Friday, June 18, 2010

Estamos aprendiendo mucho

We are now halfway through our stay here. Time has flown by and it's a little sad to think that we're already halfway done. It also means we only have 4 more weeks to work with the kids here and we want to do as much as possible.

The kids at Oscar Scarpetta are doing great. One little guy is SO close to taking his first independent steps and is now able to stand independently for a bit before he gets nervous and sits back down. He is walking longer distances with a light hand-hold and also attempts to transition from sitting on the floor to standing. The two younger babies that we're working with have made more improvements with their sitting balance and one is getting a lot better at maintaining quadruped (on hands and knees) and rocking back and forth. Hopefully he will be crawling (technically creeping) soon! One of the babies used to rock back and forth a lot and bang his head repeatedly against the crib or wall; he would also keep his right hand in a fist with his thumb tucked under his index finger. It seems the head banging has improved a little and we did not notice it as much yesterday. He is also making more eye contact and opening up his hands more.

One of the "medianos" we are working with improved with his motor planning and is getting better at completing exercises properly and his jumping skills are a lot better than before. The other kids we are working with mostly require general strengthening and conditioning. We have fun with races, crab walking, leap frog and various other exercises.

At Chiquitines, we continued to work with the little ones. We have been talking with a volunteer nurse there who has developed a stimulation program for the babies. We are going to share ideas and learn from each other. Since this was only our second visit, there is nothing major to report here. Although, we just found out one of the little guys we have been working with is getting adopted!!! He is adorable and we are so happy for him and his new family :)

This week we introduced TheraBand strengthening exercises to the pregnant women. They really seemed to like it, although it was a little more challenging for them. Today we provided shoulder, upper back and lower back massages to help them end their week. Next week, a volunteer is coming to observe our exercise class on Thursday so she can help lead some classes after we leave. We also learned that one of the mothers was having contractions today and she is going to have or has had her baby!

Overall, it has been a great fourth week. As for our own personal adventures, we have gotten to visit El Cristo Rey which overlooks Cali, had lunch at a great restaurant in the Andes, started "training" for our half marathon, and went out salsa dancing for the second time. :)

Pictures from some of our adventures and with some of the kids...

Cristo Rey

Gorgeous rainbow overlooking Cali

Us with Carlos Andres Gomez, an amazing artist who carves art into the clay on the side of the road

Great restaurant in the Andes mountains

The Andes

Adorable girl at Chiquitines...working on core strengthening

Facilitating muscle activation in her legs to prevent atrophy

Working with some girls with facial palsy...Blowing bubbles to help stimulate the mouth muscles

Big smile!!

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