Teaching English at an Orphanage

For the last week and a half, I have been teaching English to kids at an orphanage in the afternoons after working at the daycare in the mornings. Most of the kids are not disciplined and with an overly short attention span and so I am taking my own crash course in patience. On one of my first days, my cab drove up to the complex and 5 boys aged 6 to 10 wearing the same standard orphanage outfits of a blue shirt, sweat pants and boots surrounded the cab and wanted my bag of stuff. They then just ran off around the neighborhood. One of the staff told me that the boys are being aggressive and instead of trying to catch them and bring them back into the gated area, they rather have them exhaust their aggression by running around. I found that to be an interesting and probably effective method. The boys always return.

The orphanage hosts about 70 kids that range in age from infants to teenagers. However, about half of them are staying there temporarily due to home issues of a variety reasons. The other half are up for adoption, however, the infants are only adopted by Colombians and the older children mainly by US and Italian parents. I asked to only teach a small group at a time because I figured that I could not handle more than that. The number of children I teach ranges from 4 to 6 and they rotate depending on how motivated the kids feel that day to learn English since this is totally optional for them to attend rather than play in the playground. I can't imagine that I would be more interesting than a game of soccer, but I have managed to keep the same students for the most part with drop ins each day.

When I first arrived, the kids all referred to me as “mami”. Every female figure is “mami” at the center, and I felt a little weird to have inherited that title automatically. The kids I work with range from 6 to 10 and they all learn very differently. I try to keep the 10 yr olds together when I teach since most of them can read and write. So far, I have taught them some children's songs, the numbers, colors, greetings, the alphabet, and am now onto basic verbs. We play a variety of games to enhance their learning and when I ask them to write down the information, I lose their attention. I find the 6 year olds, the fastest learners and with the best pronunciation. However, they need to be constantly entertained and often run around the room. I don't feel I have the time nor the role to discipline these kids and so I just try the best I can since I know they all want to learn the language. So, I adapt my style accordingly.

The children placement status all vary. A few of the children are part of sibling groups of 3 and 4 and I think they might be the most difficult to place. Sadly, Tatiana and her brothers had parents adopting them until the week before the parents were to pick them up, the parents bailed out. Angie, 10 years old, has parents coming and we review the photos of her new family often. Lina, age 10, who is the most eager to learn English, is still awaiting to find parents and she attends my classes regardless.

I met a lovely couple from the States who is hoping to adopt 4 or 5 kids from Colombia. They are in their 40's and decided that they wanted to stop living the DINK (dual income, no kids) lifestyle and give children in Colombia a chance at a better life. I so respect their efforts and wish them luck in their journey.