First of My Lasts
I recently had my last day teaching the kids at La Pedrera. The first of my lasts as my trip starts coming to an end.
The kids at the school have been incredible. Very respectful, welcoming, and willing to learn everyday. It is a wonderful heart warming feeling to see young faces light up as they realize they are learning and creating something new. It just fuels my want to teach again someday.
In my time here, we have learned different things in Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and web development. It is a completely different atmosphere because none of the kids have computers in their homes, so they are so excited and interested in what you have to teach them. Very different than in the US just because computers are so commonplace.
I see different kids in the street around the city and they are always coming up to me, shaking my hand, and wanting to talk. It’s great.
Theresa, the representative for the project at Casa Xelaju, has been climbing the hill everyday to assist the kids in their homework and learning for 12 years. She is a very special person and I’m glad that I have met her. She allowed me to teach the kids without restrictions and was very appreciative of all the time that I put in there.
For my last day we did some Powerpoint presentations where they learned how to animate text in their presentations. I had made print outs of all pictures for each student and gave the to them as gifts for the end of class. You would have thought it was like Christmas. They were so excited to get pictures of themselves.
Friday, Theresa called me into her office to talk about my time here, etc. and gave me cards that were made from many of the students, including drawings and little messages from them. A very special moment for me.
A PSA from Victor
La Pedrera
I mentioned a small blurb about this in a previous post, but I have begun teaching underprivileged kids at a project connected to Casa Xelaju called La Pedrera.
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La Pedrera is an indigenous community in the hills close to Xela. I walk about a mile uphill to get there. Everyday during the week from 3pm to 5pm I teach the kids basic computer skills and english more or less in Spanish. I teach three days of computer stuff and two days of English. Usually for computer class we do stuff in Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. I have been able to find some educational games in Spanish for the younger kids to play and learn at the same time. For English class we mostly do vocabulary, some simple verb stuff and simple sentences. Unfortunately, I need to learn English before I am able to teach it. 
Usually I have two groups a day for an hour each. It depends on the day but I teach ages from 6 to 17.
The school building looks a little crude on the outside but the inside is very nice. There is a second floor where they have a very nice computer lab.
Here are pictures of some of the kids that I teach everyday:
So far it has been a wonderful experience. All of the kids are very respectful and patient with me and my Spanish faux-paux’s. They are so intelligent and pick up stuff very fast. Usually for computer class I’ll give them 7 or 8 steps to do, and they just go to it. Makes me wish I had a younger brain in regards to learning Spanish. But if I can say anything it makes me feel good knowing that if they can understand my broken Spanish then I must be saying something right.