Background info: I work in Santa Maria de Jesus, an indigenous town at the base of Agua Volcano. It's only 5.5 miles away but takes 25 minutes by bus because of the slope. The people there are descendants of the Maya, have darker skin and speak a language called Cakchiquel - one of 22 Mayan languages in Guatemala. The streets are dirt, and water comes on for an hour every two days. The average number of kids in a family is 7, mostly because the people don't receive any sexual education and having more kids means more hands in the field. Anyone ladino (mixed), white, or anyone non-Mayan will get stared at in the streets. Still, I've never been to a friendlier place, at least on the surface. People will say hi to you in the streets, or you can say Buenas tardes to nearly anyone and always get a response.
A missionary, Judy, started the special education school in 2000 when she found out that their were children with disabilities "hiding" around town. Parents were either ashamed or would keep their kids inside in order to protect them. Some people believe that you have a disability because you did something bad to deserve it. Public schools in Guatemala can have 60-80 kids per classroom, and if you need extra help you won't get it, and in Santa Maria they don't admit kids with disabilities. This is Blanky:
She wanted to go to school, and with persuasion and help from her parents, Judy found 8 children to begin the school with just 1st grade and one teacher. Now in the 5th year, the school has expanded every year. There are 3 teachers, an English teacher, and an ocupational and speech therapist. Blanky is currently in 5th grade and a leader in the school. She enjoys meeting the Americans that come to visit and sings songs like Cristo me ama for them. In total, there are about 30 students.
What do I do, you may ask? I work with students from the US who come here and help them to aid the teachers. We also tutor students after school, take prayer walks around Santa Maria, and visit families. Other things I do in Antigua are help lead music, occasionally give a talk, translating, rush feces samples to the lab, etc. Students will usually help in the first grade and kindergarten classroom because it's the largest and the kindergarteners need extra individual attention. Here are some of them:
I teach Bible class, music class, and phys ed, getting help from students whenever they're around. These are the first graders during gym:
My favorite two students are two sisters, Mirna and Wendy. Mirna is a 1st grader in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy and Wendy is a deaf third grader, who is also the smartest girl in her class. They also have 2 deaf older siblings and 2 other siblings who died soon after being born. Despite going through so many hardships, their family brings me so much joy everytime I visit and they never seem to stop smiling and laughing. Wendy's smile is enough to brighten my day and motivate me to work with these children. Wendy is on the left in this picture and Blanky on the right.
Petronila is another girl with Spina Bifda who doesn't receive love or attention at home, and is less motivated at school than her best friend Blanky. She's been at the school since the start but serious recent problems at home have been a challenge to her and us.
Julio is another kid who is always smiling and enjoys being around anyone. Usually, its the child that wants to go to school and the parents who want to keep them in the field. In this case, Julio wants to work in the fields because he has horrible ear pain at school due to all the noise. But his parents know the importance of learning to read and write and have decided to keep him going to school.
Fausto and Byron are bright boys in the 3rd grade. Fausto is a natural leader but can get into trouble sometimes at school because he gets bored with the material.
I'm only including Tany on this page because one student on an outreach here effectively described Tany as "the bane of my existence". She's a kindergartener who likes walking away from the classroom, pushing people, and causing other mischief while always having the same smile on her face. This picture was right after she threw a handful of pica pica at the person with the camera.
Another ministry in Santa Maria de Jesus is Community Health and Nutrition. One thing they teach about is hygiene, which is pretty bad there due to the water shortage. Here are a bunch of girls brushing their teeth.
And this is the Santa Maria de Jesus cemetary, one of the most colorful spots in town. (Click for larger version)
