arbolito...alive and kicking

Well hello and welcome back to the blog. Things on the island (aka arbolito) have been going pretty well lately and a lot has happened since our last blog. I'll try to hit the high points for you.

In Semillas news, the kids have finished their school year and are now all coming to Semillas without homework. So now we are able to prepare our own lessons and teach the kids lots of fun things. However exciting that might sound, keep in mind that this is around 100 kids daily who just got off school for summer break. And if you can remember back to when you were little, learning the geography of Ecuador probably wasn't on your list of things to do once school was out. It's going pretty well so far though, and we and the Ecuadorian helpers have been working together to come up with more ideas on how and what to teach the kids.

Classes at Mundo have officially ended and we are now in the midst of juntas (meetings) and turning in grades and materials. It'll be nice to have a change of pace from Mundo, but I'll miss my English class too.

Back in Arbolito, plans are in the works to teach literacy classes to neighborhood kids that have trouble reading. Three of us will be doing so in the Semillas room in the morning with kids from Victor Murillo and Angel Padilla. Another three will be doing a similar activity in 'sector cuatro', an area of Arbolito that is even less developed than where our house and the tech school are. It will be a new adventure for us and we're very excited to see where it will go.

And lastly, Arbolito successfully hosted its first ever retreat group! Yours truly was the group leader and the group came to us from St. Bonaventure in New York. Eight bright eyed youngsters and two adult leaders spent nine days learning and experiencing what it is like to live in Durán. The experience was a complete success and the community here is waiting with anticipation the arrival of the next group in February.

So now you know. And remember kids, knowing is half the battle. Jasón out.