Yesterday was the Family Support Center Olympics aka Field Day. There was lots of sun, lots of dust and lots of happy energetic kids! Everyone was split into four groups of nine and wore their team color on a sash tied around their heads. Let the competitions begin!
We started off the day with an old classic: Tug of War. Unfortunately, after a couple of rounds our rope had had enough and snapped in the middle! No serious injuries, but we had to end the Tug of War competition before we could declare a winner.
Next we set up a relay using jump ropes. The competing team ran through an obstacle of ropes, having to duck or jump over them depending on their height. The team with the shortest time won. Verdict: Red team!
Each kid brought their own "costal" or big plastic sack to participate in another classic relay: the potato sack hop. Man those kids can hop!
Following the sack race the teams competed in a running relay, balancing a raw egg on a spoon, and last but not least: Water balloon toss! This was definitely the biggest hit. Each team chose two representatives to hold a costal and the rest of the team tossed water balloons into the bags. Whichever team had the most water balloons (fully intact!) at the end, won. They were surprisingly good at this! Water balloons aren't fun unless they break so we had another competition between pairs to see how far they could get while throwing one back and forth--this did the trick: lots of "splats" and wet children!
Everyone received a medal for participating in the 2012 Olympics, and the winning Green team got small plastic trophies. Until next year!
The Family Support Center was created to serve single working mothers in Llanos del Pinal, a rural K'iche Maya community situated 20 minutes south of Quetzaltenango in the Guatemalan highlands. Meals, educational support, and extra-curricular activities are provided for the 36 children aged 2-18 who attend the Center at any given time. This institution allows for parents to continue working after school lets out. These extra hours of work enable families to earn enough money to continue sending their children to school.
The Family Support Center is supported by volunteers from the Pop Wuj Spanish School, and is regarded by the Foundation Todos Juntos as a priority because it is the only place where children can receive help on their homework, as their parents (or parent) tend to be illiterate and unable to academically assist the education of their children.
At the Family Support Center a Greenhouse Project was also started as part of our Environmental Program in 2007. Its goal is to provide safe food for the children at the Center and create a source of income for the Center by growing food products that can be sold in the market. The Greenhouse Project also allows the children to learn healthy agricultural and environmental skills and practices. We are planning to plant spinach, radishes, and cilantro in 2012.
