On arriving almost two weeks ago from
Ireland the first thing you notice is it’s fairly hot. The next thing you
notice is that people seem to have a love affair with beeping their car horns
around here no matter what the state of traffic. And you also realise that
Cochabamba is absolutely gorgeous. The sounds of the city take a little getting
used to, from security guards blowing ear-splitting whistles every minute (them
giving the "all-clear" as far as I understand) to local stallholders crying out
“VEINTE, TRENTE, QUARENTA BOLIVIANOS”. Ciertamente
no es Irlanda.
But less about Cochabamba and more about
Proyecto Horizonte. I formally began work there on Thursday, March 21st
and so far I’m absolutely head-over-heels loving it. I’m working from Monday to
Friday from around 8.30 in the morning to 12 in the afternoon with Inicial Dos,
a class full of about 30 three year olds from the surrounding area of
Uspha-Uspha. I suppose you’d call me a teacher’s assistant. I help out the two
teachers Raquel and Susanna every day with things like singing songs designed
to teach the children numbers, letters, days of the week, months, things along
that line. In fact in the week or so I’ve been working with Proyecto Horizonte
I’ve probably done more singing and dancing than I have in the last year! I
also help to make sure that they clean brush their teeth, and wash their hands
after they go to the bathroom, even if they don’t really want to, the little
messers!
 |
| A bunch of the ninos and myself |
Coming from someone who’s never have any
special affinity for working with children I’m honestly having the time off my life! To walk
in every morning and have thirty little Bolivian boys and girls yelling out
“Hola, Thomas , Como Estas?” is really life-affirming and I really hope that
my presence is producing a real benefit for them. And that’s not to mention the
hugs. On my first proper day of work the amount of hugs I received from the
children was absolutely astounding. I don’t know if ever seen such an effusion
of happiness before in my life. It’s just amazing. So far as well I’ve noticed
an extremely healthy atmosphere of learning in Inicial Dos. They have plenty of
fun of course but they learn a lot vital development skills, primarily hygiene
and education (obviously) in my area. As Proyecto Horizonte moves forward I think the
community will see more and more benefits and will, given time, develop further.
P.S.
– My apologies for any poor Spanish, I´m only learning.
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