny, crumbling houses that reminded me how privileged we are to live we do. While cleaning the school, we got to see the classrooms where we will being teaching and it made me really excited. I don't have much teaching experience, but I am eager to get started. I learned that I will be helping in the preschool class tomorrow and I'm interested to see what that will be like. I can't wait to meet the teachers and students, but I'm nervous to be teaching in Spanish when the teachers don't know English as well. I'm glad to have the translators with us at the school. After meeting some of the locals I can see why I've heard good things about this country, and overall, I'm excited to be helping them in any way I can.

Trip Thoughts

It is about a month until we leave for Nicaragua, and I am very excited. I finished my fundraising at the end of February after doing yard work, shoveling, baby sitting, and pretty much any work that people around the valley needed to be done. It was hard work, but I am glad it paid off. With the trip coming up so soon, I also have some worries about the trip. I am really nervous about communicating with the kids we will be helping, as my Spanish isn’t great, and I know it will be a big factor when I am trying to teach and help using Spanish. Another fear of mine is if I am not able to help a kid because I am not familiar with the disability. I don’t want to just sit there in confusion and not help if someone needs help.

I have a few personal goals that I would like to accomplish while I am in Nicaragua. I would like to be more independent and creative to be more helpful instead of what I have been doing my whole life which is follow my brothers around. I would also like to be as involved as I can when I’m there and not back down and step back. I noticed that when I was doing my volunteering it was good to be involved and active and not just watch the whole time. The closer the trip gets, the more excited I am to not only help others, but also overcome obstacles for myself and help myself grow.