A Little Patience, Time, and Effort

Last week, Jennie Maria (one of my fellow newbie volunteers), and I had the pleasure of covering house 4 at the Finca. Most of our houses have houseparents and tias (“aunts”) to care for the children living in them. However, our oldest girls’ house only has a tia. So, when she goes on vacation, we need someone to take care of the girls. Jennie Maria and I, not knowing what we were getting into, volunteered to attempt taking care of 5 teenage girls!

Keep in mind, Jennie Maria and I are both new volunteers. We still are learning the ways of the Finca and how things happen here. Jennie’s Spanish is stronger than mine is, but neither of us are completely comfortable in expressing ourselves. So, I think we both realized quickly we were in for a challenge.

Overall, the week went well. The girls were a great help to us. We pretty much relied on them to tell us what the routine was in the house, and I don’t think they took advantage of us too much. In fact, I was impressed at the part they take in running the house. They each have their daily chores, do their own laundry, and help out with some of the meals. These girls are only 12 to 14 years old! I can pretty much say for certain that they have more domestic skills than I do! I was impressed by their maturity and responsibility. They really stick to their routine, despite the fact two brand new volunteers who really had no idea what was going on claimed to be in charge.

Despite being pulled away from some of my social work duties, I really enjoyed my times with the girls. This is not a big secret, but forming relationships with these children takes time and effort. It wasn’t the easiest thing to juggle my normal job with being a house mom. Yet, I gained a lot in the couple of days I was with them. I got a first hand look at how they interact with each other. It was so fascinating to see how despite the fact that none of the 5 girls are related, they learn to function as a family and take care of each other. I also got little glimpses into their personalities. I learned that Nelly loves to write poetry and is always up for a good chat, Julissa loves to dance, Nolvia is a great cook and very observant, Erica is super responsible and always does her chores to the best of her ability, and Sigri loves back rubs and to be read to. These are such precious things about their personalities.

So, maybe it was a little inconvenient to be pulled away from my normal job that I still do not have a grasp on, but I am so glad I volunteered to watch their house. The whole week made me very excited to get to know these girls and all of our kids better. Of course, this is only going to happen with patience, time, and effort. So, I guess the best thing to do, as cliché as it may sound, is to just take it one day at a time.