Last Friday, December 2, was our last day at Safe Passage. It´s been a remarkable experience. However, Bruce´s sister pointed out recently that we haven´t written much about the program. I´ll try to rectify that right now.
I´ve been working in the Guarderia (the Spanish word for ¨day care¨, I believe). It´s a beautiful facility that was opened in 2007, a year or so after Hanley died. Hanley Denning is the young woman from Yarmouth, Maine, who founded Safe Passage as a safe place for children to come to before and after school while their parents picked the dump. She also raised enough money for the children to attend school. Officially, school is free in Guatemala. However, since uniforms and school supplies are required, it would be out of reach of these ¨poorest of the poor¨ families, without the assistance of Safe Passage.
The Guarderia consists of a classroom building and another building with a small gym and a storage area, an outdoor playground area, and a small asphalt playing field for older kids. The whole compound is located on reclaimed dump land and is encircled by a tall protective cement wall topped with coils of razor wire. An armed guard oversees the big metal door leading into the compound (I appreciate him!). Overhead the sky is unfailingly blue at this time of year, and dotted, high up, with an ever present bunch of hungry black vultures.
Inner courtyard of the school, looking toward the screened cafeteria
The Guarderia program serves about 87 young children, ages 2-7. Organized by a Canadian woman, Susan Schmaltz (whose husband was hired a year ago to head up Safe Passage), its educational philosophy is very progressive. Susan and her husband, Richard, are amazing people who have been working in Guatemala for 12 years, off and on.
Shortly after starting at SP, I was re-assigned, out of the kitchen and into the kindergarten, to assist the teacher. I was happy to see that the classroom was set up with learning centers, similar to those at Breakwater. The children spend time each morning and afternoon at the centers, which includes a wonderful ¨casita¨ (little pretend house), an art area, a puzzle table, a big blocks area, a Lego table, a large collection of picture books, and a loft. There is also a bathroom in every classroom. Ten children were enrolled all day. At noon, another 6 children arrived. Nice numbers!
Friends looking at books together
Since getting adequate nutrition is an issue for these children, especially at this age when the brain is developing so rapidly, the children are fed 4 times a day with fortified foods. And it seems to be working: the kids are bright, fairly healthy, and of normal weight. All the children gather for breakfast first thing in the morning in the large screened dining area, pictured above.
Kindergarten boys on the playground
In the classroom, the day begins with lots of active singing, which the kids love. It was a challenge for me, with my limited Spanish skills, but the teacher and the former assistant (18 year old Isabel from Germany) both helped by writing out the Spanish lyrics to many of the songs. The substitute teacher syndrome coupled with my lack of Spanish fluency, as well as the feisty nature of some of the children also made my half hour playground duty a challenge. But mostly, the kids were very engaging, sweet, and energetic. There was always someone who wanted a lap to sit in or a push on the swing or a story read to them. I loved observing their daily half hour English class, taught by a vivacious red-headed young Canadian woman who had an amazing ability to keep the kids focused and enthused and having fun. We also had a weekly art activity prepared for the children by 18 year old Grace, a volunteer from Portland.
Dynamic daily English class
My biggest contributions, aside from my main task helping out in class, were introducing pattern block activities to the class; using my copy of Lois Ehlert´s English/Spanish picture book, Moon Rope, to help with the end-of-year puppet show; and writing up a document describing the literacy environment that we had created at Breakwater. Safe Passage is in the process of becoming a private school for the early grades when the new school year begins in January, rather than just a before and after-school enrichment program. I´ve been assured that some of the literacy suggestions will be put into place
End-of-year performance for parents
An example of a memorable time for me happened just this week. One of the little boys, Pedro, is quite moody and sometimes won´t participate in classroom activities. This particular day, during choice/play time, he sat alone looking withdrawn and downcast. I approached him with a book that I was pretty sure he´d like, Where the Wild Things Are /Donde los Monstuos Viven). I offered to read it to him. He quietly assented without saying a word but began turning the pages for me - and got another book when we had finished the first (Robert Munsch´s I´ll Love You Forever/ Te Querrere Siempre). After some reading, I proposed another favorite activity for him: the big blocks. We began building a car to take us on an imaginary trip to the beach at Monterrico. I made some paper gauges for him, such as speedometer, gas gauge, temp. gauge,etc. We drove raucously, laughed, stopped for gas, were joined by Josue and the three of us got lunch at a resto. Suddenly I was the waitress taking orders for ¨hamburguesas y agua¨ for my two young customers. In short, by the magical power of the imagination, for a few minutes we exchanged the real life of the sordid dump for a bright sunny road trip. Life changing? Of course not, but a little escapism was good for all of us.
Pattern block designs on the bulletin board
Our last day at the project ended with an elegant evening art/photography exhibit and guitar performance by some of the teenagers who had taken special arts classes. It was held off-campus in a lovely gallery. The art had been tastefully hung on the walls. The guitar students played songs like, "Let It Be", and the 2010 World Cup song from South Africa. Mothers, dressed in fancy clothes, beamed proudly. Teens, dressed in fancy clothes, smiled shyly but with an evident confidence. Voluntarios, such as myself, bought student art work. A shared sense of hope for the future hung in the air. I couldn´t help but feel that this was a fitting culmination of our time at Safe Passage, where I got to see the results of Hanley´s vision - coupled with the generosity of many donors and voluntarios and local staff - coming together in the work of these talented teens who now had a better chance to lead a life of their choosing.
