A day to catch up!

Susan and I have a day off as the teachers had an all day workshop and the children were not having school. I needed this day. I am catching up on email and my documentation. I am also going to be able to unpack finally. Beatrice and Brittany are visiting me right now. They are watching the discovery channel on tv while I work. I am processing what has happened this week so far and can't quite get a grasp on it yet. The needs are so great and varied. I just answered an email from a medical team that is coming in February about what they might need to do when they are here. I wrote about the need for medicals, vision tests, hearing tests, and added in - can we check for worms? Some of the children are so small for their age. Sometimes I am wondering if the reading problems come from vision and hearing problems. They want to go into the community to do home visits with mom's with infants - so Beatrice is going to help me find the babies in San Mateo. She told me some are in the way back and warned me that I might break the planks. I told her I was working on the weight! Such honesty!

I need to work with the parents on positive discipline methods and communciation with their children without cussing and threatening. The children get "lashings" and I have seen them hit in the head by their parents. The parents care and want their children to do good in school and behave. They love their children so I think I can help some with maybe introducing another way. The school already is maverick (did I really use that word?) :o) in not allowing physical discipline of the children at the school by the teachers.

There is a social work caseload of nine open cases after the first week, let alone the smaller incidents that I can't even keep track of. I am also the nurse so I have cleaned a lot of cuts! See susan's blog for her medical mission! There is also a need to work with the 11+ children about sex education, HIV prevention, and setting goals for themselves that do not involve babies at an early age - sounds like Mississippi...

I am doing good on my eating habits. Trying not eat fried foods, beef, or pork. I have laid off the rum - actually only had one rum drink in a week. Eating oatmeal in the morning - not eggs! Eating rice and beans and the only fat is in the beans or the tortillas. I eat what is served at lunch at school but Rosalie is such a great cook you cannot resist her banana bread or flan. That is the only sweet stuff I eat. Walking every day to the school and back has got to help. So signing off - miss you all. Kim