On Friday, I was really happy because an SLP from Cincinnati came to visit NPH for the day! I had no idea until it was actually happening (of course, because of NPH disorganization). But I’m super happy that it did! She worked with me with a few kids and was extremely helpful.
But, I’m writing this entry because of what happened in the afternoon. We went to work with Toni and José Luis, the brothers (see previous entry for more info about them). Unfortunately, I hadn’t worked with either one in three weeks because I went on vacation and then was sick.
Before, Toni and I had been working on the /m/ sound. He could say it in isolation. I wanted him to say /ma/. He could say /m/ and /a/, but couldn’t put the two sounds together. So, I had him divide the syllable and first say /m/ followed by /a/. We practiced countless times and he couldn’t put the two sounds together to say /ma/.
On Friday, he suddenly started saying /ma/. “Ma! Ma! Ma!” CORRECTLY, repeatedly!!!!!! I was ecstatic. Then, he was able to say Toni correctly! Before he could only say To. And he was able to pronounce syllables that begin with /f/ as well. It was a HUGE breakthrough! I was bewildered because we hadn’t worked in three weeks. Sometimes the lightbulb just goes on. Honestly, this is my proudest moment so far this year. When I first came in July, Toni and José were almost non-verbal. Now they know some sounds and signs!!!!!
The cutest part was when Toni tried to teach José how to pronounce sounds correctly. He got right in his face and emphasized the sounds. So adorable.
I’M SOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Club Amistad Especial
This is an article about the club my friend Cassie and I started. Check it out: http://www.nph-guatemala.org/ws/page.php?path=news/archive/2011/guatemala/ClubAmistad.php&lang=en
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Elias
The boy on the right is Elias (this picture is taken during Club Amistad Especial, our Best Buddies Club). He is one of my favorite kids. Elias is 19 years old and super social. He talks to EVERYONE and always has a huge smile on his face. Whenever I see him, he yells, “Brigida!” and greets me with a smile. He always wants to stop and talk with me, which I enjoy. Some of the things he says are hilarious. I wish I could remember an example right now. Elias is very energetic and loves to sing, dance, and have fun.
Elias has a cognitive delay and apraxia of speech. I work with him three times a week and he usually loves coming. At the end we sometimes dance and sing together for the last few minutes.
He also loves to help the other kids. It’s really cute. Elias always says that he wants to be a tío (caregiver) in the Casa de Bebes. And during school or other activities, he’s often leading Alvaro (one of the kids with autism).
One of my favorite memories of Elias was when we had a goodbye party for Orlando, the former house director of NPH Guatemala. During speech intervention, Elias told me that he wanted to sing a song for Orlando. “Aquí hay amo-o-o-o-o-or …” (“Here is love …”) was what he wanted to sing. So, we practicad the song. Then, that night they had a “discoteca” (dance party) in the dining hall. Elias and I found Orlando and sang him the song. It was really sweet.
Then, Elias and I danced crazily for a really long time. He got really into it and we started dancing REALLY fast. It was so much fun! I’m going to miss him a lot when I go home. When I went to Florida for a week, I was missing Elias. He’s an incredibly special kid.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Toni y Jose Luis
So, here is another blog about some great kids. These two are brothers, 3 and 4 years old. And absolutely adorable. I have them every day in speech and they have both come such a long way. It's suspected that they have a phonological disorder.
Anyway, they are wonderful. Both are incredibly affectionate. They often jump up to give hugs and kisses. Jose also loves to pretend to be a chucho (which is the Guatemalan word for perro: dog), and it's hilarious. We'll be working and the next thing I know, he's crawling on the floor and barking. Jose is almost always happy and has a great temperament.
Toni is more moody, and also incredibly smart. He also enjoys pretending to a chucho, and helping teach his brother how to speak. Tuesday, Regine (occupational therapist) and I took Toni and Jose to another speech pathologist in Antigua. (When I leave, there isn't another SLP coming to NPH, so luckily they can continue with this woman because their godparents are paying!) Before we left, it was raining, and they were saying "agua"; but Jose pronounced it "guagua". Toni was in his face teaching him how to say it correctly. So cute.
