June was a good month actually, I took on two different projects. One is the University Childcare Center, where I am helping out teaching english to the kids (4-5 years old) Eventually the goal is to talk to them about health related stuff. It was quite a shock going from the University of Minnesota Childcare Center to this one. I mean I understand it´s Ecuador and it´s very different from the States, but geez laweez the kids at the Center here are AWFUL. There are no classroom rules. Kids do whatever they want, they have no manners and above all, it doesn´t really appear that they are learning anything. These years before going to school are vital to form certain skills. After starting to volunteer here I´ve realized why the school system is not the best, they are not given the proper guidance from a young age on how to act, etc, etc....I´m not blaming the kids, because really it´s not their fault. The adults around them are the people who should be helping to form them and that´s clearly not happening in a positive way..sad...
My other project that ended the last week of June was helping middle school students with after-school homework. The director here at Bienestar has a Guardaria (childcare center) in Ingahurco (close to the other campus) and the top two floors are classrooms for kids to come during the school year to get help with their homework. In the month of June the only kids that had to come were those who were failing their subjects. This place offeres help in English, Math and Science. If the kids are failing a subject they have one chance to take a test to see if they can pass the class. If not, they have to repeat the year. So in the month of June I was helping students to prepare for their english test. It ended up being really fun. The group of students (the majority males) that I had were really energetic to work with and I think the majority of them ended up passing english, so that´s encouraging. I also learned a lot about my own language!!
Let´s see what else has been going on....Orrin (PCV Riobamba) and I are looking into starting an HIV/Aids support group here in Ambato. Orrin has been helping out at the hospital in Rio and come to find there are about 15 people going to Riobamba from Ambato for medical care regarding their diagnosis. There is a group that meets in Riobamba but it´s not very successful, so we thought it would be a good idea to try to start one here in Ambato.
Last week we went to Guayaquil to talk to some volunteers that work with people living with HIV/Aids and attended a support group. It was really awesome to meet the people, they were so excited for us to start a group and wanted to come visit and talk to the people once we had a group established. I´m really excited for this project because im thinking it will be my secondary project. It won´t take too many hours away from the University but it will be a change of scenary. So I´ll keep you all updated on that project.
As July comes and will probably go, super fast, Im realizing that my months here are dwindling down. We received the mid-service e-mail yesterday. We will be having our mid-service the first week in September. After that it´s all down hill...right...??? haha, doubtful. But I am excited for the new year because I´m in an educational institution, the years are calculated by school years, and in September will start the new school year.
This August Chino and I are looking at traveling somewhere. At first it was going to be Argentina, with a friend here who is from there. Now, it looks like she will not be able to go with us, meaning the price will drastically change because we were counting on trasnportation and lodging from her family and friends. So plans have changed to the beach. We are looking at different tours to Dominican Republic or perhaps Panama...Who knows, all I know is that I need a vacation. I used 8 days when my parents were here and Im pretty sure I have about 20 more saved up.
Ok enough for now...sorry that was long..
Again hope all is well at home, and you guys are melting away because of the heat, it´s cold here today, hehe
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