More pics

Nice experience!

I had a nice experience serving others in Solca. I was happy and I made others happy. I was happy because I was helping all the time, instead stay in my home doing nothing and I made them happy because we made activities that made them have fun. And also, we gave to the children the hope of being cured and dreaming about the things they want to do someday.

Is true that have cancer is not easy, but we tried to make them forget about that disease and live smiling every single day. Of course those cases of children made us (gaby and me) see life from another point of view. I think we enjoy life more than before.

Puppets libreto

This is the “libretto” of the story of the puppet. Is cute!

Función de títeres: “Juan quiere conocer a los bomberos”

Anita: ¡Hola chicos!... ¿Cómo están?

Niños: Bien.

Anita: Bueno les voy a presentar a un amigo que es muy educado y se llama Juan.

Anita: Juan… ¿Dónde estás?

Juan: Hola Anita, aquí estoy (con voz desanimada).

Anita: Pero Juan ¿Qué te pasa? ¿Estás triste?

Juan: Si… un poco Anita.

Anita: Pero Juan… no estés triste… Mira que han venido unos amigos a vernos.

Juan: Ah… si… Hola niños (voz desanimada)

Anita: Juan No debes estar triste… Tienes que estar alegre como todos los que están aquí.

Anita: A ver… Cuéntame ¿Qué te pasa?

Juan: Es que mi hermano conoció a los bomberos y se subió al carro de bomberos y mi mami no me dejó porque soy muy pequeño.

Anita: Ay Juanito, pero no te preocupes… de seguro te subirás al teatrín en un par de años más.

Juan: Pero para que eso suceda falta mucho tiempo. (SE VA LLORANDO)

Anita: Uy no chicos. Pobre Juan. Está muy triste. Ese es el sueño de Juan…

Anita: ¿Saben que?... Vamos a ayudar a Juan a que cumpla su sueño de conocer a los bomberos y subirse al carro de bomberos.

Aparece un carro de bombero.

Anita: Wow… Chicos ¿Están viendo?... ¡Es un carro de bombero!

Hay que buscar al bombero.

Anita: Sr. Bombero?

Bombero: ¡Hola! ¿Quién eres?

Anita: Yo soy Anita y te quería pedir un gran favor.

Bombero: Pues ¿Cuál es el favor?

Anita: Es que yo tengo un amigo que se llama Juan y sueña con conocer a los bomberos y con subirse al carro de bomberos.

Bombero: Pues vamos a su casa para darle un gran sorpresa.

Anita ¡Si!

Se dirigen a la casa de Juan

Anita: Juan… ¡Ven acá con los niños!

Juan: No, no quiero salir estoy muy triste.

Anita: Por favor Juan… Ven tenemos una sorpresa.

Juan: No… No quiero.

Anita: Chicos… para que Juan salga tenemos que llamarlo fuertísimo. A la 1, 2 y 3.

Niños: ¡¡Juan!!

Juan: ¿Qué pasa? (y ve el carro de bomberos). ¡Wow!

Juan: Gracias Anita por ayudarme a cumplir mi sueño.

Andan en el carro de bomberos

Juan: Gracias Anita, gracias niños. ¡Los quiero!

Anita: ¡De nada!... ¡Si ven chicos que nosotros podemos cumplir nuestros sueños y ayudar a que otros cumplan los suyos!

Puppets

Today we made puppet show (in the waiting room and in the other rooms). The puppet greeted them one by one. Children enjoy it!

We also painted faces (we learned that, because we didn’t know).

The show was successful! Children have fun! Even the most painful and sad, had fun.

Selling things

Today we fill cups with candy and we put it in a “canasta” with other stuffs. The Damas of Solca (volunteers) told us to sell all that things in Solca, because the earnings are use to help de patients that need it more.

We just stay with children few minutes, but we could read a story about a dreamer. The message of the story was so cute, it gave them the hope and the opportunity of dream and make your dreams come true.

