All Smiles

There was a moment a few weeks ago that brought a smile to my face. From where I was standing at the back of the room, I caught myself smiling in one of those huge, cheek-aching grins as I scanned the room and saw 17 glowing faces staring back at me - all rosy as the blood rushed to their heads in the Down Dog yoga position. 

Welcome to my new work site, G.A.D.I., a day center for children and adolescents with Down’s syndrome. G.A.D.I. stands for Grupo Activo Down Independiente, which literally translates to: Group-Active-Down’s-Independent. 

It’s a small center with a lot of heart, consisting of teachers, parents, volunteers, and special students. Since children with special needs often face educational and social limitations in Mexican public schools, G.A.D.I. is a safe space to make friends, gain a basic education, and develop independent life skills. 

What I like about the environment here is the mutuality in participation by staff, parents and students. Also, there's no cut-off age when students are asked to leave; in fact, the oldest student is 54 years-old!

Each day begins with an activity like yoga, tae-kwon-doe, or dance. Then the students split into 3 classrooms until lunch. One group is working on writing sentences, reading, basic math, etc., meanwhile another practices shapes, numbers, days of the week. The third classroom is used for speech therapies. At 11:30 we all eat together at one big table. After recess, depending on the day, there is painting, gardening, an after-school recycling program, baking in the on-site bakery - even bowling!

It’s certainly no free-for-all but there’s a lot of high-energy pulsing around all day every day. In my first two weeks there’s been an escape-artist that we had to chase down the street - twice; the separating of a pair of non-stop ‘cha-cha’ dancers in the middle of class; and the taking away of a whole bunch of distracting and noisy Spiderman and Batman games. Oh, I've also confiscated a bottle of tequila after a student snuck it into the center and started serving his friends at lunch time. 

I’ve also received countless gooey kisses on the cheek; helped tie shoe-laces after little shoes stick out in front of me with a simultaneous question/demand “Por favor?!/Please?!”; plus big, wide open arms that lock around me at the end of the day.     

As I struggle to find my role and figure out how I can be best used, what strikes me the most is that each day is incredible mix of routine and unexpected situations. Lately I’ve put a lot of attention to getting to know the students better, to sit by them at lunch and try to be as present as possible. Everyday with the students at G.A.D.I. is a reminder that I’m really here to be – not do. 

Maybe that’s what bubbled up inside of me as I stretched into a yoga position that Wednesday morning - and burst into a spontaneous smile.

 
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Check back in the next few days... Next up: My homestay family, transportation & rutas in Cuernavaca, my parents’ visit + Semana Santa/Holy Week!