Tips to future tutors

My name is Mariko, and I just arrived back in the USA last night along with Miss Laura Osborne. We had intended to post a blog during our time in Quito, but the internet was a little unreliable...so please excuse this late posting.

Basically, we thought it might be good to give the future tutors an idea of what they will be working with once they arrive. In the mornings, 4 of us went to the school to work with the kids on crafts projects that involved testing their dexterity. Every morning we were accompanied by Adriana and Ximena (two sisters from the Ona family) who lead the activity for each class (although towards the end of the month they had us leading the activities). The other two tutors (Laura and I) walked down the hill to work with two families that are part of the project. The Changos and Calapinas were originally living in Chillogallo, but were moved to San Martin (along with the entire project...which makes you wonder where the medical clinic will be now) two weeks before we arrived.

The Chango family consists of 4 boys: Henry (also goes by his middle name, Santiago...Santi for short), Bryan, Diego and Angelo. Their parents are Jaime and Laura. Henry and Bryan go to school in the mornings and worked with us in the afternoon when we tutored. Bryan always claims to have no homework, so give him addition and subtraction problems to do with tons of numbers - he's pretty good at it. Diego is 4 years old (although he thinks he's 2) and LOVES to get her ears cleaned out. He and I had been working every morning on "motricidad" which is essentially being able to connect the dots to form shapes and letters. We also worked on learning his colors, numbers and shapes. I'm happy to say that he knows all of his colors and shapes very well...his numbers still need work. He absolutely loves flashcards, it's a great way for him to learn his numbers along with drawing chanchos (pigs) and vacas on paper and making him count the animals. Angelo is 2 years old, and adores his older brother Diego. Although these children are so young, I have seen them do things I would never fathom a 4 and 2 year old doing. I watched Diego wheel a wheelbarrow down the hill to his mother, I watched Diego and Angelo carry cement bricks to their mother. Also, I watched them both climb a mountain alone up to a store to buy the family groceries (bananas and bread), Diego taking off his sweater to put the bananas in and tying them up so they wouldn't fall out. As you will learn, all of the kids you will work have excellent streetsmarts.

Their mother (Laura) is very quiet and sweet, but very oblivious to potentially dangerous situations for the boys. The first week we were there, she let Diego and Angelo play with a kitchen knife. We also discovered a huge oozing scar on Angelo's arm from where someone spilt coffee on him. (The parents usually let the kids fend for themselves for food from the looks of it, and if they feed them anything it's coffee in the morning). There was also barbed wire on the ground. The second week Angelo fell into a 15ft pit while trying to climb down the ladder by himself and hit his head. The week we left Diego fell into the same pit and smashed up his lip, only this time the pit was filled with the hot bricks they were making. Adriana has to constantly be on Laura's case about looking out for the boys, and making sure that they are bathing, washing their face and hands before coming to work with us, and wearing shoes (they are always running around with no shoes on - make sure you tell them to put them on!) They are always very dirty, sometimes wearing the same clothes numerous days in a row (something else Adriana talks to Laura about) and all of Diego's teeth are rotten.

When working with these two boys, always start off by reminding them to wash their face and hands, and make sure they put on shoes. Please try to keep them with you in the afternoon (Laura usually was holding Angelo) as it keeps them out of danger. They are usually so tired they fall asleep in your arms, then you can take them into the house and put them in bed. Make sure to ask them when they last bathed, and there are Q-tips in the supplies cupboard for cleaning out their ears (they love this!). There is also soap and shampoo in there too (we gave them baths the 3rd week).

The second family, the Calapinas, consists of a 60-something year old mother named Rosa and her two children: Erika(11) and Marco(9). Rosa is the mother of Jaime which makes her children, Erika and Marco, the aunt and uncle of the 4 Chango boys (even though they are practically the same age). Erika goes to school in Chillogallo every afternoon, so Laura was working with her in the mornings. They would work on whatever homework Erika had from the day before, along with her multiplication tables. Erika is a very sweet and helpful girl, and acts like a mother to Diego and Angelo (as their mother is usually not around). She also helped us out alot clarifying what the boys wanted (as sometimes it's hard to understand them). Erika only started school when she was 9 years old, so she is very behind. Some days she doesn't go to school because her mom doesn't have money for her to ride the bus, which is very frustrating as we are not allowed to give her money. She and Marco missed 8 days of school because they both came down with chickenpox the second week we were there. We are hoping that over the summer Erika will be able to take an entrance exam into the nearby school up the road and start the new school year there. Marco is also a very sweet boy, extremely helpful and smart. He can help you maintain order with the other boys, as they listen to him. He is in the same grade as Henry (his nephew) and they have the same homework to work on in the afternoon.

In the afternoons we have been having anywhere from 30 to 75 kids show up to get help with their homework. We don't have enough tables for all of them, even after taking the kitchen table out of the Chango's house, and many of them do their homework sitting up on the hill in the grass. Each table is usually grouped by grade, and they all work on their homework together. Mother's have been bringing their children down to us too, with special requests. Quite a few of the children can't read, so you have to read the instructions to them in order for them to complete their homework assignments. Laura worked with the 6th graders and discovered how much the children love multiplication flashcards.

I've realized that I'm writing an essay here...and that I've given you a pretty good ideal of what to expect. So I will leave you with a quick list of things to remember:
* they use the word "deberes" instead of "tarea" here
* invest in hand sanitizer, you'll need it after playing with the kids
* learn which kids get distracted easily, and isolate them
* the kids go nuts if they see a camera - try to take your pictures covertly, otherwise they will be requesting a photo-op
* send the kids that get done first home, otherwise they start creating mischief and chaos (plus there will be more room at the tables for other kids to get their work done)
* always have toilet paper on you (there is none in the school)
* flashcards is an excellent way to get the kids to learn, and they love taking turns in a group

If you have any other questions about the kids, or what you'll be doing you can email me at marimiko@umich.edu

hope this was helpful, and good luck with tutoring - you will love the kids!

Mariko