The sound of silence
Door: Rebecca
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Rebecca
24 Augustus 2011 | Costa Rica, Liberia
No sound of silence here..I think to myself while the schoolkids play this wellknown Simon and Garfunkel song on their xylophones just outside 'my office'. Almost every day there is music practise..if they're not repeating the Sound of Silence over and over, than they surely playing the drums. This is considerately done; not on the porch close to the office, but in the at the end of the field that belongs to the school. Nevertheless we're still able to enjoy the sounds like if they're standing beside us.
Even on days that there is no music practise, sounds of silence is hard to find. My workspace is part of a busy office which I share with 3 or 4 other people: the social worker, the psychologist , a remedial teacher and a 'jack of all trades' a woman who is hardly ever in the office cause she is always busy with arranging things. The others are however always present and they do get a lot of visitors during the day, ranging from mothers who want to talk ( social worker) about major and minor problems, teachers who need to talk about children, about other teachers or just chat about minor things ( to everyone that likes to listen), children who are asked to come in and talk about their issues(Yadira, the psychologist)children who need a bit of help with reading ( Maria) to people who sell home-baked goodies or pre-made goodies ( for everybody). Everyone has a cellphone and they're never silent for long. The cellphone is used for important talks with organizations that might financially support a certain family but it is also used for less important talks..such as the ones with the girl from little on-site shop...if she could bring a plate of food or a bottle of soda to the office? Then the bell rings ..it means it is pauze and even before the sound of the loud alarm has faded the noise of children playing is deafening. Children run around like they have been hold hostage for weeks and shout and scream like crazy. Most of the time the play a variation on hide and seek, sometimes running inside the small office ( not allowed) to hide behind the door or under the desk. Others, that do not like or participate with this game, come in quietly, mostly two by two, to see what I and the others are doing. They group around the table or take a chair and look at me with big brown eyes....Çan we please draw?" Sometimes I say yes at this hard to ignore request, at other times I have to dissapoint them...there is only a certain amount of space at the table and/or sometimes just because I am to busy with helping/guiding other kids.
In the beginning I was afraid the constant noise and the stream of visitors would bother my 'clients', but it doesn't seem to bother them a lot. It's not what I had in mind however. Ideally I would like to have a small room, less noisy, a bit more pivate, where they children and I could work in silence, but mmmmm, that's just not going to work this time..so I guess I have to get used to it. At least I have work now and I do enjoy working with the children a lot. We started of with drawings, and this week will focus more on paintings...different material, different reactions and interactions. Till so far the children respond well on the colorful liquid..which isn't always the case with paint. Some children go 'crazy' when working with paint...painting everything but their paper or just making one big 'mess' of their work. Sometimes they are better of with more dry or structured materials...like pencils and crayons. Anyway this week we paint and the week after that we will be very very busy with creating animals from plastic bottles, plastic, paper and sticky gleu..but more about this when we're actually working with these materials. To have a plan is one thing...to execute it another
Working with the children is fun, thinking about the next step in the progress too, writing the observation rapports less so. After a few hours of interacting in Spanish, managing the group I often feel too tired to write a decent rapport. But I need to do so..or at least make an attempt to do so. But after a week of hard work I enjoy the weekends even more than I did before.
Two weeks ago I went to Monteverde...a National Park that gets a lot of visitors each day.
The small town of Santa Elena was...busy and the hostel I stayed in...full of sound. With music so loud I could hardly think..I was reading about tranquil trails and shy animals. The next morning I went to the reserve to walk an I ran into too many people for my liking. The small group that I was part of ( with guide) had to stop several times to let other groups pass and when someone spotted a bird we had to stand in line to see it. By the time you reached the binoculars the small specked bird had gone....not my idea of fun. In the afternoon I decided to go on my own to The Eternal Childrens Rainforest, a 22 something hectare piece of rainforest that children all over the world 'bought' . Only a small part of this Bosque Eterno de los Ninos is accesible to the public. The trail was not that long, but really nice and peaceful. I kind of expected to see some other hikers, but did not see anyone at all for the more then two hours I was there. A great experience! I did not see any big animals, but saw a lot of birds, a few agouti and many many butterflies. And eventhough alone in the forest, there were sounds everywhere...high up in the trees, between the trees and bushes and on the ground. Everywhere I looked I saw trees and plants. Some plants had colorful, almost plastic like looking flowers, others were 'trunk and leafs.There were trees and plants with small narrow leafs and small broad leafs, there were big round leafs and there were gigantic leafs. Leafs in all different sizes and shapes, some growing on their own, many feeding on others, but all had shades of green and no green was the same. Pretty amazing. A good weekend after all...back to work.