Other rooms in Solca

Today we made gelatin for children who are placed in the hospital. We went to the rooms, which has 7 beds or cribs and each children was with father or mother.

The environment was silent and sad. Parents were watching us like we were weirds or something like that, while some children cried.

We talked with the parents and kids. We gave them materials to make cards and we help them if they asked to.

A girl gave me the card that she made. I feel so happy about it.

When we leave the room, we realized that parents were watching us with a big smile and children too.

I don’t have pictures of that day =(

Playing

Today I saw different kids. Brenda explained us that each kid comes to Solca one time in the week or in the month (it depends of the treatment). So every week, we will know new mothers, fathers and kids.

I saw kids more sad, than the other days. They played slowly and alone. My friend and I started to talk with them (one by one). Asking names, age and if they want to play with the others. They all accepted. So, we made a circle and we play “al pon pin Colorado”.

They laugh and talked with the other kids and started to play other games together again and again by themselves.

Social work

Today we serve the breakfast for the kids. It was milk chocolate and cookies. When we give the breakfast, people in the room look at you smiling and saying “thank you so much”. They really appreciate little things that you do for them.

Brenda (the responsible of this area) presented us some mothers, so we started to talk with them about their sons.

I realized that the mothers and fathers who go to the chemotherapy come from Quevedo, Manabí, Santo Domingo and other provinces. And they don’t have enough money to stay in Guayaquil, so their just come for the chemotherapy and then, leave on buses.

They also, tell us how their sons are changing because of the chemotherapy. Is not just hair loss, is a lot of alterations, like change of humor, tiredness, depression, sadness, loneliness, fear, feeling of abandonment and they also can have learning problems.

Of course that these symptoms are present in some children, in others not too much. It depends of the kid. Every kid is a particular case.

Then, we danced a bit with kids. At first they didn’t want to, but slowly, they started to stand up and move. They had a lot of fun.

Solca

I started my social work a month ago in Solca. I am in the area where the children’s are going to do chemotherapy. At first I observed the place, because is new. Is a room with small tables and chairs for kids, and have a lot of legos, puzzles, cars and others toys with which kids can play and have fun for a while.

That room is like the waiting room for kids. Because they come there, play, and then, they go to the room of chemotherapy.

I talked with the kids, I learned their names and I play with them. I saw that sometimes they play alone, so my friend and I decide to make them play in groups games like tingo tango in a circle, so they can all interact and make friends.

Most of the kids have between 4 and 10 years. They all have cancer and assist with their mothers (and with brothers and sisters) to the chemotherapy.

Was very nice go to Solca, because they need a lot of support, sometimes they don’t have hope, they don’t care anything, but if you help them with simple things like: talk, play, laugh. You can transmit that small things and change their way to see the life.

unplug tv

At first I unplug my tv because the cable was damage. But that was the perfect excuse to stop watching it. I have a new cable but the tv still unplug. I realized that I watched too much tv and my mother always gets angry because I never want to go out because I didn’t want to lose any chapter of any tv show.

I learned that I was a big consumer for a long time. I stopped watching tv because I was very addicted, but I never thought that I was a net consumer.

And I also learned that we all must produce something, even just a little bit and in that way we are not going to waste our cognitive surplus in things without importance.

Cognitive surplus

When I saw the video of Mr. Shirky talking about the cognitive surplus, I start thinking about when I was 15 or 16 years. I remember that I was the fan number one of tv. I used to watch all tv shows, that could exist. If I had seen this video before, I would thought twice about watching too much tv (I only talk about tv because I don’t read the newspaper or listen the radio). So I used a lot of my cognitive surplus, watching tv, like Americans. But nowadays I feel great because I never watch tv (actually, my tv is disconnect) :D although anyway I waste my time, sleeping A LOT, or doing things without importance.

I am a consumer that is becomes a producer. I have a blog that everybody can read and enrich with interesting ideas; I’m doing social action one day on the week and in that way I’m trying to do producing things on my free time. It’s not the big deal, but at least I’M DOING SOMETHING, as Shirky said.