Service Visit Report: Brad and Anika

Last week and this week we have been traveling to visit the students at their service locations. We’re not quite done with the traveling and visiting, but we’ve got much to show and tell!

We’ll start with Brad and Anika, who work and live in the mountainous northern department and city of Jinotega. The organization where they are volunteering is Los Pipitos, a national agency that assists people with disabilities and their families. Brad and Anika divide their time between working with adults at the Pipitos office and children at the nearby Centro de Educación Temprana (Center for Early Education), which is affiliated with Los Pipitos. Brad and Anika help the Pipitos staff teach adult clients “everyday skills” such as cooking as well as recreational skills like dancing. (Brad exclaims, “Some of them can get down!”) At the Center for Early Education, Anika and Brad observe and assist with therapeutic activities such as exercise and games for children ages 0-6. “In a way it is a bit like day care, and Anika and I help out wherever possible,” says Brad. “At best I would call us well-rounded assistants to all of the workers at Los Pipitos/CET.”