Another day at the office

I work at the Oceanic School in Bat Yam and based on my expectations and assumptions, this was a fairly normal week.  On Sunday, I helped a young boy (14 years old) with cerebral palsy change his clothes so that he could go into the water, and then change them back once he came out.  For the past three months I had been working with a lot of children with cerebral palsy and it was nice to be able to reflect on those experiences and use that training in my current job.  I also helped teach Harold and Sophie (the two other Year Coursers who I work with) how to sail.  It gave me a source of pride and accomplishment to be able to teach them.

On Monday, we had two groups of kid come who come from a fairly "normal" background (considering their surroundings): they don't have any mental, physical, or learning disabilities that I am aware of; however, they do go to a school that specialize in music.  So we (the volunteers) and myself went kayaking on the open sea with them.  Our job was similar to that of cowboys bringing in the herd; we just made sure the kids didn't travel into any fishing nets, rocks, or wander to far from the group.  Also, today was the first day that all of the staff were there.  But, unfortunately, I wasn't able to talk to them because I was busy shepherding little kids (I believe 12 years old).

On Wednesday and Thursday, we don't get any groups, so our time is spent cleaning and organizing the office.  This week I painted the freight cars that we use as our offices in order to hide/disguise the rust.