Reflections:
First day (30.01.18)
On my first day, I went with Carlota, a classmate who had already been once before. At first I felt a bit awkward, as we arrived early and wasn’t sure what to do. Once the kids started arriving, we began helping with preparing their snacks and chatting to them. After they ate, we monitors were each assigned a child to help during homework time. I got a really sweet little girl who was a delight to teach… only problem was her math homework was in Euskera! It actually gave her the opportunity to practice her language skills, translating the instructions for me so that I could then help her with the actual maths. Although it was a bit of a challenge, it was a growing experience for both of us. Afterwards, we had game time, but today the monitors had something different planned: we watched some videos and had a discussion on bullying. Bullying is a topic I have read and heard a lot about in the media, on social networks and at school, something we children and teenagers are warned and lectured on continuously. It was strange to be introduced to it in this manner, through the videos and also by hearing the stories of younger children very different from myself. Some of them shared personal experiences in seeing or suffering bullying themselves, which was really sad and you could see how much they hurt. But I also got to see what a great moment it was for them to be able to share and feel understood and told that they are okay, and the bullies are the problem. It was also a learning experience for a couple of children who realised they themselves had been bullies. I had not expected to experience this particular moment at Cáritas, but it was very touching and showed me just how beneficial this sort of attention and nurturing is for children. I am due to go again on the Thursday of this week. I signed up on the calendar almost two months ago, when I thought that this week I would have more time, as term 2 finished last Friday. I didn’t think it through or realise that we would be as busy as ever in the IB this week… this week is so bad in terms of workload that the classmate that was meant to go with me on Thursday has removed her name from the calendar slot!!! That means I will be going alone. I really do not mind that at all, I am more worried about how I will cope with the homework this week with 6 hours less time than usual. I must say, nonetheless, the experience left me feeling really light and happy. I’m sure the half hour walk home also contributed, but I arrived home feeling energised and with my own to-dos put into perspective. I had all my own homework to do when I arrived home around 8pm, but I felt I had had a more productive day than usual, as I had dedicated my afternoon to more than just my own stuff. Second day (01.02.18) It has been a stressful and intense week, but I am very glad I did not give up my commitment to going to Kukua. Just like my global fitness classes, this volunteering experience has given me a place to escape from the worries, responsibilities and to-dos of my everyday life. Even more so than exercise, in fact, because I was dedicating my time to other people rather than centering on myself. It sounds cliché, but volunteering to help kids in need really does make you feel better with yourself, it is bidirectional benefit. This day I got there a bit early, but went in and sat with a few kids who had also arrived early. Soon they all arrived, and ate their merienda. It was nice to chat with the kids, I feel that they welcomed me into their conversations more so than when I was with my classmate. When the time came for assigning kids to volunteers, I got two rather than just one! It felt good that they now knew me and trusted me to teach two children. I got a boy called Unai B and a girl called Maria Luisa. Maria Luisa was super sweet and polite, quite a quiet child… Unai, on the other hand, was very fidgety and naughty! It was a challenge to look after him, but developed my skill as a teacher and working with kids. Game time was really fun, we played a variety of games including ping pong and jump rope, everyone was having so much fun time flew and we couldn’t believe it when the parents arrived! Third day (08.02.18) This Thursday I went with the classmate who changed from last Thursday. Both of us had been before and the kids and other volunteers all knew us, so that was nice. I once again got to be with two new kids, two boys this time, called Javier, or Javi, and Unai U. At first the volunteer who organises the partners and classes was going to put me with someone who had no homework. I asked her politely, before the organisation, if today I could have someone with homework tasks to do, as that is where I could help the most. She still wanted to put me with someone who had nothing, but finally put me with someone I could help better. The two boys were great to work with! Javi only had math exercises, which he did quite quickly and actually completed the worksheets for this week and the next! I felt really proud. The only thing was, he got a bit too enthusiastic and started doing them too quickly, and made a few mistakes. This turned out well, because I involved Unai U, so that he would look at Javi’s work and identify the mistakes. In this way, he helped his friend and practised his own math. Speaking of math, Unai U seems to really enjoy math, and is good at it. He didn’t have much to do, but then asked me to teach him something he had heard of but they hadn’t done in class yet: adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing negative fractions. It was great to see such motivation from a kid who hadn’t been doing so well. Last time I heard other volunteers discussing his problems at school and at home, as he had had some very bad experiences. It was uplifting to see his initiative in mathematics, when other school subjects and areas of his life are not doing so well. Towards the end of the class, we also practised a bit of oral English, including my classmate and her two girls, as we were working in the same room. This was a really fun way to end the work session before games. FINAL REFLECTION: Cáritas has definitely been my favourite service experience. It was the one where I got to work most closely with people who needed it, and got so much back from it. Once again, this sounds a bit cliché and soppy… but it truly has been an enriching experience that I enjoyed and would love to repeat. I like teaching, helping my brother, cousins and classmates or friends if they need it, and had wanted to try out some sort of experience like this for a while. I was so glad to get this opportunity, as often this sort of volunteer work is reserved for older people with more experience and that the parents know will be able to look after the kids. And it does take skill to teach children, but more than anything it takes understanding, patience, a good listening ear and a willingness to be silly and have a little bit of fun. I have learnt to adapt to the needs of individual children, especially challenging when I had to tutor more than one at once, making me appreciate the role of the teacher is large classrooms. The experience has also introduced me to such a sweet, loving and interesting group of children that have offered me a different perspective on life by sharing their struggles and daily lives, making me reflect on my own. I know for my psychology degree at university I will have opportunities for volunteering of different types, and I hope to try out something similar if I get the chance! |