Duban

Don't cry!...I chanted this to myself as I looked at Duban's wide eyes taking in everything around him as our taxi swept past colorful vendors and modern shops. His innocent wonder mixed with a twinge of fear brought on a wave of emotions within me. How could this child really have never seen the town that sits only 15 minutes driving distance from his barrio?

When we finished school today, I had made an appointment with a psychologist who has offered to donate her time in order to work with our most challenging student, Duban. I wrote a little about him in a previous entry, but basically Duban has had a rough go of things and at 10 years old, he is already growing very cynical toward the world around him. He destroys classrooms, throws fits and demonstrates anger that is frightening...he crawls into your lap, smiles at you with deeply dimpled cheeks, and has a softness that cannot be forgotten...even when he is at his worst.

His sweet, scared child side was jumping out of his dark brown eyes. I asked him if he had ever been to Rodadero (the tourist town 10 minutes from Valle de Gaira) and he shook his head. He was completely silent, taking in everything. I was in shock that this child had lived within ten minutes of a shopping mall, air-conditioned restaurants, and other modern conveniences for 10 years, but had never seen any of it.

While we had planned to go to Duban's first appointment, the psychologist had needed to cancel last minute so we decided to take Duban into town to check out the area in the very least. Things always seem to turn out for the best and in this instance it was obvious. Giving Duban the opportunity to acclimate himself in the area where he would be visiting the 'medico' was essential. He was so overwhelmed by the 'big city' that had he had an appointment today, it would have been pointless with his spinning head.

Instead, we checked out the doctor's office, then meandered down to the beach where we found a frozen yogurt shop that blends a concoction with fresh fruit. Duban and his buddy, Jose (our helper) were bug-eyed and excited. When we started sharing our flavors with each other, the boys were hesitant to dip into our yogurt and after some coaxing they were shyly taking tiny tastes. Pretty adorable.


After stuffing ourselves on fro-yo, we walked to the beach and  Cerys prepped Duban by rolling his shorts up so they wouldn't get wet...he dove in. Love it.

I decided to follow his lead and we swam around in our clothes while tourists gawked at us. Honestly, I might not have ignored the fact that I didn't have a bathing suit, if Duban hadn't gone first. Once again the a kid turns out being the true teacher of the day. His lesson, 'Who cares what other people think of you...do what YOU want to do...you'll have more fun.'

Monday we are going to take Duban to his first actual psychologist appointment and I am so thankful we had this time to share with him to just get him comfortable with these new surroundings. It just goes to show, while this may not have been what we planned, it was the EXACT thing that Duban needed today.