I´ve been working in the Guarderia (the Spanish word for ¨day care¨, I believe). It´s a beautiful facility that was opened in 2007, a year or so after Hanley died. Hanley Denning is the young woman from Yarmouth, Maine, who founded Safe Passage as a safe place for children to come to before and after school while their parents picked the dump. She also raised enough money for the children to attend school. Officially, school is free in Guatemala. However, since uniforms and school supplies are required, it would be out of reach of these ¨poorest of the poor¨ families, without the assistance of Safe Passage.
The Guarderia consists of a classroom building and another building with a small gym and a storage area, an outdoor playground area, and a small asphalt playing field for older kids. The whole compound is located on reclaimed dump land and is encircled by a tall protective cement wall topped with coils of razor wire. An armed guard oversees the big metal door leading into the compound (I appreciate him!). Overhead the sky is unfailingly blue at this time of year, and dotted, high up, with an ever present bunch of hungry black vultures.
The Guarderia program serves about 87 young children, ages 2-7. Organized by a Canadian woman, Susan Schmaltz (whose husband was hired a year ago to head up Safe Passage), its educational philosophy is very progressive. Susan and her husband, Richard, are amazing people who have been working in Guatemala for 12 years, off and on.
Shortly after starting at SP, I was re-assigned, out of the kitchen and into the kindergarten, to assist the teacher. I was happy to see that the classroom was set up with learning centers, similar to those at Breakwater. The children spend time each morning and afternoon at the centers, which includes a wonderful ¨casita¨ (little pretend house), an art area, a puzzle table, a big blocks area, a Lego table, a large collection of picture books, and a loft. There is also a bathroom in every classroom. Ten children were enrolled all day. At noon, another 6 children arrived. Nice numbers!
Since getting adequate nutrition is an issue for these children, especially at this age when the brain is developing so rapidly, the children are fed 4 times a day with fortified foods. And it seems to be working: the kids are bright, fairly healthy, and of normal weight. All the children gather for breakfast first thing in the morning in the large screened dining area, pictured above.
In the classroom, the day begins with lots of active singing, which the kids love. It was a challenge for me, with my limited Spanish skills, but the teacher and the former assistant (18 year old Isabel from Germany) both helped by writing out the Spanish lyrics to many of the songs. The substitute teacher syndrome coupled with my lack of Spanish fluency, as well as the feisty nature of some of the children also made my half hour playground duty a challenge. But mostly, the kids were very engaging, sweet, and energetic. There was always someone who wanted a lap to sit in or a push on the swing or a story read to them. I loved observing their daily half hour English class, taught by a vivacious red-headed young Canadian woman who had an amazing ability to keep the kids focused and enthused and having fun. We also had a weekly art activity prepared for the children by 18 year old Grace, a volunteer from Portland.
My biggest contributions, aside from my main task helping out in class, were introducing pattern block activities to the class; using my copy of Lois Ehlert´s English/Spanish picture book, Moon Rope, to help with the end-of-year puppet show; and writing up a document describing the literacy environment that we had created at Breakwater. Safe Passage is in the process of becoming a private school for the early grades when the new school year begins in January, rather than just a before and after-school enrichment program. I´ve been assured that some of the literacy suggestions will be put into place
An example of a memorable time for me happened just this week. One of the little boys, Pedro, is quite moody and sometimes won´t participate in classroom activities. This particular day, during choice/play time, he sat alone looking withdrawn and downcast. I approached him with a book that I was pretty sure he´d like, Where the Wild Things Are /Donde los Monstuos Viven). I offered to read it to him. He quietly assented without saying a word but began turning the pages for me - and got another book when we had finished the first (Robert Munsch´s I´ll Love You Forever/ Te Querrere Siempre). After some reading, I proposed another favorite activity for him: the big blocks. We began building a car to take us on an imaginary trip to the beach at Monterrico. I made some paper gauges for him, such as speedometer, gas gauge, temp. gauge,etc. We drove raucously, laughed, stopped for gas, were joined by Josue and the three of us got lunch at a resto. Suddenly I was the waitress taking orders for ¨hamburguesas y agua¨ for my two young customers. In short, by the magical power of the imagination, for a few minutes we exchanged the real life of the sordid dump for a bright sunny road trip. Life changing? Of course not, but a little escapism was good for all of us.
Pattern block designs on the bulletin board
Our last day at the project ended with an elegant evening art/photography exhibit and guitar performance by some of the teenagers who had taken special arts classes. It was held off-campus in a lovely gallery. The art had been tastefully hung on the walls. The guitar students played songs like, "Let It Be", and the 2010 World Cup song from South Africa. Mothers, dressed in fancy clothes, beamed proudly. Teens, dressed in fancy clothes, smiled shyly but with an evident confidence. Voluntarios, such as myself, bought student art work. A shared sense of hope for the future hung in the air. I couldn´t help but feel that this was a fitting culmination of our time at Safe Passage, where I got to see the results of Hanley´s vision - coupled with the generosity of many donors and voluntarios and local staff - coming together in the work of these talented teens who now had a better chance to lead a life of their choosing.
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