Volunteering in Quito continued....

I want to share with you our experience volunteering this past week at the preschool/daycare in San Roche near Quito. The Simon Bolivar school (see link in my last post) offers volunteer opportunities at a variety of different places in Ecuador including the preschool, a hypnotherapy ranch, a medical clinic and in the Galapagos.
The experience at each locale is different, but allows you to help the people of Ecuador with projects that need to be completed. It also gives the volunteers a chance to really get to know the culture and people of the country.
For me and my daughter, the experience so far volunteering has been eye opening to say the least.
First, we take public transportation into one of the poorest neighborhoods in Quito which was a bit frightening at first, but after a week, we are feeling more comfortable.
I am working in the 2-3 year old classroom and my daughter is working in the older 3 year old classroom. First impressions, kids are kids. All the boys like the cars. All the kids push and hit each other. They are all super sweet and adorable. The teachers work very hard. The kids get 4 meals while at school, awesome. The kids brush their teeth while at school, awesome. The kids do art, dance and play outside, awesome. The teachers work very hard and are super nice.
Second impressions, the kids get 4 meals a day because this may be the only food they get in 24 hours. The teachers will literally force them to eat because this may be their last meal. The kids brush their teeth at school because many of them have black teeth. They have black teeth because their parents feed them lots of candy to keep them quiet while they work and don't make them brush.  The kids push and hit because their parents don't teach them how to treat each other nicely.
Most of the teachers at this school try very hard. They plan educational lessons, but do not have the training to educate special needs children or to discipline the children properly.
I do not have a background in special needs education, but I believe one of the children in my classroom is autistic with sensory issues. I am trying to assist him as best I can because it is frustrating to watch the interaction he has with the teachers. The teachers obviously have no special education training. I tried to talk to one of the teachers about this particular child and his needs and she had no idea what I was talking about.
My daughter is trying to plan activities daily so the children do not watch television as an activity. We have watched the children sit for almost 2 hours in front of the television watching short videos. She is also going to decorate a space that can be used as a health center. The doctor comes every other Wednesday to check the children.
The school lacks some basic first aid supplies. The playground equipment is broken and the playground is littered with trash because the older kids think it's funny to throw their trash on the ground. The school also lacks extra clothing for the children and pencils.
We are hoping to collect a lot of these things when we get home to send back to the school.
I'm posting some photos below, but I'm not showing the children's faces.
The bottom line is we are helping this school tremendously in the form of extra hands, but hopefully we can contribute some long term benefits as well. The school and children are sure to leave a lasting impression with us.