La Aldea Infantil: A Positive Attitude is Contagious

Elliot, an intern at La Aldea Infantil, gives us some positive thoughts about his experiences from last week:

One thing that has stood out to me was how positive the kids are. Despite all of the trials and difficulties that they have they always seem to laugh and have a good time. One of those children who has an extreme ability to be positive is Gabriel (above). He is always laughing and most importantly he makes those kids around him feel better. Everyone loves to be around him and he has a large heart. One night while making pizza at his house, he told me that we should go and check on Fabricio (below) because he was probably lonely.

Fabricio is a baby that is 1 ½ years old and suffers from many illnesses. Some of the few illnesses that he has are epilepsy, blind, brain damage, and lame. Amongst all these issues Fabricio still manages to have a smile on his face. He is especially ticklish under his neck and around his waist. He is always laughing and having a good time. We take him to Trujillo for physical therapy twice a week for his legs and eyes. Although he is not very talkative his good heart makes him always someone you want to be around. It is a blessing to know that even amongst all the trials we have in life (and in the USA we have very few compared to 3^rd world countries) that these children can still find joy and happiness. Just another witness to me that happiness, joy, and fulfillment in life comes from within ourselves, it is something we decide.

How to help a child like Fabricio.

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Iltaqui: Spotlight on Andres

Claryssa, an intern at Iltaqui, gives us a spotlight on Andres:

The classes are going great! The students can now have a basic conversation in English including phrases like "My name is", "I am from", "I am _ years old". They are catching on quickly and love to practice with their partners.

Luis Andres Panama is pictured above. Andres is an AMAZING student who loves learning English! He is very bright and continues to surprise me every day. Andres is 11 years old and has a twin brother whose name is Luis Angel and a younger brother whose name is Abelardo. The three of them have not missed a day of classes! Andres comes to class everyday with a smile and full of enthusiasm. He has an excellent memory and can recall almost every vocabulary word the students have learned without looking at his notes. I can't say enough about Andres. Not only is he an excellent student but also an amazing soccer player and artist. If he were given the opportunity to continue studying English, I am positive that he would master the language in no time at all!

How to help a child like Andres.

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Semillas de Amor: Donate at Tipping Bucket

We are so close to our $2500 goal on the Tipping Bucket!

We have just under 10 hours left to obtain the last $400 we need!

If you haven't already, please donate at the Tipping Bucket for Eagle Condor Humanitarian.

The funds will go directly to Semillas de Amor to build the refugee center!

And if we get our goal, The Little Heroes Foundation will match it!

Please donate now, before it is too late!

More posts about Semillas de Amor.

**Aug 8 Update: Thanks for all the donations! We met our goal of $2500 with YOUR help! We also received some last minute donations amounting to $3919 in total! A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who donated and spread the word to their friends! Keep checking back for updates as the center is built!**

El Bichito: Field Trip to a Hospital

Eliana, an intern at El Bichito, tells us about another field trip the kids went on to learn more about possible careers:

The children were able to see the facilities of the hospital and the work being done in each area. They also learned of various ways to care for patients, and careers and professions that are needed to work in different areas. The tour manager was very friendly and explained everything so well. The kids had a great experience and learned a lot!

La Aldea Infantil: Vacation Week

Katy tells us about this past week, while the kids were out of school at the Aldea:

This week at the Aldea, the kids were out of school for vacations. This allowed for lots of fun and learning in the outdoors. We spent time playing in the trees and moving our bodies. Some of the tias held picnics outside and other activities. Two more interns arrived this week (Elliott and Ali) and the interactions have been great! We have continued the trail project and gotten the kids involved with that as well.

Fun in the avocado tree!

Elliott was teaching all the kids to compartir (share and take turns) and he did an impressive with 12 of the kids as they waited to swing and jump off the rope swing hanging in a tree.

Vacation time so we painted our nails!

Iltaqui: Spotlight on Diana

Child spotlight from Claryssa, an intern at Iltaqui:

This is Diana Maribel Marcillo. She was born on November 28, 2000 and is 10 years old. She is in seventh grade. Her parents are Alberto Marcillo Panama and Maria Angelina Oyagata Panama. Diana has been a very diligent student and so far has not missed a day of classes. She has two younger sisters who come with her, Selena who is 8 years old and Ñusta who is 5 years old. Diana catches on quickly and always makes sure she correctly pronounces every word in English. She has learned how to say what her favorite fruit is (kiwi) and also what her favorite sport is (soccer). Diana is also very helpful in the classroom. She makes sure everyone is quiet and ready to learn. When her mom has to work Diana has to bring her youngest brother to class. He is only a little more than a year old so sometimes she has to take him outside and misses part of the lesson. Despite this challenge, Diana continues to master everything we learn in class. She will come to me for extra help and will also review with her friends and sisters what they have learned that day. Overall she is an excellent student with tons of potential!

La Aldea Infantil: Elliot's First Week

Elliot tells us about his first week at the Aldea:

What a wonderful week at the Aldea!!! So much has happened and the children have been great. One thing that I have noticed are the big hearts the kids have. They want to have fun and most of all to have new experiences. Each age group has those small things that they love to do. The older kids love to play soccer so we tend to play in the morning and then spend a little more time with the little kids in the afternoon. One of the greatest things that happened this week was that we were able to have the kids work together more. We started playing and jumping off the swing.

They were able to stand in a line for the first time since being at the Aldea although knowing kids they could not keep their hands off each other. We even created a little line made out of logs that we gathered. They sat on them and we loved just playing and working with each other.

The greatest was Miguel (5) who would make bird noises while swinging. Afterwards he told me that it was because he said if he did it enough he would start to fly. Now although he did not start to fly he did get pretty high in the swing. The kids are doing great and really making progress in their developmental process.