Work and Play (July 23, 2010)

Today I got to spend quite a bit of time with a number of kids working on a simple task.  The job I brought today was working with plastic cubes.  A couple of kids could take apart a stack stuck together, one could snap the blocks together, but, for most it was a challenge just to pick them up one by one and put them in a container.  This sounds like such a simple task, but for many of our kids, just this basic use of their hands is a challenge.  Once again I am amazed at the effort they are willing to put into doing something so difficult for them.  We had a great time, though, as you can see from these pictures.

To give you an idea just how challenging it is for the kids to do this, I shot some video.

Now this is what I call DETERMINATION!

Some new friends, Dave and Lou, who live in Ontario were visiting Hermano Pedro yesterday with their daughter.  Together with Dick we took a few kids to lunch.  Again, this simple activity which we take for granted (going out to lunch) was a huge treat for the boys.  I took Carlitos, and I wish I'd had a video running when we entered Pollo Campero.  He recognized it from his first trip there a couple of weeks ago, and let out such a whoop when he saw we were going in!  I don't think I've heard him vocalize as much as he did on this outing and even when we returned to the orphanage.  He's quite the kid.

Carlitos usually eats pureed food and drinks from a bottle at the orphanage.  As you can see, he's very well able to feed himself, if given the chance.

As always, Ervin had a great time and cleaned up all the leftovers for us!

Dave and Lou graciously invited me to dinner with them, Dick and their daughter.  We ate a Picadilly, a restaurant here in Antigua that has great pizza, as well as pasta dishes.  This was a great way to celebrate the end of another week, and my "one month anniversary" living in Antigua.