Day 4 & So Much More!

From Da Kidz

Today we were able to spend the day with the children! It was everything I had hoped it would be and so much more! I was placed in a “Kindergarten” classroom with 5 and 6-year-olds. There were roughly 20 students, 10 of whom were deaf. The teacher (Irene) was amazing! She was able to teach children who were just learning their letters (some deaf and some not) and others who were working on writing words using the proper vowel sounds. Vanessa, Erin and I (all Kindergarten teachers from San Diego) had a great time helping the children, learning to sign and getting to know the children. Today my heart was stolen by a little rascal named Sam who was smart, warm, helpful and spunky. He was not deaf, but knew all of his signs and taught me the days of the week, the (Kiswaihli) alphabet and gave me a sign for my name. My favorite part of the day (sound familiar Jardine’s?) was waking the children up from their naps. Abigail and Joel (both deaf) were sound asleep at their table in the front row and had SUCH a hard time waking up. I had to hold their head in my hands and prop them up, only to have them collapse back to the table as I woke the other. Abigail was so sad to wake up she almost started crying (until I tickled her).
Our plan for the next few weeks will be to work with the children and teachers from 8AM-12PM and work on service learning jobs from 12PM-5PM. Our goal is to build 6 classrooms, a library and purchase $1,000.00 worth of textbooks. Although I absolutely LOVE being in the classroom with the children, I am looking forward to the service learning jobs because I know they will last longer and touch the lives of more children than I ever could.
Why I feel lucky:
~I get to spend my mornings doing what I love to do with children that don’t have a house to go home to, children without parents, children who cannot hear (or speak) and children that are full of love and hope.
~I have all of the things these children don’t and they are providing me with love and hope.