Sunday - Thursday

Hey everyone,

I miss you all, but I love Guatemala so far! It is a beautiful country. We live right in a valley, so right outside my house is a view of gorgeous mountains. My house (casa 7) is at the bottom of a hill at the orphanage, so we have a cool view. The hill goes down further, there's a fence, and on the other side of the fence are some Guatemalan homes (in the community). They're really fascinating - different colors, which I think are glorious (Pam). But, I have never seen this much poverty. Guatemala is more poor than Ecuador or Mexico.

And, I have seen some of the traditional Mayan clothing, which is also amazing. THe colors are beautiful!

The Guatemalan people are very friendly and are always so welcoming; they're always smiling and kind. They also hug a lot, so I think I'll fit in pretty well here :).

Before I forget, the organization is called Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Friends of the Orphans): www.nph.org.

Also, here are some videos you can watch about the organization if you want: www.youtube.com/group/nph


So, here is what has happened since I left the U.S.:

Sunday: Got up at 3:30 AM and flew from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale to Guatemala City. The whole thing went very smoothly, no lost luggage, made the weight limits. I met up with another volunteer, Jess, in Ft. Lauderdale and we had the same flight to Guatemala City, which was really nice. We got to talk for awhile and fly together. She is from Long Island and seems really cool. It's funny, because we coincidentally had the same plane flight and then were assigned to be roomates here!

They picked us up right at the airport and we went to NPH (the orphanage). Then we took a nap and went out to dinner with all the volunteers, old and new. There are 23 total, and 11 of us are new.

Monday: The 11 of us who are new started orientation. Everyone is really cool! We're still getting to know each other, but I like everyone so far. There are 8 of us from the U.S. and 2 from Germany. Only 2 are guys, the rest girls. I'm living with 6 other volunteers, and our house is really nice. It's kind of like a bungalow, I guess; I'll post some pictures eventually.

I don't even remember what we did on Monday because we have been in orientation all week and it's overwhelming; we've been talked at for hours straight in Spanish, toured the entire orphanage, and met everyone who works here - all in a week. But it is very positive! I'm incredibly impressed at how the orphanage is run. There are 333 children who currently live here, and 100 more come for just the day to attend the school (there is a school at the orphanage). In addition to a school, there is a medical clinic (with a dentist and a farmacy) which is attached the the building for kids with special needs (where I will be working a lot!:), offices, library, farm with pigs, bakery, kitchen, dining room, metal smith shop, carpentry, beauty salon, the kid's homes, and the volunteers homes. It is pretty big, but I don't remember how much acreage.

NPH is self-sufficient - they build/make/cook nearly everything that they need, which is amazing. The kids have an hour of work after school every day; they usually choose where they want to work and can learn a trade.

They also have a lot of cool programs - an orchestra, sports teams, leadership clubs, etc.; I'm so impressed!

(Well, I guess I'm off track from telling what has happened every day, so forget that.)

But yesterday I met my boss, and today we got to talk for awhile. She seems amazing! Her name is Veronica and she is actually a speech pathologist as well, outside of the NPH home. (She doesn't have time to do the position here because she's the director of the psychology department.)

She said that I will start my job slowly next week, which is good. I'm going to observe the art therapist (we met with her yesterday, she's great!), meet with the preschool teacher, special ed coordinator, etc. and decide which kids will need speech/language intervention, and possibly start evaluating some of the kids. (They haven't had a speech pathologist for 6 months, so I'm glad I came! They're all excited that I'm here.)

There is also a boy who is deaf and mute, so they may send me to Antigua (a nearby town) to take Spanish sign language classes! I really hope that this happens. I met him coincidentally tonight at dinner, and I was able to introduce myself to him in American Sign Language; but this is different from Spanish sign language. He seems really cute.

I also met some of the kids with Special needs and preschoolers that I'll be working with - they're adorable! I can't wait. We've also gotten to meet other kids just in the dining hall, and they're all adorable.

Another thing I'm really impressed about is how many services they have for children with Special Needs here. The program is only about 1.5 years old, and they already have 1 school class for kids with Special Needs, 1 class for kids with learning disabilities, an occupational therapist, an art therapist, speech pathologist, and right now they need a physical therapist. They also have 2 social workers and good services for kids with psychological/conduct problems (which many of them have because most are orphans or come from homes where they were neglected/abused/etc.)

One more thing I'm excited about - my office!! It's really nice, which I wasn't expecting. I have a desk, chair, full length mirror (the kids can use it to look at their mouth/oral cavity when trying to produce sounds), a bed, a SWING, and a bookshelf full of books. Plus I have several donations of speech pathology materials that I brought from home.

One more responsibility that the volunteers have outside of our jobs is to mentor a section of children (section = group of children who live together). We're supposed to choose tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get either the preschoolers or the children with Special Needs. We meet with our section 2-3 nights per week, and get to know them pretty well. Then, we live with them for 3 weeks in December when their caregivers go on Christmas vacation.

Everyone here is so welcoming! I'm excited.

Tomorrow, we go on an excursion to Antigua. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in Guatemala. I can't wait! Then, Saturday we meet the kids in our section and spend the entire day with them. Sunday, we have free and Monday we start work!

Miss and love you all. I will post pictures, my phone number and address later.