January and February 2013 Report, Jardín de la Esperanza – Mérida, Venezuela
In January, after the holidays, we picked up our work at El Jardín. We met the parents to get them involved in our project. Unfortunately, only some of them came to the meeting, so we decided to take a necessary, though strict, step: we won’t take in any child unless his or her parents are willing to show up at our meetings.
So, you know, we had to organize the same meeting three times to have a chat with the parents who hadn’t showed up previously, inform them about the benefits of our project and ask them to help each other, for the sake of their children.
The check-ups started again with the pediatrician, the dentist, the neurologist, etc
.Yurimay Quintero, the dietitian, visited us for a scheduled check-up. She’s currently drawing up new menus, because most of the girls, far from being underweight, risk growing quite chubby instead!.
Meantime, the process of “legalization” of the Jardín goes on. In this picture, we met the lawyer and the accountant, who gave us information about labor rights and all the other laws with which we have to comply so as to abide by the guidelines established by the Ministry of Labor, the healthcare office, etc.
Don Bosco’s festival took place at the namesake Fundación on January 31st, and, as it usually happens, we were invited as well. It was an utter disaster… At first, the girls were as calm as a summer sea, but then they ended up bickering, calling each other names and so on… This accident was only the last of a series of squabbles that had been occurring at the Jardín. Of course, after this episode, we sent for their parents and punished the girls by forbidding them to go to the swimming pool for a week.
Time came to say hello to Mimmo and Federica, whose volunteering period had come to an end.
A gift exchange between the volunteers and the girls ensued amid tears and signs of affection.
Milli, the volunteer from Puerto Rico, also ended her short volunteering spell in Venezuela.
In accordance with the Andine tradition, the “Paradura del Niño Jesus” (the parade of baby Jesus) was held this year too. We sang and prayed baby Jesus who starts walking.
In the first two months of 2013, we had been holding afternoon cloth doll classes at the Jardín.
Alejandra, the Peruvian volunteer from AIESEC, who is currently studying Political Science at the University of Lima, had been working with us for one and a half months. She gave us some useful suggestions and digitized the child register and the so-called “fichaje” (the positive score we assign to the deserving children every day): we will be able to update the stats about the participation and behavior of our children on a daily basis. In this picture, we see her presenting her home country, Peru.
New year, same problem… Our fight against lice goes on…
The cooperation with the foster home where we have accommodated two of our girls goes on as well. This time, we were invited to take part in a meeting on resilience, along with a group of parents.
Isabel, who runs the foster home, posed with the mother of the two girls.
Periodically, our psychologist carries out a personalized visit along with the psychopedagogist.
Some of the children accommodated in the foster home pose along with the volunteers who helped us with the odontological meeting. …
Here’s another good activity put forward by Alejandra, the Peruvian volunteer: talking about gender differences by analyzing reggaeton songs (the easiest and most tasteless kind of music in Latin America) and reflecting on the male chauvinist clichés presented in their lyrics.
In the end, Alejandra left as well. She was very happy about her experience at the Jardín.
