Odds & Ends

I’ve been in Honduras for four months. It’s weird to think that a third of a year has already passed. While I have done my best to write about the big events that have happened during my time on the Ranch, there are still so many little details to share. So, although it’s a variety of things, here’s a little bit more about life here, with plenty of pictures. Special thanks to my volunteer friends for the pictures that I (lovingly) stole.

Over the past three months, the new, improved, Honduran dwelling Jessica…

…now answers to: Jess-i-ka, Yess-i-ka, Ye-ka (my personal least favorite,) and Gringa, in addition to the previously established nicknames I’ve accrued over the years.

…has “helped” trim the grass using a machete, with the blisters to prove it. Humility is one of your 6-year old pequeños making fun of your chopear skills and watching them chop more grass in half the time.

…uses hot sauce, despite having an embarrassingly low tolerance for spicy things. Desperate times, desperate measures. The rice and beans and tortillas aren’t going anywhere.

…has seen frogs, turtles, armadillos, cockroaches, spiders, tarantulas, scorpions, and snakes around the Ranch. I’m not really thrilled about it.

…can successfully use public transportation to travel to and from Tegus.

…has read five books since arriving here, which is more than I read in two years of grad school. Cheers to (a little) more free time, no homework, and a fabulous library full of English and Spanish books to choose from. You know where to find me if you need a good read recommendation!

In addition to my new skills and nicknames, here are some other things that have happened since I moved to the Ranch:

Día de Padre Wasson

We celebrated the day of Padre Wasson in August, the Wednesday before Olimpiadas. If you remember my posts about Olimpiadas practices and the big weekend, you can imagine how having another event on the Ranch made things even crazier. The department I work in at the school was chosen to help with decorations, so in addition to therapy and Olimpiadas practice, we had to decorate for the big presentation. 

From the left: Mira, Anni, Franzi, Kailyn, and me posing with our handiwork. Not too shabby, right?

On Wednesday, we celebrated Mass, which included speakers and offerings in honor of Padre Wasson. After a special breakfast, the students presented a program commemorating Padre Wasson’s life. I remember being so exhausted and thinking about the upcoming Olimpiadas, but it was still a very nice day. 

Día del Niño

Día del niño, or day of the child, was September 10. All the volunteers that work in the school were very involved in the day’s activities. The girl school volunteers decided to put on a dance for the kids as a surprise. After a fun presentation, the kids split up into teams and rotated around the school to play games. They earned prizes and got to eat a special lunch. 

Two of the teachers performing a skit to a traditional Honduran song. 

The kids waiting to eat lunch.

The girl school volunteers in our dance costumes. Working at the school can be frustrating at times, and I am so thankful to have these girls to share teacher meetings, recess supervision, lunch, and just the daily Ranch craziness.

15 de septiembre

Happy independence day, Honduras! My alarm went off at 4:45 in the morning, so the school volunteers would have time to get all of the decorations and drive to Talanga. We marched in the independence day parade for over an hour through town. I helped make the materials for second grade, where we represented two of the departments of Honduras. NPH also had cheerleaders and a band, who had both been practicing for weeks before the parade. We had been warned that it is usually really hot, but we were lucky and got an overcast morning.

My roommate Sara posing with some of the decorations while we waited at the gate to be picked up.

Carly and me with the maps we made for second grade.

Two of my girls.

Kailyn with one of the girls in her hogar.

Two more of my girls dressed up to represent Honduras.

Getting ready to march.

Some of the boys marched in line with palos, or sticks. They practiced several times a week at school to make sure they were synchronized. 

He took his job very seriously.

Performing for the judges.

Enjoying snacks after the parade.

Another post coming soon with more pictures!

An American SLP in Honduras

Disclaimer: This post is a little speech pathology-y. I know it’s not the most interesting to all of you, but it’s my job here on the Ranch, and a huge reason why I chose to volunteer with NPH. Besides, I just love what I do, and want to talk about it.

After two weeks of orientation in early July, it was already time to start working. The school year runs from February – November here, so I started in the middle of the academic year, which was an unforeseen challenge. While I had the schedule of the previous SLP to use, I also wanted to meet the kids and see if there were others who could benefit from therapy. I decided to spend my first weeks organizing my room, observing classes, and evaluating kids. I soon discovered that as I continued to seek out kids for therapy, I continued to find kids for therapy, with a limited amount of slots in my schedule. I have struggled a lot with numbers, because there simply are too many kids on the Ranch who I would like to work with. I have made small groups and work with as many kids as possible, but with 300+ kiddos here, I just can’t do it. We talked about using our “clinical judgment” all the time in grad school, and for the first time, I'm working on my own, and I suddenly have to critically think and apply my clinical judgment in a way I never have had to before.  