The crayons and pencils are spread out on the table and for a short moment the children work in total silence. Outside it's very still...no big drums or ...., no children screaming and no people walking in and out chatting about major and minor cases. This absence of sounds seemed new and just when I was about to enjoy the brief moment of silence...one of the children made a comment about the other, which I did not understand, but seemed to be insulting enough for the other to jump up and 'attack' the other. Silence gone, action required.
For now I end this story...i need to prepare todays session. Have a good day and hasta pronto, abrazos! Rebecca
Even on days that there is no music practise, sounds of silence is hard to find. My workspace is part of a busy office which I share with 3 or 4 other people: the social worker, the psychologist , a remedial teacher and a 'jack of all trades' a woman who is hardly ever in the office cause she is always busy with arranging things. The others are however always present and they do get a lot of visitors during the day, ranging from mothers who want to talk ( social worker) about major and minor problems, teachers who need to talk about children, about other teachers or just chat about minor things ( to everyone that likes to listen), children who are asked to come in and talk about their issues(Yadira, the psychologist)children who need a bit of help with reading ( Maria) to people who sell home-baked goodies or pre-made goodies ( for everybody). Everyone has a cellphone and they're never silent for long. The cellphone is used for important talks with organizations that might financially support a certain family but it is also used for less important talks..such as the ones with the girl from little on-site shop...if she could bring a plate of food or a bottle of soda to the office? Then the bell rings ..it means it is pauze and even before the sound of the loud alarm has faded the noise of children playing is deafening. Children run around like they have been hold hostage for weeks and shout and scream like crazy. Most of the time the play a variation on hide and seek, sometimes running inside the small office ( not allowed) to hide behind the door or under the desk. Others, that do not like or participate with this game, come in quietly, mostly two by two, to see what I and the others are doing. They group around the table or take a chair and look at me with big brown eyes....Çan we please draw?" Sometimes I say yes at this hard to ignore request, at other times I have to dissapoint them...there is only a certain amount of space at the table and/or sometimes just because I am to busy with helping/guiding other kids.
In the beginning I was afraid the constant noise and the stream of visitors would bother my 'clients', but it doesn't seem to bother them a lot. It's not what I had in mind however. Ideally I would like to have a small room, less noisy, a bit more pivate, where they children and I could work in silence, but mmmmm, that's just not going to work this time..so I guess I have to get used to it. At least I have work now and I do enjoy working with the children a lot. We started of with drawings, and this week will focus more on paintings...different material, different reactions and interactions. Till so far the children respond well on the colorful liquid..which isn't always the case with paint. Some children go 'crazy' when working with paint...painting everything but their paper or just making one big 'mess' of their work. Sometimes they are better of with more dry or structured materials...like pencils and crayons. Anyway this week we paint and the week after that we will be very very busy with creating animals from plastic bottles, plastic, paper and sticky gleu..but more about this when we're actually working with these materials. To have a plan is one thing...to execute it another
Working with the children is fun, thinking about the next step in the progress too, writing the observation rapports less so. After a few hours of interacting in Spanish, managing the group I often feel too tired to write a decent rapport. But I need to do so..or at least make an attempt to do so. But after a week of hard work I enjoy the weekends even more than I did before.
Two weeks ago I went to Monteverde...a National Park that gets a lot of visitors each day.
