JANUARY 24-29, 2014
Friday, January 24
Barbara and I are with the children in the small courtyard in front of the San Francisco clinic where the med team is doing their exams and treatments. We're talking about the children in the Pathway to Change program who do not have sponsors.
Sponsors commit to supporting a child in many ways - $2000 per yea, which covers their private school and all tangential costs, like uniforms, textbooks, and the Pathway Children's Center services; encouragement through letters and cards; receiving the student's report cards every marking period and communicating with the student to congratulate or commiserate on the results, and more.
Barbara tells me that when she receives a potential sponsor inquiry she responds electronically with a written profile of the child, his/her strengths and needs, personality, interests, character and the like, and a photo.
The children are not told of the potential sponsor interest in case it doesn't come through, so they're not disappointed. Even if it does finalize they are not told that money is involved. Their understanding is that the sponsor cares about them, their education, their progress, their dreams and goals, and their family, and prays for them. The sponsor never sends gift money to the child, and the children never ask for any because it's not part of the relationship. So the support is minus any potential for financial manipulation on either side.
In a flash it occurs to me that a major piece of making a connection between child and potential sponsor is missing. What the children need to do, I tell Barbara, is make a brief video introducing themselves to potential sponsors, a video about themselves, their favorite school subjects, what they hope to become, the people who live in their home, and why they want a sponsor. With a video, that child becomes a real-life person with a voice, eye contact, mannerisms, facial expressions, and personality. If a child already has a sponsor the video can be a "thank you."
I point out that making videos would be a wonderful new tool in the program's toolbox, beyond sponsors. It allows the children to see and hear themselves as others do, rather than their language sounding inside their heads. It will help them to develop confidence and poise in presentations. It will move them further into the world of media, which is required to become leaders in their own country, let alone outside it. It will advance their English communication skills.
And it will be fun!
Just like that Barbara understands the value of the suggestion and jumps on it. We decide to start the video process four days later, on Tuesday.
Friday night the whole med team (including me) goes to a wonderful pizzeria owned by an Argentine woman. We consumed probably 15+ pizzas and drank mucho vino, letting loose of the frantic pace of the week just ended.
Saturday, January 25
The med team (including me again) gets the big reward - a 7-hour day at a secluded private beach on the ocean. Everybody agrees this is exactly what the doctor ordered (pun intended.) A stop for ice cream on the way home.
Sunday, January 26
The med team leaves the Big House at 5:45AM for the airport. Dr. Dennis and I move to the Quaker House, a guesthouse of the quite plain and simple Quaker variety. Two rooms with five beds each, and a third with six beds. Bunk beds, of course. Cold-water only. A definite backpacker kind of place. But that's what you get for $10.00 per night.
Dennis and I both luck out and get rooms with nobody in them. I have an additional stroke of luck and get a teensy private bathroom. I am not complaining. Then to the grocery store for supplies because Quaker House is strictly do-it-yourself.
I veg out for what's left of the day.
Monday, January 27
I spend the day at Quaker House writing a video script for the children in which they will fill in the blanks with their necessary information. I also write a script for Barbara because her video will introduce the children, and a bullet-point guide for making a video because I won't be around forever.
Tuesday, January 28
Six children were invited to participate in the first information and practice video session. But some kids told their friends, so nine showed up. Getting them to put their information into the script is a struggle because the script is in English and they have varying levels of speaking ability. Most are sort of shell-shocked by the whole process because they have no experience with making videos, have no video cams, no smartphones, or PlayStations, Xboxes, no DVD or CD players, or anything like them.
Many homes have no TV, and the ones that do are often operating on illegal electric hookups because the people cannot afford electric service. So their TV watching is limited to an hour or two per night.
Another definition of poverty is extreme limitation of resources and access to them.
Wednesday, January 29
Today 20 children are scheduled to come to the Center to pick up their new pencil boxes and supplies for the start of the school year next week. (It runs February through November.)
