Formula 1

Formula 1 racing is a big deal here...something like Nascar in the US. Steve and Michael like to watch the F1 races when they can (the races are often on Sunday mornings during Sunday school) and Michael is quite the fan. They watched the time trials last Saturday morning and when it was done Michael had the idea of making his own F1 car. He thought about it all day and finally in the evening he called Steve upstairs to show him his car. His car consisted of the sofa with the cushions off and turned on end, pillows, the remote control of a car, a booster car seat, and a Thomas the Train tent. Steve really got into the spirit and they had a race. Steve and Maira were part of the crew following every part of Michael's performance through their computers and were in constant communication with Michael through microphones. Michael won the race (of course!) and he was awarded with his trophy (can of tennis balls). Maira couldn't be left out, so she got 2nd place. Then the tennis ball can also served as the bottle of champange that they shake up and spray on the crowd.

I've always loved...

horses. I never was around horses growing up, but I have always admired horses. In college I took a horseback riding class and I learned to ride in the English saddle and the Western saddle. It was so much fun...and I even fell off the horse one day because he decided to go right into a run before the trot. While I was working as a teacher in the area of special education, I learned a little about horseback riding therapy and I thought that would be perfect for me...horses and kids. That never did work out because God had other paths for me and I am totally okay with that. So imagine my surprise last weekend when a friend of ours tells me that he is giving me a horse. Just like that. We were talking about seeing the Lippizaners while in Florida and he said he had been meaning to tell me that he wanted to give me a horse. The horse was born in October of last year. Wow. It took a while to sink in and now I am trying to figure out what to do! We went to meet our colt today...he is brown with a white star on his forhead and black on his lower legs. He is quite handsome even though he is no special breed. He has not been around people yet, so he is very shy. I took carrots with me and the other 4 horses loved me for it. Our colt, however, was too shy to even come close enough to sniff the carrots. I was able to touch his hindquarters very quickly, but that was it. There is another colt with him that has been around people more and she kept nudging me, nibbling on my hand, and pulling on my shirt and jeans for more carrots. She just wouldn't accept the fact that they were all gone. So, I guess we need to make many more trips out to see our boy so he will get used to us. I also need to find someone who can break him when the time comes. And I need to read about horses! Here are some pictures of the newest member of our family...he doesn't have name yet, but we are working on it!

The girl colt is the one looking away from the camera.

Claves means "Keys"

I mentioned in my earlier post that I used a program called "Claves" in one of the workshops in the children's program. Ester (responsible for all of the social service programs in Asas) asked me if I would be interested in taking a 3 day training course in November of 2007. I jumped at the chance and was really impressed with the quality of the Claves program. The first two days of the course was spent mostly in learning the facts about child abuse...the who, when, why, how questions and then how the Claves program can strengthen children so that they will not be abused. The moto for Claves is "Through play we are strengthened to confront difficult situations". Studies show that an abuser usually takes 2 years from the time he/she decides to abuse a child to the time he/she actually starts to abuse. These 2 years are spent gaining the confidence of the child and family by building relationships and trust. A person who abuses has hurdles to conquer before being able to abuse a child...he/she first has to deal with his/her conscience, then he/she needs to have access to the child, and finally, he/she has to wear down the resistance of the child. Claves focuses on that last hurdle...building up the child so that he/she will be even more resistant and will have the courage to tell someone who can help. Children are divided into small groups by age (4-7 years old, 8-11 years old, 12 years old and up) and work through 3 stages of the program. The first stage is entitled "My Body", the second stage is "My Intimate Parts", and the third stage is "Others and I". Each stage has 3-4 workshops which gradually build in such a way that the child is prepared for the next stage. Each workshop includes a time of music and dance, group games, drama games, table games, and stories/situations. Everything is very age appropriate and is done in such a normal, matter-of-fact way that the kids are not embarrassed. Here is their website for more information: claves@juventudparacristo.org.uy (Youth for Christ)
Here is an example of one of the stories. I've condensed it quite a bit, but you'll get the idea of it.





This is a story about a little girl, Joana. Her is still at work when she gets home after school so the mom reminds her every day that she is to come right inside and lock the door behind her.































Joan wants to be obedient but every day their friendly neighbor wants to visit with her. She quickly goes inside, but....


























soon the neighbor is knocking at her door wanting to come in to talk and play some games. She used to like talking to him, watching television, and playing games, but recently she hasn't liked the games that he has wanted to play. He also makes her promise not to tell anyone about his visits or their games.













That evening her whole family is together but she is in a bad mood and doesn't want to talk about anything. When her mom asks her if she got her homework done, Joana just gets even more mad and runs off to her room.




























Joana's mom talks with Joana and tells her that sometimes it is okay to have secrets, but if a secret makes you feel bad then it isn't a good secret to keep.





















This is a board game to play with the 12 year olds and older. This games involves working through a wide range of situations and prejudices.