60% weather

Today, Paul and I had a different two groups - one full of energy to the point that it felt out of control at times, and the other pretty passive, but we were able to learn a great deal about each group. I noticed that both times when we asked the children what the weather was like today (which was, PS very shitty, cold, and rainy) they said "60%." I've never heard that question answered with a percentage, it took me aback.

The first group of six that we had was very hyper active. They had a lot of trouble staying focused and the boys were constantly out of their seats and play fighting with each other. The language barrier was pretty strong with this group as well, as only one or two spoke English, even though most claimed to understand it. We had been told the previous day that the functioning level of these children would be lower, so we prepared a slightly different take on our already existing project - we decided to bring in tissue paper and colored paper for the children to tear up and attach to the butterflies. This tactile directive seemed to be good for lower functioning children, however, these kids were much higher functioning, and found it to be more of a play time. I felt like I had to go into "teacher mode" several times during this session, telling kids to take a seat, quit fighting, don't make fun, and share materials. One boy consistently tried to put glue in people's hair and started a wrestling and fart match with another boy. I even threatened to bring this boy to his teacher/the principal.

Ironically, this boy that caused so much trouble used a very interesting tactile technique on his butterfly. Most of the children in this group felt perfectly fine leaving the inside of their butterflies empty. I have noticed that with each class, the children heavily influence each other on how they will do their project. In this group, all used the tissue paper even though they were offered the markers and crayons, and several of them put messages inside the butterflies that read, " I love you" and "I miss you very much." There seems to be some sort of a sentimental connection with the butterflies.

The second group was much calmer, and after the excitement of the first group, Paul and I decided to start out with just drawing materials and then introduce the tissues. This seemed to work out better for them. This group, which was slightly lower functioning, resorted to coloring their butterflies first. This is interesting because the previous day, the lower functioning group also resorted to coloring. I wonder if they are habitually trained to color in the lines when they see an outline. The kids in this group mainly used large blocks of color and all used the pastel crayons. One girl and one boy continued on another butterfly, carefully using tissues. One part that irked me about this group was that certain boys of higher intellectual functioning seemed to make fun of those that are lower functioning. I know this is a common thing worldwide, but I don't know what to say to get the message through to them that making fun is not allowed in the art room. Creating a safe space is a challenge when we don't know how many kids understand our rules of respect.

Paul and I also finished hanging up our caterpillar in the school hall - it looks great! I still need to take pictures though. We saw a group doing an occupational therapy session. I think OT is fascinating and would like to learn more about it.

The rest of our day was free, so a few of us went into town and went up to UCT again. We went out to dinner and came back early - finally some time to relax! Tomorrow is another long day.

Here's a picture or two of some of today's work.
outside of Mary Harding today - gross!



Bye til tomorrow!

-k

Week 2: Exhausticated

It's the beginning (and technically, almost the middle) of week two and I am EXHAUSTED. Today Paul and I returned to Mary Harding and found ourselves in a different situation. Instead of working with the teacher, it had been decided that we would work with smaller groups in a craft room in the vocational section of the school. Today we saw two groups of six, from the senior class. It became evident to us that the groups were organized according to cognitive ability.

We continued with our planned directive, a butterfly (outlined, photocopied) that would be filled in with the childrens' dreams and plans for their life later on. After the first group, I realized that the concept of "dreams" and the future is a very fuzzy subject for these children. Perhaps the hardest part about working with this children that I have to overcome is understanding and working with their limited creativity. Usually, in therapy, I use a bunch of open-ended questions to promote discussion that usually tells something about the clients. With these kids, open ended questions are possibly the hardest questions for them to answer. To adjust to this need, I began asking more and more yes/no questions, some gearing toward the feelings of the child and/or the butterfly he/she was coloring. I also often ask questions to the group that can get a number of responses and build group cohesion. I do this because I feel it is important that these kids know that they are not alone and totally different (even though we have been focusing on how special they are). An example of this type of question would be: Who wants to have a family when they are older? The power of suggestion is immense with these children, as whatever you ask them about, suggest, or mention can completely influence what they make. Today, I talked to a kid about what he wanted to do when he is older, if he wanted a family, car, and what he wanted to do as a job. He ended up drawing himself, a house, a car, and a computer. I noticed that the first group we had depicted more conceptual items in their butterflies. Some completed a body with a face, and included patterns inside and outside of the butterfly. The second group primarily focused on coloring in the butterfly using several different techniques. Most of them were able to complete their butterflies and cut them out. The second group was also considerably quieter in nature, most students being non-verbal or primarily Afrikaans-speaking.

