Nov/Dec 2010
Christmas Greetings from Guatemala
As I write this letter the Community House is a-buzz with the sounds of saws buzzing, hammers hammering, people laughing and general merriment, finishing up the furniture for the various programs at the Guatemala City Dump. It’s just like Santa’s elves busily preparing for the Christmas rush. And there could be no more needy or deserving children than those whose parents scrounge through the garbage day after day to eke out a living for their families. We continue to see amazing transformations in the children. Last year we set up a grade one pilot project at “Safe Passage”. As opposed to the traditional system down here, based on hours of copying rote learning and memorization, the classrooms are activity-based and geared to the interests of the children.
At the beginning of the year this classroom was totally out of control. A number of these children are left to care for themselves, while their parents are scavenging through piles of garbage .Many of these children were aloof, manipulative, rebellious and very suspicious of adults. It took several months to establish trust with this group. Challenging authority was the norm, sometimes resulting in violent outbreaks towards the teachers. Repressed anger showed in their artwork, and an inability to show genuine affection was evident in many cases. I returned to Canada in April feeling very discouraged.
In July I received a letter from our program coordinator, Madeli. She said “Susan it is a miracle. The children in the Pilot Project have really changed.” As much as I wanted it to be true, I had my doubts about how much different things could be in three months.
On my return to Guate, the first thing I wanted to do was see the grade one program with my own eyes. As I sat outside the classroom, the first thing I noticed was the children sitting quietly outside the bathroom, patiently waiting their turn. When I had left, chaos reigned during any kind of transition time. As the children entered the classroom, instead of the usual mayhem, they went to the bookrack, enthusiastically took a book from the shelf and proudly sat reading out loud to one another. The months of encouragement and positive feedback from the teachers had finally paid off. These children now knew they were capable of success. I was mesmerized as I watched them, some for the first time in their lives experiencing “the joy of learning”.
The best was yet to come. I unobtrusively observed as the children went excitedly to their centers, anticipating the learning activity of the day. No one center seemed to be any more popular than the rest. Within minutes, the whole class was meaningfully engaged in hands on learning, but my attention was drawn immediately to the math table where two of our most challenging children had been assigned. I waited for the inevitable inappropriate behaviour which had initially been such a problem for these two boys.
As they sat waiting, the teacher briefly explained the multiplication activity and then engaged the children with skillful questioning techniques. Each child was given manipulatives to figure out the answer. The excitement grew as each child worked as quickly as possible to come up with the right answer. The more problems they were given, the more excited they became. After each right answer they would throw up their arms triumphantly, grinning from ear to ear, settling only momentarily to listen to the next problem. The air was electric
There are many times in this country the problems seem overwhelming, and I question some days if, in fact, we are impacting lives in any meaningful way, but as I watched this scenario unfold, I was filled with such hope for these children.
Only last week, Jessica, the teacher in this class, shared something with us that one of these boys had said to her. As he threw his arms around her, he said ” Seno, I want to thank you for your patience with me. I know I have changed this year. I am very happy.”
What more could we ask for?!!!!!!
And so at this special time of year we give thanks for small miracles. We give thanks for our loyal supporters. But most of all we give thanks for people who care about the children who may never have been given the opportunity to become everything they are meant to be. Let us try to continue to be people of hope.
We wish you all the Joys and Peace of this Christmas season.
In Solidarity and Love,
Susan and Richard