Feeling of a Volunteer

Feeling of a Volunteer
Shoshana Pudell
18-Aug-09

Last week I started volunteering at Aleh in one of the classrooms. I am only 16 but I have worked with a lot of kids with special needs before, but never like this.

The first day I was really nervous. What was I going to do? Would I know how to interact with the kids? What to you do with a child like that? I was pleasantly surprised at the quickness in which I got settled. The first thing the teacher told me to do what was put lotion on the children’s hands. So I started to do that even though I was bit scared but after the first kid it was okay. Quickly I began to get more comfortable. I started playing with pieces of different material with the kids. I can’t describe how it happened but very soon I felt very comfortable there. The staff members were very nice to me trying their hardest to speak English so that I would understand them and they gave me things to do with the kids.

Now I have been there for a while and I don’t need them to tell me what to do I could just play with the kids. I love going there so much. Another thing is that now that it is summer they have different people come to Aleh such as magicians and clowns. When I see how all the teachers are with the kids it blows me away. They treat them as if they are their own kids, and in a certain way they are. The love and care that flows through the building is tangible.

I love being there, and in another week when I go back to America I am going to miss it so much, but I won’t ever forget it.