Adaptation

In my Dynamic blog post I spoke about an interactive activity that I was asked to prepare for a group of kids from an environmental club of a nearby community. Since then, thanks to the two supervisors that were also present during the activity, I’ve been asked to do more dynamic workshops three times after that. Each time just as rewarding and inspiring as the first time. Two of the administrators of the programs all recommended and shared my “tree game” to other teachers and community members. One of the groups even recorded the entire thing for guidance on how to facilitate the activity in the future. I didn’t blog about them all to not be overly repetitive, however, the most recent event was very different.

 This happened about a week and a half ago, in a small beach community named Anconcito that’s located about 2 hours away from Guayaquil. This community, like many others surrounding it, had no street signs, no banks, no clinics, and no hospitals. It did have markets, small restaurants, a beautiful beauch and people with the biggest hearts you can ever find.

Before another bus full of kids arrived

I had originally planned to facilitate my now very well revised, and smooth running Tree Game that promotes environmental awareness to children known as “the tree game”. Nevertheless, upon our arrival, the volunteers and I were welcomed by a crowd of 119 children that were all screaming in excitement for the activities to come. The event had occurred annually for the past 6 years. It was a celebration of community youth funded by a national Christian group. The overall goal of the event was simply to remind each and every one of the children that they were special, loved and cared for, not only by their families, but also by their community and by God. The event grew every single year, and this year there was a record-breaking number of participants.

After the bus full of kids arrived (littles ones were sharing chairs)

It was held on a main street of Anconcito under the open blue skies. There were big speakers, a DJ with children songs playing loudly, and enough chairs for everybody.

I was one of 10 volunteers, and the day was spent enjoying different dynamic workshops, each of them with a lesson to be learned. Some of which included:

Prize giving

 The importance of teamwork, community, the environment and communication. There were many prizes that were donated to the event, and everyone also received a free hot meal for lunch. The event began with a concert and a large crowd of dancing and singing kids that were getting more and more pumped up for the fun that was to come. It was truly like a big party, and everyone was laughing and having a great time.  This event was not only for the community of Anconcito, but also for many surrounding communities of the Guayas province. There were several children from Puerto Hondo there as well. Everyone was invited, it was absolutely free, and the parents were invited as well.

Team work activity

Interesting trust workshop

Dancing while holding a tomato between heads

Meanwhile in the kitchen . . . . 

Making chicken and vegetable stew

Stirring

 

It smelled great so far

I was soon introduced to the kids, with the rest of the volunteers. I can't lie, being in front of so many little faces made me extremely nervous. I was practically frozen with fear because this was much bigger than I had expected it to be. There wasn't enough space for my activity, so I began thinking of a backup plan in my head. “What else could I do? Think fast Cass! The clock is ticking!”

The volunteers' jobs were to help calm down the kids when they needed to listen to directions, and pump them up when it was time to dance and cheer for the others. Singing songs, and doing the crazy dance wasn't a part of the job description, but you had more fun if you did it anyways. 

What made me especially nervous was the fact that kids in general are pretty tough critics. If they do not like it, they will not hide it to be polite. This added pressure. But sooner than later, the coordinator and maestro of the program started describing me to the children as their next guest saying things like “She’s very tall……. has a great big smile…….. if she was ice cream, her flavor would be chocolate. . .” The kids were all laughing and pointing at me shouting “HER! HER RIGHT THERE! WITH THE YELLOW SHIRT!” since all eyes were on me, I decided to be silly, and run and hide behind people and things. . .the coordinator being great with kids quickly caught on and started asking the crowd “where is my friend? I thought she was here a minute ago!”. The kids were going crazy trying to point me out to her, and she pretended she couldn't see me anywhere!  To be honest with you, I still had no idea what my activity was going to be, and knew I needed more time, so this was the perfect cover up. I even hid right behind her making a “shhhh” sign, the kids were laughing and screaming “RIGHT BEHIND YOU! LOOK! LOOK BEHIND YOU!” When she finally spotted me and said “THERE YOU ARE! You remember my friend Cassandra, lets give her a warm welcome!” They clapped, and cheered with big smiles on their faces that matched mine. She then asked me where I was from, and why I was here. I told them that I was from Canada, and I was here because I wanted to meet the most special kids in the world, and someone told me this is where I could find them. Then I asked “have you seen a big group of special very important and very cute kids?? They took my compliment very well: “US, US WE’RE special!!” Then I asked, : “why are you special?”. And they gave me reasons from previous activities. Everyone that answered a question received candy. “because we’re community kids, we know how to share! Because God loves us, because this is our special day! . . .” This too was buying me some time. . .

