Today I worked with one of the doctors in one of the surrounding communities. This community hadn´t exhisted before 1997, when Hurricane Mitch hit. this hurricane comepletely destroyed entire communities. Do Japan, and the red cross of Spain came and built this community from scratch. They also, within the community for three years taught the families parenting skills, self esteme activities, hygine activities, and what not. The school there has the best discipline, and highest sucess rate. The children are more independant with their daily activities, and the grounds are well kept. The families had to ¨buy¨ the houses, but at a reduced cost. The town has wells, electricity and what not.

The doctor with whom I traveled with today has a def son. He can hear a little bit, with the aid of a system that looks like the little ear insertable headphones. In the school in this community there is another little boy of the same age, also with speaking, and hearing problems. They were introduced for the first time today, and immediately became friends. When we left, I could tell that their brief introduction had been important. You could see on their faces how much they just wanted to spend time together, with someone else who understood them. We then went to the family of the second boy, and gave the mother a sign langauge book, and the doctor gave a really wonderful talk to the family about motivation, the importance of family support, and meaning of learning. Both sets of grandparents were there with the little guy´s mother, so everyone in the family has the same information, and can hopefully all pull together to help the son. It was a really amazing experience to be part of, and its refreshing to see good work being done, especially on such a personal level. I think sometimes the really helpful and meaningful work can get lost in the masses, and is sometimes hard to see.

Hazel