Four weeks ago I started to work at two different schools in La Pintana. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I am helping at the „Forjadores del Fututo“-School, on Thursdays and Fridays I go to the „Las Rosas“-School, which is a special needs school. The work at these two schools is completely different,which makes it very interesting! At the „Forjadores del Futuro“-School I am helping in grade 3. There are almost 25 children in the classroom and it is sometimes difficult to work with all of them. Sometimes I repeat myself over and over again, saying: „Keep on working…sit down…copy the question from the blackboard…please finish your task now …“ but I think it is worth the trouble if the children can be proud of themselves after finishing a task and getting good grades for it. It makes me happy to see them content about their work.In the last week the children and their teacher started to prepare for the national holiday around the 18th of September, which will be celebrated in school with performances of different dances.One day they practiced to dance „Cueca“, which is the national dance of Chile. It is great for me to have the opportunity to be part of that, as I have never seen something comparable at a German school.
The work at the „Las Rosas“-School is great in a completly different way. In the class I am helping in are seven children, all with a different state of knowledge and understanding. While working with several boys in writing tales from dictation and doing math, two other boys are learning to write the numbers from 1 to 5, others are drawing or playing the xylophone. That is a mix that never will be boring! I am happy to spend time with them and to be there if they need help or someone to play with during the recress. One of the best moments I had at this school was when one of the boys drew a perfect circle around one of the numbers he wrote before, that was his task until the next recress. He shouted with glee and could not stop smiling for a while. I am sure, there are going to be a lot more of these great moments for me in the next weeks at both of the schools and I am waiting eagerly for the next week, when I will go to the schools again. If some of my family and friends have reservations about my decision to work and live in La Pintana, as this part of town is known as a dangerous one, for me it is the right thing to do and so far it is an awesome experience.