I know it was terrible, but my tactics were working like a charm, because just like that, I realized that I wasn't in the presence of just any 119 kids. These kids were very special, they were all extra enthusiastic and participative and each of them really wanted to answer questions and be chosen for activities. Judging from their eagerness to participate, the light bulb on the top of my head FINALLY lit up. And thank goodness! I was running out of ways to stall.

I started choosing the same groups as my original activity. : “I need 10 little birdies, show me your best birdies and you will be chosen.” They instantly started chirping and flapping their arms, it was adorable. 

Birdie wings

Flying as high as the birds do

Bird walking

Bird walking

 I did the same for the animals, the people and the hunters. I told a story about a magical tree, and had everyone participate by enacting the story I was telling. The birds, the humans and the animals would go to the tree (which was me) and ask “May I have some fruit magic tree?” And I would always say yes, and throw some candy out of the bucket on my head. And every time they ate, and thanked me and said : “ see you next season!”.  On the other hand, every time they left,  there was a group of tree cutters that would try to chop me down. Every time they came around, I got the entire crowd to shout “NOOOO!”, it was very funny. They failed several times because my magical bark was too strong. Each time they said, "We need a stronger axe !" Slowly but surely, I was giving smaller and smaller portions of candy, because I was hurt from the attempts of the tree cutters. 

 Until finally, the very last of me was about to get cut down, I asked the crowd, “Do we want the magic tree to be cut down and never ever make food again?” They answered with a loud and long “NOOOOO!”. Then I asked them  : “What can we do?” I got several different answers: “The birds could tell the people to stop cutting the tree.” But I told them, “People don’t understand birds, they would only hear chirp chirp chirp and keep going” It was great, because they were all working together to come up with a solution as I counted down (cutting time). 

Finally, a few kids ran towards me and held hands around me. Many others followed, In no time I was completely surrounded by a large group and they were chanting : “Leave the tree alone! Leave the tree alone!”. 

My plan was simple, and successful because I got my message through. The children learned that birds are not the only ones that benefit from the environment. They also learned of the power people have if they come together for a similar cause. If the humans never spoke up, birds have no voice and everyone would lose. They received the information very well, adults and children alike.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change" - Charles Darwin

This entire situation, like many others that I’ve experienced here in Ecuador, has taught me so much about adaptation. I’ve learned that I can plan and plan again, but sometimes nothing will go as planned, or the plan simply will not do. I took a deep breath, and remained calm in what could have been a stressful situation.

At the time, I remember thinking about something I read in my book : “ La fille en papier” – Guillaume Musso (The paper girl). The author explained that when things don’t happen exactly the way that you planned, it forces you to become one of two people; the “solution person” where you think (There must be a solution, lets try this, or this or that); or the “problem person” (This situation is terrible, look at the problem up close, its impossible, I cannot believe this is happening, everything is ruined !). A solution person can think fast, get creative, and focus on what their options are. A problem person simply cannot let go of the problem. Who you are in those tough situations depend on you, its up to you to decide. I decided the solutions person was more pleasant, more difficult, but still more pleasant. 

"Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." - George Bernard Shaw

There’s no time to doubt yourself in these moments, you simply have to trust that you will do a good job and be confident. That same confidence will shine through and people will take it very well. . . Even if my activity was not the best, I could have simply said : “sorry, I have no activity today, I mean I DID have one, but it can’t work because of space restrictions and numbers. . . .” But I didn't.

In the end, I received many thank you’d and was even invited to repeat this same activity at an elementary school in a few weeks! I love kids because they are simple and quick to accept you no matter what. They always appreciate a silly dance, some sweet incentives and an opportunity to shout things as loud as they can without getting in trouble. So far, working with children from rural communities has given me some of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had thus far. The smiles on their faces, endless affection, gratitude and their ability to simply be creative and “pretend” all of that made this whole situation possible. I’m not sure what I would have done if this was a group of adults!

Here are a few more pictures from that wonderful day: 

Pre-lunch games included: 

Musical chairs 

We even showed them how to play limbo with a broomstick

And they enjoyed it

Food :)

The parents had fun games too! 

Parents learning about their game

And ACTION

Looked like they were having fun

Toddlers played games too