This morning our team realized that we only have a week and a half to love on these babies that have taken our hearts! Both language group and ped dysphagia went smoothly today. Milestones and improvements are being noted and recorded in our HIZ-PATH database. This afternoon we were paired off with one another and assigned a child from Haven 2.
Jake and Staci - Virginia (aka Vigi)
Brittany and Rachel - Maureen (aka Momo)
Makala and Courtney - Seth
As apart of our group research project for the echo class we are attempting to bring home language samples from children ages 3-5. Our goal is to elicit 150 spontaneous utterances from each child during play. One of our team members would record the other would bring toys and ask open ended questions to spark conversation. It was a little rough starting out. The children are wonderful and enjoy talking to us but most of their conversations are in Tongan - making it difficult to interact and gain the amount of language needed. We are excited about trying different techniques to gain the data needed.
Tonight we had a time to share with each other and discuss what we have seen in our time here. Kara also spoke words of wisdom. We had a pleasant evening and are going to bed early in order to fully enjoy the last week and a half with these precious babies!
Becca to answer your question ( Jake was already in his bunk house so his answer is not posted):
Makala - "The cultural differences were surprising. I have two main food groups - cheese and bread - aka grilled cheese sandwiches. My carry-on has been our market - bring more sweets."
Courtney - "I didn't realize the shower system - it is ice cold after 4:30 p.m. - You have to wear your shoes and hold on to the sides. You can definitely get Malaria in the showers. Even though you shower you may not feel clean. The mosquito nets are also hard to get use to. Also, I'm high maintenance! In all seriousness, I didn't realize how much I would love the babies and not want to leave them."
Brittany - "I didn't expect to fall in love with Tim (he is 21 mos old). I also enjoyed the simplistic way of life here. You can also totally barter gem X."
Rachel - "I wish I had written down every church/preschool song ever written because you need them ALL!!!! I have truly loved every second with the babies and will be leaving a part of me here in Africa!"
Staci - "I wish I had known about all the huge spiders that would be sharing a house with us. I also wish that I could have better prepared myself with more therapy materials for group. The time difference has made it hard to connect with people at home"
Taylor - "The crazies I was going on the trip with!! I wish I had prepared myself for how overwhelming it would all be and like the others have said it has been nice living simply."
Seth
Lincoln
Momo
Brittany and her Tim ;)
Rachel, can't wait to hear about the different techniques you will use to help elicit spontaneous speech in English! Staci, I DO NOT envy you when it comes to sharing a home with monstrous spiders, eek!! Hope all else is well and can't wait to see you all when you get back!
ReplyDeleteStaci, the spiders.... no way. I do not envy you there. It's exciting to read everyone's remarks because when I read them I am picturing all of you saying them with your individually unique funny facial expressions and gestures. It made me miss you all even more! I am looking forward to reading the language samples you bring home. I am also looking forward to seeing your milestone charts and viewing all of the progress you all have made! Enjoy these last few weeks, they will go by quickly! Love you all.
ReplyDeleteJust goes to prove ...time flies when you are having fun!! I know that I am experiencing the same thing where I am ...only 3 more weeks left and I know I am going to miss it so much, but I am looking forward to seeing you all again soon.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that most of the children speak Tongan, about how many English words do the 3-5 years old children speak and does that compare to the number that the average 3-5 year old here would speak?
Thank you for sharing all of your thoughts and experiences with us here at home...love and miss you all!!
By the way if any of you are interested in checking out Natalie's cultural experiences in Alaska.... her and Ryan have their own blog going. (It's a little mushy.....but there are some great photos:) http://epicalaskasaga.blogspot.com
So what have you learned from these differences that you will be taking back to America? I know your experience has been life-changing. Are there any things that you will do differently when you come home? Often when working with the elderly, I think that soon my parents and myself will end up going through something very similar to those that I am working with every day. There are things ahead of us. Time is precious; there is always time to smile; enjoy what you are doing as long as you have to get up at the crack of dawn anyway; make friends with your coworkers; speech therapists do happen to do a lot of PR; and I am sure that there is more. Hope you are all having a great week!
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