Maddy finding love and caring with both folks at her internship & with her homestay family

Now that I have been at my internship for quite some time now, I definitely feel comfortable there. I love being able to walk right into the grade R class and right away, know all the kids, and have them run up to me to tell me what they’re doing or ask me a question. My focus in the class is on giving the non-verbal cerebral palsied children attention and stimulation. Though I’m always making sure I am with one of these students, it hasn’t stopped me from building connections with the others in the class. I love watching them all not allow their disabilities stop them from doing things. Giving my attention to the non-verbal kids really does make me feel like I’m making a difference as well. Even simple things like reading with Joneve, the student I spend the most time with, and making her interact and touch the book while the rest of the class is coloring makes me feel better that she is not just sitting there unable to do anything. The excitement she gets from attention or a new stimulation warms my heart. Her eyes and mouth get so wide, and when she’s not in her chair she flips her whole body around. She’ll then grab hold of your hand if it’s close enough and pull is close, tight to her face. Spending time with these kids really does brighten my day. Hearing them laugh and smile when they’re able to do things that they were once restricted from because of their disabilities makes each day so worth it.

Working with my supervisor Sam also makes my internship such a rewarding experience. I couldn’t ask for a better supervisor. Sam is so personal, not making everything about work, yet at the same time so knowledgeable. Everything she says, I value because she truly does her job well. She’s adopted everything she’s learned to best suit each individual and she personally knows and wants the best for each one of the students. I look forward to continuing building relationships with all the students and learning more and more from Sam each day.

Aside from an update about my internship, this weekend we went on a homestay in Ocean View. Though only there for a short period, I left genuinely knowing I was going to miss the families. I know that these families signed up to host people, yet I truly felt like they loved having us in their homes and they made us feel life family. Within hours of leaving Chantel’s, the person who hosted me, Rav, and Claire, I was messaging her and she’s was saying how quiet the house now was and how much they really do love and miss us already. Through the interactions with Chantel and her family, going to the crèche and seeing the children and their teachers, meeting and going to the beach with a group of local kids from the community, and attending church, it was so evident how much the community cares for each other and loves each other as well as anyone who may cross their path such as us volunteers. Though I know their community, like many others, has its hardships, the love of the people in the community seemed to overpower that and overall I saw that Ocean View reflected a loving and caring place full of people who look after one another and became a family.

 

Claire, Maddy, & Rav with Chantel and her parents Louie & Sylvia