sesiones en el centro de aprendizaje y desarrollo infantil

After a lot of planning, we have finally started our sessions in the infant development center. I have worked closely with 7 women who are the “Promoters” of the center. They are community members who have volunteered to be in charge of running and organizing the sessions. I have given them several training sessions about the importance of early intervention and stimulation and infant development. Our center is focusing on children under the age of three, which is a crucial stage in development. We are starting with the basics by emphasizing the importance of play. Most of these infants are under-stimulated and don’t ever have proper “playtime.” After doing some background research about infant development stages and appropriate games and toys, I collaborated with the promoters to make some basic toys that will stimulate development. While I would have loved to recommend to the mothers the latest Fisher Price toy that stimulates the senses and develops of hand-eye coordination and motor skills, I had to keep in mind what resources we actually had to work with. We had several workshops to make toys such as mobiles, rattles, stacking blocks, textured books, shape puzzles, etc that are made from basic materials that are easily and cheaply available in our town that target development for babies and infants 0 to 3 years old. For example, we made rattles out of plastic bottles and rice rinds (being surrounded by rice fields, this is one material definitely in abundance). After prepping with promoters with some background knowledge and working with them to make toys, we invited the mothers with babies in our town to the center for our first session. While the first session definitely left some room for improvement, both the promoters and the mothers and babies showed enthusiasm and interest.

It is hard to explain the significance and important potential that I see in this center. In the States, the infants are effortlessly stimulated and played with. Surrounded by toys, healthy food, good medical care, and a high standard for learning at a young age, the average infant in the developed world is lucky with what she has, without her or her parents even realizing it. But in developing countries, there has been little or no focus on early infant stimulation. Imagine a home where the two year old literally plays with trash and stares at the ground for hours. She gets fed a plate of rice three times a day and has never visited the doctor. I have seen so many of these homes here, and I think (and hope!) that our new center is going to make a difference for the youngest members of Pampa Elera.