6-2-2010 I

Ademir and Luigi cleaning their drawers and folding their clothes so nicely

Saturday is cleaning day, and I was helping out the 6-9 year-old boys room. I still don't have a clear idea on their routine, but I tried my best and others came and helped too. There's quite a lot to do, such as folding clothes, cleaning shoes closet, doing beddings, sweep, mop, wax the floor, picking garbage outside, etc. It's amazing to see those little boys doing all these things so neatly by themselves. What I'm used to see is children having helpers .... No offense to those who have maids out there, I was just trying to be sarcasticly funny. :p

Afternoon was "Sábado Especial" (Saturday special), and this week we did drama competition. We were split into 6 groups, and each group had to come up with a 5 minutes story. Our group did a village reunion of Northern Perú, and we had a lot of fun doing that. While waiting for the verdict from the judges, we had a surprise, which was popcorn for everyone while a couple kids performed dancing in pop music. It was hilarious! And Lemar't came to sit with me, and we shared popcorn. He's really really sweet, coz he kept feeding me popcorn while I fed him as well! Everyone laughed at us and said I'm his papa and he's my son, as he always want to be with me, and starts giggling and runs towards me when he saw me. Actually I wish he's my son too! Haha ...... Anyway, our group won! Actually 2 groups tied, and we were one of the two. We had a tin of ice-cream as the prize! Another kid that clings to me a lot as well is Jhonatan, who calls me "wawaryanyan"! Really hilarious! Sometimes when I stood afar in a distance, he'd scream "wawaryanyan, mano (hand)!". He's fascinated by water, and everywhere when he saw it, he'd say,"Agua!". And when he drinks water, he has a great satisfied smile too. Actually all kids love drinking water! Sometimes I took a few of them to the dining room and give them glasses of water to drink, and it's actually quite fun and satisfied to see them drinking water with such happiness.

I started working with the youth group as well, on their self-esteem and communication skills, and of course, some behavioral management too! Most of them had done really well. Last Wednesday I asked group one to draw their self-portraits, and tell their strengths and weaknesses. They all did very well, and I was very proud of them. I also suggested to post their drawings in the dining room, so others can see their great work. The Friday group, on the other hand, was a bit tricky. I'd say most of them did really well, except 2, who really needs individual counselling, as they often fail to follow instructions, and often disrupt the class and bug other kids. I had to use behavioral management stuff, and they were a bit pissed! Oh well, I think in the long run consequences are good lessons for them.