Although I’m not sure I have yet to experience a “typical” anything here on the Ranch, here’s what a typical work week looks like:

On Mondays I go to Casa Angeles, which as I shared before, is a home in Tegus for children with severe disabilities and/or medical needs. My therapy is very play-based, to work on engaging the kids and trying to work on goals as simple as joint attention, or being able to appropriately play with a toy. I found creating appropriate, reasonable goals for this population to be challenging, because I needed to have a realistic sense of their current communication, and what I can work towards this year. I also help with feeding during snack and lunch. In the future, I would like to do a charla, or chat about feeding and swallowing safety to share what I know with the tías who work in Casa Angeles. 

One week at Casa Angeles, I got to observe hipoterapia, which some of the kids receive once a week. I had never seen anything like this before, and really enjoyed it! It was amazing to see the reactions and changes in the kids when it was their turn to ride. I would love to go again sometime this year.

Tuesday through Friday, I stay on the Ranch. In addition to spending time at the school, I spend mornings in Casa Suyapa working with the Chiquitos in their Montessori classroom, visiting the abuelo home Casa Eva, working in talleres, or the junior high, as well as the hogar San Juan de la Salle, where I work with two boys with autism. I have a huge variety on my caseload, which forces me to think about a ton of different goals and therapy techniques. I’m so grateful to be able to work with such a range of ages and diagnoses, because it will hopefully help me find a job back in the States. Plus, it just makes work more interesting and fun.

My very own classroom! 

My makeshift "reading corner." The kids aren't used to sitting at a table and working, so they often opt to do therapy here. As long as they are engaged and focused, I'm happy to let them choose where they want to sit. 

The library in Casa Suyapa, where I work with the Chiquitos one-on-one. It's not my official classroom, but I love working in here too!

The younger kids love therapy, because it means individual attention and the possibility of earning a sticker. Although I sometimes need to remind the kids to focus, they typically work hard and enjoy their time with me. When I walk to the younger grades, I’m often greeted by a swarm of kids asking, “¿Cuándo me toca la terapia?” or “when is it my turn for therapy?!” Although I can’t usually work with every kid who asks for a turn, it’s so nice to know that the kids don’t dread working with me.

I scooped up one of the Chiquitos for a quick hug while working at the school. He's actually a twin, and they are both doing great in therapy. Doesn't he have the sweetest little face?

Taking a picture at the end of a productive session. 

All of the little ones love this little plastic duck I found in a bag of old toys. Here, my little friend is reading a story to the duck while we practice using complete sentences and expand her vocabulary. 

She loves to back herself into my lap (quite forcefully, actually,) and start reading to herself. Notice anything about the book? I snapped this right before turning the book right side up.

Unfortunately, I am not greeted as warmly when I go to talleres, or the junior high to give therapy to a few kids. I am often given an eye roll, and was once told that death sounds more fun than therapy. I have always felt more comfortable working with younger kids, so I was a little hesitant to start working in talleres. But, I also know that these girls can greatly benefit from therapy, so I continue to try every week to make therapy motivating and fun.

In an effort to make the older girls comfortable with me, I took our first couple sessions to play “get to know you” games to give them time to adjust to a new therapist, while I sneakily listened to their speech and language while we played. I brought two games to give the girls a chance to select whichever game they preferred. Both girls chose Sorry. As I played with the particularly reluctant girl, I drew 3 Sorry cards in a row, which as all you Sorry players know, means that I can replace her piece on the game board, giving me the lead. She was too old for me to “change the rules” and do something different as I may have done with a younger kid. So I found myself completely dominating the game, when for the first time in my life, my competitive self actually wanted to lose to give her confidence and more comfort with me. Despite my Sorry plan backfiring, we have slowly made progress over the past couple months. Although I'm never greeted with a hug as I am with the Chiquitos, I am happy to spend time and work with the older girls, and I would like to think their time with me isn't too horrible, either. 

