Public Health in Action
On Tuesday, our second day of service, we once again woke up early and headed to the train for our morning commute to the kindergarten. Once we arrived, we discovered the children were in for a special treat: a visit from the dentist!
A local dentist, dedicated to serving the community, paid a visit to the Jardín Travesuras in order to teach these young children the importance of dental hygiene. Every child was fascinated by presentation, and they all went crazy for the big mouth and giant toothbrush! The dentist definitely knew how to entertain the kids, and he was generous enough to provide each child with their own toothbrush! This was a big deal for the children, and they all couldn't wait to take it out of the wrapper and show off their new brushing skills! With a few public health students in our group, we all were so excited to see our studies be put into action!
Another important component to the kindergarten is that in addition to the daycare and educational services, the Jardín also provides the kids with a healthy and filling breakfast and lunch everyday. Without the generous time and donations from volunteers and the community, this wouldn't be possible. It was such a joy for each of us to see the smiles on their faces when it was lunch time--even a simple orange treat made them happy!
After our second day of volunteering, the cement was now laid and ready to serve as the base for our new garden! All of the dirt had to be removed because much of the neighborhood's ground is contaminated from waste. With the trench and the cement in place, the kids were now going to have a garden ready for healthy vegetables to grow and free from any contamination.
No Gym, No Problem
Once we made our daily commute back to the Hostel, we were all determined to find a gym to work out in (and to balance out our heavy, but delicious meals). But after walking several blocks and discovering the only gym to be $100 a month, we decided to treat ourselves to a little pre-dinner snack instead--submarinos! Clearly the lack of a gym wasn't a problem for us, as we couldn't wait to enjoy our cup of hot milk with a chocolate bar made for melting and creating a delicious sweet drink! After our early dessert, we washed up and got ready for dinner at the hostel and then headed straight to bed. Our service project was coming along well, and we couldn't wait for Wednesday! Tomorrow we were finally getting to return to the kindergarten we volunteered at last year: Jardín Los Pinitos.
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