Journal of 27th of February

Monday, 25th of February
Today was the first day to go and do community service for mentally disabled kids. The name of the service was called "Best Buddies," and first we were assigned to go to an office and help administrative work.The 10 of us were assigned into 4 groups. 1group had to organize files and binders by date, the other group had to organize a closet, the other had to edit data and information by computers, and the other group planned the activities which we would be doing for the next four days. I thought I had to take care of the kids and teach them English and do fun activities with them, but it turned out we had to do office work and organize documents. Honestly, the job was very boring and it was inappropriate to organize confidential and private documents that only the people working at the office could see. I wanted to do something that would help the community and take care of the people who really needed our help. After we got back from the office, we began preparing activities for the disabled kids tomorrow. We wanted to go and take care of the kids tomorrow instead of going to the office.

Tuesday, 26th of February
Today we were expecting to go Fundacion Cepytin and go visit the mentally disabled kids, but we couldn't. As soon as I arrived the school, Ms Shawn told us the office didn't approve our trip to the foundation so we had to divide ourselves into two groups, and one group had to go to the office and do the office work, while the other groups had to prepare the activities, such as making the lacing cards, cutting the vocabulary flash cards with cardboard, and coloring the flash cards and figuring a way how to explain the vocabulary to the kids more easier. The other group went to do the office work and file the data or organize the closet. It turned out to be a disappointing day, because I was looking very forward to meeting the children. I hope we could go to the foundation tomorrow.

Wednesday, 27th of February
Today we visited Fundacion Cepytin and met people who had mental problems.
There were 50 kids, who wore uniforms and got trained at the building.
First, the director of the foundation gave us a tour around the building and met the kids, then we all sat in a circle and introduced ourselves to others.Then, we divided in three sections: the singing group, the food group, and the body group. Maria and I were in charge of teaching the body parts in English, which turned out to be pretty difficult for them. It was very hard for them to learn a second language because it was hard for some of them to even speak their maternal language.
Honestly, I was nervous and worried during the bus ride because I haven't spoken to lots of mentally disabled people before, and I thought it would be hard for me to talk to them and explain the words because I am not a native Spanish speaker, and interacting with them requires a lot of patience. But after talking with them for a while, I began to understand them and feel close to them. They were very nice to me and they were interested in my school, my country, and my friends. I answered their questions one by one and told them more about Korea. We ate our snacks together and I felt very good and proud of myself because I could help people who has a hard time normally and they appreciated my help and attention. Although they are different and needs extra help from others, they all have special dreams and they wish they could be normal more than anything else. I was very touched when they told us "Thank you for accepting us the way we were born and thank you for making us laugh again."

Thursday, 28th of February
  Today, we went to the foundation again and said hi to the kids who we met yesterday. They were very happy to see us and welcomed us with a warm smile. The 8 volunteers divided ourselves into three groups again. One group brought flashcards of the alphabet in English. The other group brought flashcards and helped kids learn the colors in English. The other group brought flashcards of words describing food. I taught the kids how to say the colors in English with Natalia and Valentina. Each group rotated after 20 minutes to a different station. We showed them each card and explained the words to them, then we told them a color and they gave us an object with the color we said. For example, if we said blue, they would say sky, and if we said red, they would say apple. It was very hard for them to say the world purple. After that, we went outside to eat our snacks in the grass in a circle. We brought chips and juice for them, and they enjoyed their snack very much. After that, we played a game (pasa la pelota), where we passed the ball and if somebody says stop, the person with the ball had to say a word which they learned in English. After that, we would sing songs. I felt more closer to these kids and the more time I spent with them, I felt more devoted towards them.

Friday, 1st of March
Today I was very excited when we left for the foundation. I was also very disappointed when I realized today was the last day to see these kids because even though I have met them for a short time, I felt that I could understand them and I had a desire to get to know them more. Today was a creative day, so one group would fold paper airplanes and held a competition of who would throw the airplanes further, the other group would draw their favorite things with markers in colored paper, while the other group played with Plasticine. I taught kids how to fold airplanes with Maria and Juanita. Honestly, I had to learn how to fold airplanes from Maria with the kids because I forgot the steps of how to fold a paper airplane. While I was folding my airplane, I helped the kids fold their airplane. Then, after 15 minutes, we would held a competition of who would throw their airplanes the further. I was very bad at folding the airplane, so mine didn't go very far. Surprisingly, some kids' airplanes went very far, further than ours. We would congratulate them and they would smile and be proud of themselves. After that, we would eat a snack and Ms Zaidman read a very inspiring book. It was called "It's Okay to be different." The title itself was very inspiring because all the kids here were different and treated differently from other people. Usually they were very sad to be treated differently and be ignored by the majority. The book said that "it's okay to have different color, it's okay to need help, it's okay to be embarrassed, it's okay to be short or extra large because everybody is special, different, and unique in their own way." The kids liked the book a lot because it was describing their situations, and they were feeling confident and proud of themselves.