The small town of Santa Elena was...busy and the hostel I stayed in...full of sound. With music so loud I could hardly think..I was reading about tranquil trails and shy animals. The next morning I went to the reserve to walk an I ran into too many people for my liking. The small group that I was part of ( with guide) had to stop several times to let other groups pass and when someone spotted a bird we had to stand in line to see it. By the time you reached the binoculars the small specked bird had gone....not my idea of fun. In the afternoon I decided to go on my own to The Eternal Childrens Rainforest, a 22 something hectare piece of rainforest that children all over the world 'bought' . Only a small part of this Bosque Eterno de los Ninos is accesible to the public. The trail was not that long, but really nice and peaceful. I kind of expected to see some other hikers, but did not see anyone at all for the more then two hours I was there. A great experience! I did not see any big animals, but saw a lot of birds, a few agouti and many many butterflies. And eventhough alone in the forest, there were sounds everywhere...high up in the trees, between the trees and bushes and on the ground. Everywhere I looked I saw trees and plants. Some plants had colorful, almost plastic like looking flowers, others were 'trunk and leafs.There were trees and plants with small narrow leafs and small broad leafs, there were big round leafs and there were gigantic leafs. Leafs in all different sizes and shapes, some growing on their own, many feeding on others, but all had shades of green and no green was the same. Pretty amazing. A good weekend after all...back to work.
The crayons and pencils are spread out on the table and for a short moment the children work in total silence. Outside it's very still...no big drums or ...., no children screaming and no people walking in and out chatting about major and minor cases. This absence of sounds seemed new and just when I was about to enjoy the brief moment of silence...one of the children made a comment about the other, which I did not understand, but seemed to be insulting enough for the other to jump up and 'attack' the other. Silence gone, action required.
For now I end this story...i need to prepare todays session. Have a good day and hasta pronto, abrazos! Rebecca
-
24 Augustus 2011 - 14:16
Ruth:
Dear sis,
Your writing is, again, wonderful. I really like reading it. Sounds like a lot of noise but also like a lot of fun and good work. Keep it up and enjoy. Beautiful works from the kids.
See you soon. Teamo. Saludos Ruth -
24 Augustus 2011 - 16:20
Joke:
hello Rebecca, I am imprest by your story about silence and many sounds. I prefer silence when working or doing creatifs things. Other people ike sounds, as you wrote, or are used to it and I think they don't hear it. You made a nice walk in the woods/park. You wrote in a way I could see it. Thanks for your nice way of writing. I liked to read it all. It's a very special time for you, I believe. It's nice that you have 'clients' now.
Here, around my house, there's very much noise now and in the next months for 8.30 - 16.00hr. People are working with machines to renovate the building. Rebecca, I have to go now. I'm invited fo diner by a girlfriend. I wish you all the best. love, Joke -
24 Augustus 2011 - 21:59
Hetty:
heerlijk voor je dat je toch nog een paar uurtjes in rust kon zijn in het bos van de kinderen. het temperament ligt daar nu eenmaal heel anders dan ons nederlandse temperament.
bedankt voor je verhaal,
liefs,
xxxxxxxxx -
25 Augustus 2011 - 07:13
Alma:
These kids are very talented painters :-) Keep up the good work!
-
25 Augustus 2011 - 13:36
Naomi:
Hello There Sweet sister,
Thanks a million for your nice, colorful and picturesque update....
I guess it's pretty hard to find that sound of silence on any place in the world, but I'm glad you found it eventually on your hike in the forest. And besides the noise, it looks and sounds like you're having a good time with the children. Their paintings look really nice and the funny thing is that their paintings seems completely different than the paintings the children on Malimbe used to make. Of course I have only seen a couple of examples....
Dear sis, thanks again, take care and I'll mail again soon. Kiss from your sis! -
26 Augustus 2011 - 09:09
Odette:
Leuk te lezen!
Kus!
Odette -
28 Augustus 2011 - 15:07
Mariette Engels:
dag lieve Rebecca,
met grote interesse jouw werkelijk fantastische verslag gelezen. Je woordkeus is werkelijk geweldig. Ik zie jou en de kinderen voor me, zo echt lijkt het voor me. Fijn dat je toch nog, al was het moeilijk, wat rust kon vinden! Wat een indrukwekkende natuur he, ik was in Monteverde in 2005. Ik bewonder wat je doet en je energieke inzet. Heb het goed daar!
lieve groet,
mariette -
28 Augustus 2011 - 15:26
Henny:
Hi dear Rebecca, I thought, let me be silent a bit longer this time, before answering you.
Maybe you can create (from plastic bottles filled with sand) your own 'Eternal Childrens Creative Office' of 22 square metres !!!
Good luck and buy some more good ear-plugs. Take care, Henny
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