La Aldea Infantil: Good-bye

The following is a post from Jill, who just finished her internship at the Aldea:

July 25
This week was my last week as an intern here at the Aldea. As we said our tender goodbyes, we left an encouraging message with each of the children and reassured them that they have the power and capabilities to realize their dreams. We gave each child their own personalized card which pointed out their best qualities (most of which came from their peers) and reminded them that they can continue to develop these and other qualities which will help them to accomplish their goals.As the children received their cards, their eyes lit up and they were beaming with joy as they felt recognized and appreciated. We let them know that they are all special and an important part of the Aldea, and we will miss them dearly and terribly. The friendships and bonds we have made will not only affect the lives of these children, but will continue to affect our lives as well. This has been the most incredible and fulfilling experience of my entire life. I left my heart in the Aldea. 

Aldea Infantil: Progress with Fabricio

The following is a post from Jill, an intern at La Aldea Infantil, giving us a report on Fabricio's development. Read more about Fabricio, here, here, here and here.

On Friday I had the opportunity to help Fabricio with his physical therapy. His field of vision is increasing and he is starting to focus his eyes on things around the room instead of just letting them wander most of the time.  His hand eye coordination is improving and Fabricio was able to sit up by himself for a few seconds longer this week! We have been giving him some extra love and we feel that this is helping him to progress more quickly. I am so excited and happy to see how much progress he is making!

La Aldea Infantil: Helping Perla

The following post is from Jill, an intern at La Aldea Infantil: 

This week we decided to make a memory flashcard set of the alphabet for Perla. We were all focused on teaching her how to recognize and write the first few letters in the alphabet and it was cool to see how quickly she was learning. We think we can help her a lot in this way and its great to see her enthusiasm for learning!

Aldea Infantil: Update on recycling program

The following is a post from Jill, an intern at La Aldea Infantil:

June 17
This week, we found out that the recycling bins at the Aldea outside had been dumped into the same pile on the other side of the wall- the same wall that the recycling bins were leaning up against. So we put on some gloves and went to work! Maribel and I, along with another intern from Scotland, organized this huge pile of recycling. We built a little wall and separated each section (plastics, glass, cardboard, etc). This will benefit the Aldea because they can sell the recycling and make some profit!  

Read the original post explaining the Aldea's recycling program.

Aldea Infantil: Update on Fabricio

An update on Fabricio from Jill, who is volunteering at La Aldea Infantil:

Learn more about Fabricio from past posts here, here and here.

June 10, 2012
Fabricio is 2 years old and can't sit up or stand or anything on his own. He came to the Aldea when he was 4 months old and has made a TON of progress since then. However, he still cannot sit up on his own or support himself yet. He attends physical therapy so he can learn how to do so, and this week I got to take Fabricio to Trujillo for his physical therapy. He has an appointment twice a week, which is good because it gets him moving and stretched out. During therapy, the therapist showed me the routine and taught me how to work with Fabricio, so we (at the Aldea) can start helping him learn to sit up on his own. He still can't hold himself up yet without help for longer than a few seconds, but he is making progress! We are going to start working with him every day so he can progress more quickly!