Medal of Honour
Our high school students have excelled in the first months of school, despite the difficult conditions of online teaching, and Anahy, who attends the second secondary class, was even awarded the best in class. Although classes are still held virtually, she was personally invited to the school to receive the "Cuadro de honour" medal.
Also, Alden and Angie, who attend the first secondary class, each received a tablet as a reward for their excellent grades.
These are important moments with a strong symbolic power to motivate the children. It takes a lot of motivation for all of them to sit in front of the screen every morning and participate in the school lessons. The lessons are long, the teachers only give frontal lessons and what the children miss most is the social contact with their classmates.
We all hope that the reopening of the schools will take place as soon as possible.
Festival 2021
We were not aware that we had so many talents in the children's home. Our teachers and psychologist organised the "Festival 2021", in which all the children took part and could show off their skills.
Some children sang, others danced, two acted out a story in the puppet theatre and four and a half year old Dominick showed his rhythm skills on the drums.
It is very important to nurture the individual talents of the children and teach them to perform in front of an audience. This strengthens their self-confidence and gives them more self-assurance for later life.
Daily Chores
The coexistence of 40 children and 15 employees only succeeds when everyone supports and helps each other. For us it is very important that even the smallest ones have to take responsibility and also get their chores.
These are small tasks that they must do according to the "weekly schedule". For example, washing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, mopping the bedrooms and classrooms, sweeping the outdoor area and the children from the age of 12 have to wash their clothes by hand on their own.
Everyone knows that each of us must do these tasks and that it is our responsibility to prepare them for life so that they do not become "parasites" who live at the expense of others.
Birthdays
When is the most important day of the year?
I asked our children this question and almost ¾ of them named their birthday!
The reason for this is that the birthday child is sung the "Mañanitas" by all the children in the home in the morning. Afterwards, the child can dress up in nice clothes for the day and in the afternoon, the big birthday party with cake, soft drinks and a piñata takes place.
Of course, most of them also mention the birthday presents and that there is chicken with tajadas for dinner in the evening.
For this reason, we celebrate the birthday of every single child. This gives us the opportunity to make the children feel at least once a year that they are the center of attention at the children's home and that they are unique and special despite the many children.