The task for me is to re-video six of the children from the practice session - four who need sponsors, and two who are saying "thank you."The "newbies" will complete their information scripts. Barbara and I agree that we don't want to pressure the new kids to do more than that so they don't experience videoing as a chore rather than a fun actvity which they'll want to do again.
I'm doing the videos in a small courtyard of the school. Today is especially hot and humid. For some reason, the kids from the practice session are not doing as well as the day before. Taking much longer than I expected. I'm about to start the video with the last student when I suddenly feel light-headed. Need to take a break. Splash cold water on my face and arms. Back to the student. Feeling faint. Get through the video - twice, because he didn't like the first one. Done.
Now I'm in the kitchen getting a wet towel to put around my neck. Head lowered to my knees. Barbara's friend, Brenda, who is visiting from Nova Scotia, looks at me and says, "Dehydrated." She starts pumping water into me. Three large glasses in 15 minutes.
Yup. That's what it was. In half-an-hour I'm good as new.
Tomorrow and Friday Barbara and Ed will be away, so I'll be working on the video project from Quaker House. Will put together a list of educational uses of video for use at the Children's Center. Barbara wants to incorporate videos into as many educational and fun activities as possible and practical.
Barbara thought I could use her old FLIP for the videos, which I tried, but it conked out after 30 seconds, so I used the iPad Mini loaned to me by Bhavisha, my surrogate daughter in Philly, to video the kids.
Barbara thinking that the FLIP could work made me realize that it's not just the kids who get along with little to nothing. Barbara and Ed are always counting every cent, always finding ways to complete a task or provide a service or opportunity to the children in a creative and least costly way. They take nothing for granted, and have adopted the perspective of doing without because their program finances and access to equipment and the like are also limited here.
How different from our US expectations. If Barbara and Ed were in the US they could stroll into a Walmart or BestBuy or shop online or from the TV and pick up a videocam for $80 or less. A 15-year old FLIP would have been recycled years ago.
I make a promise to myself to help them get a couple of inexpensive videocams for the Center. One can be used by the teachers, and one could be used by the students for class projects of their own design and making.
Friday, January 24
Barbara and I are with the children in the small courtyard in front of the San Francisco clinic where the med team is doing their exams and treatments. We're talking about the children in the Pathway to Change program who do not have sponsors.
Sponsors commit to supporting a child in many ways - $2000 per yea, which covers their private school and all tangential costs, like uniforms, textbooks, and the Pathway Children's Center services; encouragement through letters and cards; receiving the student's report cards every marking period and communicating with the student to congratulate or commiserate on the results, and more.
Barbara tells me that when she receives a potential sponsor inquiry she responds electronically with a written profile of the child, his/her strengths and needs, personality, interests, character and the like, and a photo.
The children are not told of the potential sponsor interest in case it doesn't come through, so they're not disappointed. Even if it does finalize they are not told that money is involved. Their understanding is that the sponsor cares about them, their education, their progress, their dreams and goals, and their family, and prays for them. The sponsor never sends gift money to the child, and the children never ask for any because it's not part of the relationship. So the support is minus any potential for financial manipulation on either side.
In a flash it occurs to me that a major piece of making a connection between child and potential sponsor is missing. What the children need to do, I tell Barbara, is make a brief video introducing themselves to potential sponsors, a video about themselves, their favorite school subjects, what they hope to become, the people who live in their home, and why they want a sponsor. With a video, that child becomes a real-life person with a voice, eye contact, mannerisms, facial expressions, and personality. If a child already has a sponsor the video can be a "thank you."
I point out that making videos would be a wonderful new tool in the program's toolbox, beyond sponsors. It allows the children to see and hear themselves as others do, rather than their language sounding inside their heads. It will help them to develop confidence and poise in presentations. It will move them further into the world of media, which is required to become leaders in their own country, let alone outside it. It will advance their English communication skills.
And it will be fun!
Just like that Barbara understands the value of the suggestion and jumps on it. We decide to start the video process four days later, on Tuesday.