This is my first time really being “on my own” as a SLP. Although I slowly was given more freedom as an intern, I always had a supervisor to ask questions or give me feedback. Now, I’m in a different country completely on my own. I have spent a lot of my time explaining what exactly a speech-language pathologist is, and what our scope of practice includes. While I love talking about my work, it is sometimes tricky to explain everything we can do in Spanish, but it gets easier every time. The school is run very different than a school in the States, and I have deliberately tried to keep some of my "American SLP" habits, because I think it will make me a stronger therapist in Honduras. 

I have moments where I question myself and wonder how on earth I am allowed to just treat kids. I’ve studied and worked towards being a SLP for six years, and now I’m given the freedom and trust to apply what I’ve learned. It’s scary at times, but also so rewarding. I'm so thankful for my professors, supervisors, and friends who share goal and activity ideas via email and Skype, and the constant reassurance, trust, and gratitude of the tías and teachers here. Here's to 9 more months of plastic toy ducks, stickers, and (hopefully) losing more games of Sorry.

Tractor Termite, at your service

I had the intention of posting again so much sooner, but I should have known that things would take longer than expected. Pardon the delay, but here you go. Olimpiadas, day 2.

Friday night ended around 10:00, which is insanely late for the Ranch. As the program concluded, there were tíos and tías walking up to Casa Suyapa carrying little sleeping insects who couldn’t make it through the whole program. Here’s just a little taste of what Friday night was like:

The decorated stage where the judges sat. Doesn't it look incredible?! The background says "Working like the insects we will make a wonderful world." 

Our mural with information about Termites. The bottom is our lema, or motto, which says "United like a family we can improve and change the world." Our shirts and flag have our lema on it as well. I never thought I'd ever say termites will improve the world, let alone change it. 

Presenting our flag to the judges. 

All of the teams waving their flags. 

With another volunteer waiting for the presentations to begin. 

3/7 dancing Termitas. See why I insisted on wearing leggings?

The games on Saturday started at 7:30 with a Celebration of the Word and picture of everyone in the NPH Honduras family. After the photoshoot, we lit the Olimpiadas torch, and the games began.

Las Termitas spent the morning in Buen Pastor, which is the side of the Ranch where the boys live. We played against Las Abejas, or the bees for all of the games that required an opponent. These games were more physically demanding, and included the long jump, a game of handball, obstacle courses, crawling through mud, wrestling, and of course, getting wet.  

Getting ready to walk together on giant skis. 

The makeshift slip n slide they crawled under, followed by mud.

Our intense handball game. We won!

For me, the most memorable game was the Lucha de Tirón, or tug of war, which took place in ankle-deep mud. When we arrived at the tug of war, we were told that there would be three rounds: men, women, and mixed. I was excited to help with the women’s round, and Melissa, a fellow volunteer and Termita agreed to be on the women’s team as well. When I mentioned that the two of us would stand at the back, since it’s always good to have a strong anchor, a tío on my team turned to me and said, “Well yea, that’s a good idea. We should put you two tractors in the back.” I don’t think he meant it to be mean, but women typically don’t strive to be compared to large farming equipment. Melissa and I had a good laugh about that, but proved to be tractor worthy when we helped out in the women’s and mixed round.

Getting ready for the men's round. 

The men giving us last-minute advice. Note the tractors in the back. 

It was so hard to do in the mud, because you had no traction. But look at everyone screaming at us!

I mean, for tractors, we look pretty good, right? 

Later in the afternoon, we went to Talita Kumi (where all the girls live,) and did relay races. These games seemed so tame and calm compared to our morning.

We had a little break to shower and rest before the big awards ceremony. The kitchen prepared an especially delicious dinner of churrasco, rice, and salad. We even had ice cream, which is a rare treat here. At awards, I learned that there would be winners for the presentations as well as for the games, so six teams could win. After seeing some of the other dances, I did not expect to hear the Las Termitas announced as a winner. However, I was so pleasantly surprised to find out that we won third place in the games! I didn't play in every game, but this Termite Tractor got to enjoy an afternoon of non-Ranch food in honor of our outstanding game performance. 

It's already almost been a month since Olimpiadas, which I can't believe. The preparation was extremely time consuming, overwhelming, and challenging, but the actual event was a lot of fun. I'm still greeted with a hug and shout whenever I see a Termita on the Ranch, and know the kids will continue to talk about Olimpiadas until next year.