Tomorrow we will be working with an even more developmentally delayed group and I think we will be using tissue paper or colored paper cutouts to glue onto the butterfly body. The tactile nature should be appealing for the children and also allow them a sense of mastery over something.

Tonight we went out to dinner at Mama Africa and saw a live band - Abavuki - it was amazing and so much fun! Tomorrow we have more free time, and I can't wait for it. Pictures take a very long time to upload, so I will try to get a few up for reference.

finished caterpmore conceptual first group
second group
band at Mama Africa

-k

No Shark Cages

Today was a long day - we got up early because we thought we were going to go Shark Cage Diving (one of the big attractions here on the western cape). We drove out to the place that does shark cage diving and they said they had to cancel the trips today due to tumultuous seas. An hour prior to our arrival, the seas were good - but the group coming back was terribly ill and did not look so good. This was an hour and a half away from where we are staying. So we walked around, took some picutres, and decided to go to Hermanus, a nearby town that is famous for its whale sitings and whale celebrations. It is so beautiful there! I can't explain. We climbed all over the rocks, getting different views all around. We even saw a Southern Right Whale and a seal! Apparently you can see a few other species of whale out there from the bay. We were there for a while, then came back to the home base, exhausted.

To make up for the disappointment, we went to the waterfront and went shopping at an art and craft flea maket, where i got a bunch of things including a nice medium sized djembe! yay! We also obtained plenty of music.

Paul and I met today to discuss our plans for the week. We ran into the problem of too few materials to do the original butterfly that we had planned. Also, we were hoping that the children could use watercolors for this part, but the paper that we have simply will not suffice. We asked Toshiko, one of the supervisors, her advice while she taught us how to make origami frogs (so cool). I had suggested perhaps drawing out a butterfly that they could each individually do, and Toshiko also suggested that they can then cut out that butterfly as well (perfect, since that gives the kids a bit of a challenge, and makes them more proud and satisfied with their work). We made a few butterfly templates and plan on photocopying them in the morning. If possible, we want to buy some heavier grade paper to photocopy them onto so that the kids can use watercolors. We also need to start thinking about this mural project! so much to think about..

I am going to include one or two pictures from todays adventure, not so much because this takes forever and i am exhausted!

Safariiii

So we got back from the safari earlier today and it was so amazing. We went to Inverdoorn, which is a game reserve, and we saw four out of five of the big five, including lions, rhinos, giraffes, and cape buffalo. We also saw a bunch of cheetahs, since this particular range specializes in rehabilitating cheetahs. The place itself had wonderful accomodations and great food - most of us had springbok for dinner! There was a pool (albiet freezing). TV Room, etc. We went on two safaris, and saw so many animals. It was so much fun! On the way back, we took the "scenic route" which was just that! We stopped at a Butterfly farm on the way back, which was a little sketchy, but I got to touch a marmoset. Some of the other people on our trip touched the cheetahs. Here are some photos from this amazing adventure:

this zebra was a few days old

the dots are insects


im tired. finish later.
-k

Short Entry

Short entry for today because it's late and i'm absolutely exhausted. We saw two classes today and finished up the main part of the You Are Special Caterpillar. We stapled it together and it looks great (albiet long). Some kids still have to finish their parts. Next week Paul and I will be continuing with butterflies for each class.

We celebrated SA's Women's Day today at the school and received a special reception, filled with pastry treats, piano music, speeches, and free slippers/roses. It was great! They truly seem to celebrate women in this country (at least, on women's day they do).

After we got back we took a cab to the SA National Gallery, which was filled with native SA and African art. It was pretty nice, and the park area that it was in was beautiful. We spent copious amounts of time in the gardens after that, entertaining the extremely tame squirrels that would just walk up to you and ask for food. I literally beckoned one from 15 feet away by pretending to have food. I have a photo later to show of a woman we deemed "Snow White" because she was literally feeding all of the creatures out of her hand.

After that, we went to a great South African restaurant on Long Street and I had ostrich for the first time (let's see how that sets on me). Then we went to a pool hall down the street.

Safari tomorrow!

-k