Before we launch into this week´s excitments, we wanted to apologise for disappearing, we had a little technical he-cup last week that left us with a somewhat uneventful session- a possible flop one might call it! Gaby from the Defensoria joined us in the Convento San Francisco´s patio to view Little Desperteaux which she had introduced the week before…except we never managed to make the film work. The session thus turned into a trick of patience and self-control as the kids watched us, bemused, struggle against faulty technology, making various calls to technical-wizz colleagues, rushing around with new dvds, switching cables. It took us over an hour to eventually give up and decide that: well, after all, these things just happen! The kids played with us a little, helped us fold up and wandered off with no hard feelings…Indeed, they were all back yesterday for a proper fun day as it was all about the righ
t to play and recreation. Technically, how did that translate and how was that any different from our other sessions? Well…for starters, the Cefistas were in charge of the entire session and the rest of us, including the kids, were their little executing ants…Our mission in preparation of the session? Sourcing 15 mini soft balls, rope, small pots with a rim (!), material for blind-folding, facial paint, white chark and finally, small panels indicating the following: ¨Cuidado - niños jugando¨, ¨Juntos estamos unidos¨, etc.
t to play and recreation. Technically, how did that translate and how was that any different from our other sessions? Well…for starters, the Cefistas were in charge of the entire session and the rest of us, including the kids, were their little executing ants…Our mission in preparation of the session? Sourcing 15 mini soft balls, rope, small pots with a rim (!), material for blind-folding, facial paint, white chark and finally, small panels indicating the following: ¨Cuidado - niños jugando¨, ¨Juntos estamos unidos¨, etc.As soon as we arrived charged like mules, Henri and Santi took charge of our materials and with the kids
, who followed them around curiously supervising their every move, began setting up ¨el juego de pista¨ starting with delimiting the game field and posting on our (the team) backs the panels.
, who followed them around curiously supervising their every move, began setting up ¨el juego de pista¨ starting with delimiting the game field and posting on our (the team) backs the panels. Before we initiated this main game, a little warm-up session was planned to foster what we call ¨compañerismo¨. This translated in
to the two teams moving & shaking, chanting as well as screeching louder than the other. Swiftly the cefistas launched into the explanation of ¨el juego de pista¨ to an excited (and not so concentrated) group and invited them to take up its first challenge: blind-folded, find the balls with the help of your team-mates. This led to much laughter as some took to displacing & misleading them. 
to the two teams moving & shaking, chanting as well as screeching louder than the other. Swiftly the cefistas launched into the explanation of ¨el juego de pista¨ to an excited (and not so concentrated) group and invited them to take up its first challenge: blind-folded, find the balls with the help of your team-mates. This led to much laughter as some took to displacing & misleading them. 
Second challenge: to walk through the game field with, posted on the head, the ball in its pot, without having it fall of course or else, back to square one… again, not an easy one, but quite a hit! In the land of mobility and agility, pen-ultimate challenge: step in and through t
he rope´s loops along the ground in a long tight-knit hand-holding group. Last but not least, paint your teammates faces…
he rope´s loops along the ground in a long tight-knit hand-holding group. Last but not least, paint your teammates faces… It all got a little more complex when some, who had gotten a little carried away and had literally surface-pasted their faces as well as hands, asked to wash them. We, for some strange reason, had completely omitted this possible ¨post-creation¨ moment…our lack of foresight got us running around, with a potentially impatient b
ut amused crew, asking the Tianguez for basins and rushing to the loos for warm water and soap. Eventually, all our kids got in a single queue, and one by one, each got their little facial…scrub! ;0 Good job we had thought about buying water based paint and not oil…
So the plan to ensure the kids had their bit of fun whilst at the same time working on values that promoted companionship, leade
rship, trust and respect were pretty much achieved. The idea for them to realize that there is a space available to ¨be¨ kids, and enjoy freely being so was, we think, successful. This was made obvious when, come the end of the session they were all pretty relaxed and energy unloaded…which is always a good sign! At the end of the session, Henri and the rest of the supporting team queried informally whether they had enjoyed themselves, and would they be up for doing this again … To much of our distress, they seem to be up for this weekly- not sure we would be able to keep up as their group stamina does reach peaks! ;0
ut amused crew, asking the Tianguez for basins and rushing to the loos for warm water and soap. Eventually, all our kids got in a single queue, and one by one, each got their little facial…scrub! ;0 Good job we had thought about buying water based paint and not oil…So the plan to ensure the kids had their bit of fun whilst at the same time working on values that promoted companionship, leade
rship, trust and respect were pretty much achieved. The idea for them to realize that there is a space available to ¨be¨ kids, and enjoy freely being so was, we think, successful. This was made obvious when, come the end of the session they were all pretty relaxed and energy unloaded…which is always a good sign! At the end of the session, Henri and the rest of the supporting team queried informally whether they had enjoyed themselves, and would they be up for doing this again … To much of our distress, they seem to be up for this weekly- not sure we would be able to keep up as their group stamina does reach peaks! ;0Next week, Alfonso, our story-teller, will be back for a more relaxed ¨laughter¨ session as we will be covering the right to laugh; he will be counting the kids a couple of ¨chistes¨ and inviting them to tell their own.