We went to the speech intervention, which went really well. After that we had an hour to kill before the transport could pick us up. So, we took the kids to McDonald's. Bought them happy meals - and then took them to the Play Place. Definitely the best part of my week.
When the saw where we were walking, they both started screaming and jumping up and down with excitement. It made me so happy. And the play place was big enough for me to go in there with them (which I really wanted to do, haha). That was so much fun.
At one point, Toni and Jose ran up to a table of random strangers like they were going to take their food!! "NOOO!!!!!!" I screamed, feeling like an embarassed parent - very strange feeling to have; clearly I am not a parent, nor ready to be one.
Although, it's good that NPH has a no adoption policy - otherwise I'd want to bring these two home with me. (But on second thought, they're so adorable that someone would've probably beaten me to it.)
Then the driver came to pick us up. Regine wanted to stay in Antigua, so the boys both sat on my lap in the van. They kept giving me kisses and Toni wrapped his hand in mine. Eventually, they fell asleep resting on each other's heads.
I love them so much! It's going to be really difficult to leave them next month.
Vacaciones with Liz
So, my friend Liz came to visit me last week! It was so great to see her. We actually hadn't seen each other in 2 years! We met when we went to Ecuador together, but she went to Luther College and I went to Augustana.
We stayed at NPH for a few nights. She flew in on a Friday night and the next day was the quinceanera celebration. A quinceanera is a tradition in Latin America to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday - her transition to womanhood. A quinceanera is usually a huge deal - kind of fancy like a wedding. The girl usually wears a fancy (often pouffy) dress and is escorted in by her caballero (gentleman). The NPH way started with a mass (as usual), then the escort, waltz, toast, fancy dinner, and afterward was a "discoteca" in the dining hall. It was super fun. The kids were all over it. There were 11 girls turning 15 this year, and it was a huge party.
On Tuesday, we left for our vacation. We started at a coffee farm in a town called San Miguel Escobar, just outside Antigua. Franklin (my friend Jessica's boyfriend) actually started this business called As Green As it Gets: He helps local farmers to grow and export coffee and fruit to the U.S., as well as make jade jewelry and other things. It's really impressive.
First, the farmer Daniel took us on a tour of the coffee farm. He explained every detail about the coffee beans and plants. It was really interesting. After that, we returned to his house to watch him grind, roast and make the coffee - which was delicious. I don't really drink coffee but we got a free pount to take home anyway.
And, I even got to help his wife make homemade corn tortillas! (Tortillas are eaten with every meal in Guatemala.) It was really hard to get them to the correct shape and thickness, but I enjoyed it.
Afterward, Franklin came and talked to us about the organization. Apparently, they like to have volunteer groups come down and help out with the organization (usually for about 10 days). It sounds really cool because you can do homestays and get a feel for true Guatemalan culture. And, if I organize a group, they will pay my way for FREE! So, it looks like I could come back to visit Guatemala sooner than I thought (which I would like). I'm hoping to organize a group of my speech pathology classmates to come down and we can work with Jessica and come to NPH.
That night, we stayed in Antigua and I walked in my sleep in the hostel room. Haven't done that in at least 13 years. I was on the bottom bunk and had a nightmare that there was a creepy little man staring down at me (hanging facing me from the mattress above). In the dream, I was in the same room that I was actually sleeping in. So, I saw the man, screamed loudly, and ran to the door. Turns out, I did that in real life. I woke up Liz and the random Australian girl who was also in the room. It was crazy.
Wed. we took four different chicken buses to get to Panachel, Lake Atitlan. (There are several little villages but Panachel is the main place.) Thursday, we took a day trip to Chichicastenango, the biggest market in Guatemala.
