This will be another shorter post. Now that I'm through the initial whirl wind of arriving and finding my feet, I've been taking the time to talk to my students to get to know more about them and their lives. This is a big part of why I came, so I'm enjoying it rather a lot. I'm looking forward to sharing a few of these stories with you.
Today I took a small group of grade one's outside for a break, leaving a smaller group for the teacher to work with. Because there's no kindergarten at my school, the very little ones simply do grade one twice. This means grade one has quite the range of ages with students being anywhere from 4 - 9. (I'll tell you about the 9 year old in my next post.)
One of the most valuable things the volunteers contribute is physical attention. These kids don't receive the physical affection in their normal lives and it's easy to see that they crave it. The boys want to rough house and interact with our male volunteers, the girls want hugs, and the little ones will hang off the adults, desperate for attention. We're openly encouraged to play, hug, hold, and love our students.
Anyway, one of the little ones I took out today was just drooping with sleepiness. The other children had a ball and were all involved in some game of their own invention. But this one little girl was just quietly leaning against me. I scooped her up into my arms and she immediately tucked herself around me and fell asleep. I held her the entire time we were outside and then carried her back in, waking her just before we got to the classroom.
When I mentioned her to the teacher, I found out her mother had recently passed away. She lives in a home with her father, brothers, and uncles. Though nothing was said, I got the impression this little one is very vulnerable in her home full of men. In the words of the teacher, "It was probably the first time in weeks she's felt safe enough to really sleep."
As I went to excuse myself for a few moments, the teacher quietly handed me a tissue and muttered, "I know."
Sometimes learning about people isn't easy...
Today I took a small group of grade one's outside for a break, leaving a smaller group for the teacher to work with. Because there's no kindergarten at my school, the very little ones simply do grade one twice. This means grade one has quite the range of ages with students being anywhere from 4 - 9. (I'll tell you about the 9 year old in my next post.)
One of the most valuable things the volunteers contribute is physical attention. These kids don't receive the physical affection in their normal lives and it's easy to see that they crave it. The boys want to rough house and interact with our male volunteers, the girls want hugs, and the little ones will hang off the adults, desperate for attention. We're openly encouraged to play, hug, hold, and love our students.
Anyway, one of the little ones I took out today was just drooping with sleepiness. The other children had a ball and were all involved in some game of their own invention. But this one little girl was just quietly leaning against me. I scooped her up into my arms and she immediately tucked herself around me and fell asleep. I held her the entire time we were outside and then carried her back in, waking her just before we got to the classroom.
When I mentioned her to the teacher, I found out her mother had recently passed away. She lives in a home with her father, brothers, and uncles. Though nothing was said, I got the impression this little one is very vulnerable in her home full of men. In the words of the teacher, "It was probably the first time in weeks she's felt safe enough to really sleep."
As I went to excuse myself for a few moments, the teacher quietly handed me a tissue and muttered, "I know."
Sometimes learning about people isn't easy...