Good Times at Casa Visedal!

Hi! Jessie here!

the Casa Visedal banner

This past week was long awaited-we were all so ready to open Casa Visedal and be able to hang out with the scholars every day! Saturday was a great day! We had all the scholars and their families over to Casa Visedal for a party to commemorate the opening of our new space. I was particularly excited for this party because we executed part of my intern project: we had each of the scholars trace their hand on poster board, decorate it, and write their name. This banner now hangs in Casa Visedal! The scholars had a great time decorating the banner and were especially enthused upon the discovery that we had glitter glue. More than one of the scholars left (happily) covered in glitter.

the scholars hard at work decorating the banner

Now for a little more info on what we’re doing at Casa Visedal. Each weekday, about 6-8 scholars come and talk with our staff psychologist, as well as hang out with us, learn English with our rosetta stone software, and for the younger scholars, run around a little and have fun with our craft supplies. This past week has been awesome because we get to see so many of our scholars each day. I’ve had a great time crafting with our younger scholars. Upon arriving, they pounce on the array of coloring books, construction paper, scissors, and glitter glue. We’ve spent a fair share of time peacefully coloring and crafting-though that’s not always the case! Plenty of running, tickling, and ring-around-the-rosy ensues as well!

A lot of the older scholars have been working on learning English at the casa. It’s been so cool to hear them speaking English and watch their progress. With a couple more weeks, I’m sure many of them will be quite proficient! Kevin Antonio in particular has made some impressive progress in English already. He spent several hours on rosetta stone on his first day at the casa. By the time he left, he was saying full sentences in English. It’s been so cool to hear the scholars speaking English and watch their progress.

Isaac Israel focused on learning English

On Friday, we had another session with the older girls. On the first day of our volunteer trip, we had a session to talk about self-esteem, setting goals, and the benefits of keeping a journal. Today’s session was a continuation of that and Mekaila’s intern project. We discussed drugs and their consequences, self-esteem, and again reinforced the idea that keeping a journal is really beneficial to one’s emotional health. Mekaila also handed out questions for the girls to journal about that we will discuss in next week’s session. These questions include ones such as: what are your educational goals? What does love mean to you? Next week, we will discuss the girls’ ideas about these and other questions related to setting and achieving goals.

Our session with Belen, Aura, and Winny

Stay tuned for more updates on all the good times at Casa Visedal!