Friday, November 4, 2016

Day 125 - At the Casa de Anciano


At the Casa de Anciano

This week at the Learning Center we are having a Spiritual Emphasis week.  Our focus is on the persecuted church.  In North America, we can worship with relative ease, but in much of the world that is not the case. 


Today was Servant Day. The plan was for our students to go to various localities and work on community projects, such as cleaning or painting.  My group was supposed to stay at the Learning Center and sweep, pull weeds, and move a pile of dirt. It poured rain last night and the rain continued today, which meant the pile of dirt was a pile of mud.  So the plans for my group changed at the last minute.

A small group was going to a home for the elderly in El Torno, a town about 45 minutes west of Santa Cruz.  My group piled in the back of a mini-bus and joined them.  Around 9:30 we arrived at a tropical garden, where the Casa de Anciano is located.

We entered a very large clean place, where about 40 or more elderly were gathered.  Some were making crafts, or playing games.  Others were talking to their friends.  Some waited in line to get their hair cut.  We were introduced to the people and then given a variety of tasks to do.  Some kids were shy, so they lucked out.  The bold ones, who volunteered first, had the opportunity to sit and get to know the people.  I was with a few kids who helped some play a matching game.  The Casa tries to keep their minds occupied and thinking.


The kids were given the challenge to learn the names of the abuelos (grandparents).  Some kids took up the challenge and got to know a few.  I didn’t do that well, but I did talk to two sisters from Oruro.  Later in the morning they played some games to see if the kids had learned their names.


The best part, for me, was when they lined up all the students and gave them one of the abuelos.  The abuelos were given the task of giving the students a tour of the facility.  They have different activities every day, including church on Tuesdays.  Some days they work in the garden, or in carpentry, making crafts, or cooking.  As I said before, the idea is to keep their minds young by keeping them busy.



They have plans to add to the facility, which would include helping troubled teens by teaching them crafts and occupations that could earn them a living.  The abuelos here would do the teaching.  They want to put the two generations together to learn from each other.

As usual in places like this, they loved us and treated us well.  Each student was given a Christmas ornament, created by one of the abuelas.  We were served a delicious lunch.  And we climbed a hill so the kids could play on a slide. 
I think it was a good day.

No comments:

Post a Comment

July 8, 2017 - Monte Blanco

Monte Blanco  Imagine sitting on a hill, under the blue skies with green farmlands stretched before you, surrounded by the hills of the ...