Little boys are crashing their toy cars into piles of blocks. Little girls are building a house out of blocks for toy people. I have a child sitting on my lap attempting to play Connect 4 with another child. One boy attempts to ride a toy skateboard, that looks like in came out of a McDonald’s Happy Meal, across the room. The girls get mad at the boys for taking their blocks. It’s a room full of kids and it’s crazy. Despite the chaos all around me, I am perfectly content, though a little tired, in this moment.
As of last week Oasis, the kid’s program here at Santa Cecilia’s, is back in session, and my team gets to help with it!
Learning English with the “fly swatter game”
So what is Oasis? It’s a before and after school program for the kids who live on the mountain where Santa Cecilia’s is located. Here in Colombia school only takes up half the day. So the kids need something else to do the rest of the day. This is where Oasis comes in. The kids who go to school in the morning come to Oasis in the afternoon, and the kids who go to school in the afternoon come in the morning. Here the kids have Bible lessons, some simple English lessons, get help with their homework, play games, and get fed lunch. For some of the kids who come this is the only meal they will get that day, so every child is required to finish their plate. The first day Oasis was back in session one little girl was crying while she ate her lunch and a teacher had to sit with her to encourage her to eat. This was the first meal the child had eaten in days. That was heartbreaking to find out, and began to show us the importance of the Oasis Program.
Playing a game before lunch
Then we heard some of the kids’ stories, and our hearts broke more. Most of these kids don’t have good home lives. Kids as young as 5 are regularly exposed to porn. Drugs, alcohol, and gangs are a big problem. This is why Oasis is such an important program, it gives the kids a safe place to go when they’re not at school. A place where they can learn about Jesus, and their Heavenly Father who always loves them, even when their earthly fathers fail them, big time. A place where they can get help with homework so they don’t fail another grade. Counseling is provided for the kids who need it. There are social workers on staff who do home visits to see how they can best help the kids. They really care about the kids here. One afternoon all the kids showed up with snacks they had been given at school. They wanted these snacks warmed up, and so the cook did that for them, despite the fact she was in the middle of serving lunch, because the kids and their needs are valued at Oasis.
Learning the English words for the colors
So, how has my team been helping? Well, nearly 80 kids are enrolled in the program, and that’s a lot of mouths to feed. Thus, everyday two of us help out in the kitchen. (I’ve had kitchen duty three times, it’s fun! The cook knows no English and I know very, very, little Spanish so there’s a lot of pointing and hand motions involved in communication.) That entails cutting up lots veggies, helping to make fresh fruit juice, and doing a ton of dishes.
The remaining four people help the six staff members out with the kids. Last week my team mostly did crowd control, playing games with the kids, and supervising the homework room. This week we’ve gotten to do a bit more. Our team has been put in charge of reading time, a short exercise/dance class every day, a short English lesson everyday, and one other fun activity a day, such as a skit. On Monday the older kids did an excellent job with a David and Goliath skirt for the younger kids! Today we made animal masks with the kids, and tomorrow, our last day here sadly, we’re going to make cookies with them.
Our days have been busy and exhausting, but I enjoy the kids and It’s great to get to work with people now rather than just painting! I’m gonna be sad to leave here this weekend!