Friday night the whole med team (including me) goes to a wonderful pizzeria owned by an Argentine woman. We consumed probably 15+ pizzas and drank mucho vino, letting loose of the frantic pace of the week just ended.
Saturday, January 25
The med team (including me again) gets the big reward - a 7-hour day at a secluded private beach on the ocean. Everybody agrees this is exactly what the doctor ordered (pun intended.) A stop for ice cream on the way home.
Sunday, January 26
The med team leaves the Big House at 5:45AM for the airport. Dr. Dennis and I move to the Quaker House, a guesthouse of the quite plain and simple Quaker variety. Two rooms with five beds each, and a third with six beds. Bunk beds, of course. Cold-water only. A definite backpacker kind of place. But that's what you get for $10.00 per night.
Dennis and I both luck out and get rooms with nobody in them. I have an additional stroke of luck and get a teensy private bathroom. I am not complaining. Then to the grocery store for supplies because Quaker House is strictly do-it-yourself.
I veg out for what's left of the day.
Monday, January 27
I spend the day at Quaker House writing a video script for the children in which they will fill in the blanks with their necessary information. I also write a script for Barbara because her video will introduce the children, and a bullet-point guide for making a video because I won't be around forever.
Tuesday, January 28
Six children were invited to participate in the first information and practice video session. But some kids told their friends, so nine showed up. Getting them to put their information into the script is a struggle because the script is in English and they have varying levels of speaking ability. Most are sort of shell-shocked by the whole process because they have no experience with making videos, have no video cams, no smartphones, or PlayStations, Xboxes, no DVD or CD players, or anything like them.
Many homes have no TV, and the ones that do are often operating on illegal electric hookups because the people cannot afford electric service. So their TV watching is limited to an hour or two per night.
Another definition of poverty is extreme limitation of resources and access to them.
Wednesday, January 29
Today 20 children are scheduled to come to the Center to pick up their new pencil boxes and supplies for the start of the school year next week. (It runs February through November.)
The task for me is to re-video six of the children from the practice session - four who need sponsors, and two who are saying "thank you."The "newbies" will complete their information scripts. Barbara and I agree that we don't want to pressure the new kids to do more than that so they don't experience videoing as a chore rather than a fun actvity which they'll want to do again.
I'm doing the videos in a small courtyard of the school. Today is especially hot and humid. For some reason, the kids from the practice session are not doing as well as the day before. Taking much longer than I expected. I'm about to start the video with the last student when I suddenly feel light-headed. Need to take a break. Splash cold water on my face and arms. Back to the student. Feeling faint. Get through the video - twice, because he didn't like the first one. Done.
Now I'm in the kitchen getting a wet towel to put around my neck. Head lowered to my knees. Barbara's friend, Brenda, who is visiting from Nova Scotia, looks at me and says, "Dehydrated." She starts pumping water into me. Three large glasses in 15 minutes.
Yup. That's what it was. In half-an-hour I'm good as new.
Tomorrow and Friday Barbara and Ed will be away, so I'll be working on the video project from Quaker House. Will put together a list of educational uses of video for use at the Children's Center. Barbara wants to incorporate videos into as many educational and fun activities as possible and practical.
Barbara thought I could use her old FLIP for the videos, which I tried, but it conked out after 30 seconds, so I used the iPad Mini loaned to me by Bhavisha, my surrogate daughter in Philly, to video the kids.
Barbara thinking that the FLIP could work made me realize that it's not just the kids who get along with little to nothing. Barbara and Ed are always counting every cent, always finding ways to complete a task or provide a service or opportunity to the children in a creative and least costly way. They take nothing for granted, and have adopted the perspective of doing without because their program finances and access to equipment and the like are also limited here.
How different from our US expectations. If Barbara and Ed were in the US they could stroll into a Walmart or BestBuy or shop online or from the TV and pick up a videocam for $80 or less. A 15-year old FLIP would have been recycled years ago.
I make a promise to myself to help them get a couple of inexpensive videocams for the Center. One can be used by the teachers, and one could be used by the students for class projects of their own design and making.
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