i meet Xuan (pronouced Zwan) who has Cerebral Palsy and who is sitting in a wheel chair..very active and happy...he grabs my hand and is happy to have someone touch him and talk to him...next to him is Thu, a little girl of around 2 years old with Hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain) and her head is quite large..Miss Chi lifts her up and takes her for a walk and i am asked to take a look at the baby who has recently arrived that has a cleft pallet...he has no name as yet but they are refering to him as Duoc (which kind of translates to 'give')...he is so small and only about 2 months old (or so they guess)...he is lovely and i nurse him for the next 15 minutes while I speak to the head co-ordinator via Nuin (my volunteer co-ordinator) and ask how much his operation would cost. It works out to be approx $300 AUS and i suggest that i sponsor him to get this operation done. Nuin and the head co-ordinator talk this through and i am told that his operation is for free through doctors in Australia but he will need special care needs after and the cost of that is not covered...i am asked by the head co-ordinator if i have children...i say no (which is not a good thing considering that in Vietnamese culture you should be married and having children by the age of 24)...he laughs and i think he'd like me to take little Duoc home with me....something that i have to admit had already crossed my mind but i just smile and move away to nurse the little man and give him some much needed love.
later (after i tear myself away from Duoc) i decide i should do some hands on with some of the other kids and i sit with Tro who is approx 6 and looks around 3-4 years old...he has Cerebral Palsy and it is my job to get him to move is legs, hips, arms and neck..he is severely locked up and for such a little guy he sure can push with all his might...it takes me the rest of the hour and half to get him to bend his legs and arms but i was not able to get him to loosen his back or sit up....I felt a bit like a failure as the book shows this happy little boy sitting and smiling and all i managed was no expression, unhappy expression and inbetween a lot of drooling and chocking....he is so thin and frail and my heart is definately touched by him....both Chan and I feel like we needed the whole day instead of the couple of hours to really make a difference...we only visit these kids 2-3 times a week for a couple of hours each visit but I was surprised that i handled it so well...i have not had to work with kids with these kinds of disabilities or deformaties and i can now understand why people choose to work with them...it is truly special to be a part of their world even for those brief moments and not as confronting as i had imagined....it's really very very easy to give love in the form of touch, talk and singing....i really enjoyed it and am looking forward to my next visits here.
We come home on the scooters and dinner is soon put in front of us as we need to eat and run tonight...
I spend the afternoon trying to figure out what to do with my class of 20 street kids and not really knowing what their level of understanding is or the structure of the class i am beyond nervous by the time we actually leave.....
We arrive and are ushered into our classrooms (each of us girls, Chan, Eve and I have a class each with an interpretor to help us....i will be completely honest i had no idea where to start...the run down of the class went a little like this....
Introduce myself and let the kids introduce themself to me and tell me one word in english that starts with the first letter of their name....easy....no....the notes on these kids are nothing like what they are actually capable of....second problem is that my glands have become swollen and my ears are slightly blocked...the room opens up to the street and the noise from the street drowns out the very very quite voices of the kids....the first girl is Ahn and she was not sure of a word starting with A....the second girl was Nuong and she felt that banana was the word that started with her name....and so on and so on....at least it made the nest 10 minutes pass.....i decide the next thing to do is start with numbers...i ask the interpretor to find out which numbers they have learned...i am told 1-100...so i start to use the blackboard and write up random numbers from 1-100 and choosing one child to tell me the number....again this did not work very well....most did not know anything past 20...i soon realized that i had to start back at the beginning...but hey at least that was the half hour mark so only 30 more minutes to go....oh, and i also had some talk back from one little girl and one little boy just up and left!!!....yes i sure am engaging their little minds!!!!
after the number game was over....which i even handed out stickers for the correct spelling....i decided on a song...yes a song....even though i hate to sing the book refering to these kids tells me how much they LOVE to sing....i write a simple sentece on the board which is only the first line to the song....the words are
Every little cell in my body is happy.....ten minutes later we are slowly repeating Every Little ma ma ma body ma HAPPY...gee they love the word the HAPPY...eventually the teachers aid starts to sing loudly along with me but the kids are either miming or just waiting for the word HAPPY.....another failure....
i decide that with only 10 minutes to go that the students should choose a song they like to sing....they decide on Happy Birthday......ok, we'll go with that....their verson of the song not the one we all know....
they start out very silently and i am told that i need to sing louder (do they no understand that i do not sing out aloud!!!....all self respect out the window again and i am singing loudly in the hopes that the children will join in....aparently not....it again reverts to nothing or miming...oh and saying the word Happy!!!....
maybe i should teach them the happy song....
I am Happy
You are Happy
We are Happy
She is Happy
He is Happy
the dog is happy
the flower is happy....
so on and so on....
Just made that one up but now i'm kinda liking it and might just use it in my next class on Monday....
anyway, with no more time left and the entire hour a complete shambles i am sure no one has learned anything and that the kids hate me...they actually sing goodbye teacher to me before they leave...and they are smiling for the first time in that hour!!!
i return to the car and the three of us girls exchange our experience...mine being the worst....Chan seemed to have a really great class as did Eva..the only complaint from Eva was that one of her students wrote 'I miss Judy' on her paperwork (Judy was the last teacher they had)...she was a bit upset but overall their classes seemed to go really well..
i am now going to implement bribing into my class, as well as going back the real basics...i have even considered an aptitude test just so i can figure out how advanced some of these kids are....the ages are so varied from 8-23 years old and the level of english is also so wide...apparently i have the hardest group...something i was told by Nuin on the way home.....made me feel slightly better but in all honesty i feel defeated, embarassed and kind of lost.....
Although on reflection i am glad for the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and also the challenge to engage these kids for the next 6 lessons i will have them.....i also just feel sick at the thought of having to go back in there but hey, thems the breaks....doing it for the kids!!!
that's me for today....
i now have to figure out some crafts and outside games to play with the Deaf & Mute kids tomorrow morning.....any suggestions please comment or email....any suggestions on English games (with large groups) please also free to inundate me with your knowledge as I am willing to try anything.....
love, peace and light to all
xxxxxx
Om Shanti.....(time for me to meditate and breath it out!!!)
P.S here is a picture of Little Duoc...i know that some of the money i raised wil definately go towards him and his medical needs.
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