Friday morning, we went to a nature reserve. We got to do some cool hiking and saw a waterfall and 2 spider monkeys, haha. Then we left for the Lake Atitlan village of Santa Cruz in the afternoon. We stayed at a hostel called La Iguana Perdida, right on the lake. Although very touristy, it was nice and relaxing. We spend a lot of time in hammocks. There was also a lot you could do. On Saturday, we hiked up to the actual village of Santa Cruz (it's up the mountain) and went to a Guatemalan woman's house. She showed us how to do backstrap weaving! I don't really know how to explain it, sorry. You need a visual to understand. But it was super interesting - and very difficult. The idea was that we would each weave our own belt, but I think I did maybe 1/10 of it - it was pretty hard to separate the strings correctly and took a long time. So, the woman ended up finishing the belts for us.
And, we returned to NPH on Sunday! Hooray. I was so happy that Liz came!
We stayed at NPH for a few nights. She flew in on a Friday night and the next day was the quinceanera celebration. A quinceanera is a tradition in Latin America to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday - her transition to womanhood. A quinceanera is usually a huge deal - kind of fancy like a wedding. The girl usually wears a fancy (often pouffy) dress and is escorted in by her caballero (gentleman). The NPH way started with a mass (as usual), then the escort, waltz, toast, fancy dinner, and afterward was a "discoteca" in the dining hall. It was super fun. The kids were all over it. There were 11 girls turning 15 this year, and it was a huge party.
On Tuesday, we left for our vacation. We started at a coffee farm in a town called San Miguel Escobar, just outside Antigua. Franklin (my friend Jessica's boyfriend) actually started this business called As Green As it Gets: He helps local farmers to grow and export coffee and fruit to the U.S., as well as make jade jewelry and other things. It's really impressive.
First, the farmer Daniel took us on a tour of the coffee farm. He explained every detail about the coffee beans and plants. It was really interesting. After that, we returned to his house to watch him grind, roast and make the coffee - which was delicious. I don't really drink coffee but we got a free pount to take home anyway.
And, I even got to help his wife make homemade corn tortillas! (Tortillas are eaten with every meal in Guatemala.) It was really hard to get them to the correct shape and thickness, but I enjoyed it.
Afterward, Franklin came and talked to us about the organization. Apparently, they like to have volunteer groups come down and help out with the organization (usually for about 10 days). It sounds really cool because you can do homestays and get a feel for true Guatemalan culture. And, if I organize a group, they will pay my way for FREE! So, it looks like I could come back to visit Guatemala sooner than I thought (which I would like). I'm hoping to organize a group of my speech pathology classmates to come down and we can work with Jessica and come to NPH.
That night, we stayed in Antigua and I walked in my sleep in the hostel room. Haven't done that in at least 13 years. I was on the bottom bunk and had a nightmare that there was a creepy little man staring down at me (hanging facing me from the mattress above). In the dream, I was in the same room that I was actually sleeping in. So, I saw the man, screamed loudly, and ran to the door. Turns out, I did that in real life. I woke up Liz and the random Australian girl who was also in the room. It was crazy.
Wed. we took four different chicken buses to get to Panachel, Lake Atitlan. (There are several little villages but Panachel is the main place.) Thursday, we took a day trip to Chichicastenango, the biggest market in Guatemala.
Friday morning, we went to a nature reserve. We got to do some cool hiking and saw a waterfall and 2 spider monkeys, haha. Then we left for the Lake Atitlan village of Santa Cruz in the afternoon. We stayed at a hostel called La Iguana Perdida, right on the lake. Although very touristy, it was nice and relaxing. We spend a lot of time in hammocks. There was also a lot you could do. On Saturday, we hiked up to the actual village of Santa Cruz (it's up the mountain) and went to a Guatemalan woman's house. She showed us how to do backstrap weaving! I don't really know how to explain it, sorry. You need a visual to understand. But it was super interesting - and very difficult. The idea was that we would each weave our own belt, but I think I did maybe 1/10 of it - it was pretty hard to separate the strings correctly and took a long time. So, the woman ended up finishing the belts for us.
And, we returned to NPH on Sunday! Hooray. I was so happy that Liz came!
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