I wanted to explain a little about my work and experience at Hogar Belen, what I am enjoying most about my work, and some of the insights I have had.

On an average day at the centre, I work invidividually with the kids. There are quite a few toys on the room which I lead play with. Sometimes we colour, do puzzles, talk infront of the mirror, read books, typical teaching stuff. I feel a little contained sometimes and so am working on more ideas to integrate into my teaching. Music, for example, is a big part of Nicaraguan culture and so I would like to make some shakers or other simple instruments to use with them. I have organized my theme ideas into months where I will concentrate on each one more specifically. I find this is helping me.

One of the things I like about my work and environment is the variety of experiences we engage in. In a previous post I descibed my basic schedule of work. In reality there are few days that fit that exactly. For example, there is a field next door to the home where we take the kids on occasion (at least once a week). I like participating in this because it gives me a chance to work with the kids in a group and also to work along side the other educators. My host sister is going to teach me some songs with actions soon to do with them. Hopefully the other educators are interested in learning as well and will use them as a teaching tool. During the past few weeks, we have been going to the equestrian centre for therapy. The kids love it! They look so relaxed as they ride, which is a rare sight for some of them.

Another thing I am particularly enjoying about my work is the sense of community and family type unit we have. The kids actually call me mama and the workers call each other mama or papa. Also I feel like my needs are well met there, like a family. And we have a lot of fun together. National holidays, such as Christmas, or Policia (a Catholic holiday) are celebrated with a Church service, meal, games, performances, and/or gifts.

The most precious part of Hogar Belen are the kids. Each child has such a unique personlity. They are all so beautiful. I am enjoying getting to know each one. The kids and workers seem to have certain workers they are more attached to, which is interesting to watch. I try to stay away from that role because my time is short and would rather encourage relationships between the more long term workers with individual children to give the children more stability.

Overall, I am thankful for my experiences and opportunities at the centre. My time seems short, but I have hope for it, with the power of prayer and some discipline.