El Dia del Niño (Children’s Day) is celebrated on April 30. This day recognizes children, pays homage to their importance in society, and endorses their well being. Most kindergartens and elementary schools have big parties instead of their regular classes, with piñatas and lots of candy. Sounds like great fun! Though not all of the suggestions I offer here are computer related, let’s discuss some things you can do to brighten the day of a child or two.
Drop by a local school and ask if there is anything you can do to help with the celebration. Perhaps you could help prepare the gift bags the children will receive. You might even add a couple of small items, with the school’s permission, of course. Or the school might appreciate your coming to the actual celebration to help oversee the children.
Create personalized greeting cards on your computer to give to kids at the school, or perhaps one big card to the entire class. Are there kids in your neighborhood? I am sure they’d love to receive a greeting card addressed to them from an adult. We discussed ways to create a greeting card in the January 29, 2010 issue: guadalajarareporter.com/columns-mainmenu-94/dave-clingman/26220-valentines-day-cards-.html.
While we are considering volunteerism, perhaps one of the local orphanages would appreciate your time. You might simply go and help play a game one afternoon a week, or maybe read a book to the kids. Or help a child or two learn or improve their English. From my quick online search, it appears there are at least two orphanges on Lake Chapala and several in Guadalajara.
You know how kids love seeing a balloon being turned into an animal? Well, you could do that yourself. It is not difficult. I learned how and was doing it myself in just a couple hours from reading a book. Now, though, you can find the directions online: www.mbd2.com/makeadog.htm
Though you may not complete a road trip to the United States or Canada this month, whenever you go, you could bring back something to donate to kids at a local school. I’ve a neighbor who, when he travels into the United States, buys some pencils and takes them to a rural school outside Guadalajara. It is surprising how much the students appreciate the kind of simple things we often take for granted.
He also receives free (or buys cheap) a couple of used computers and monitors to donate to the school. He hires someone for four hundred pesos to wipe what is on the computer, install basic software (www.openOffice.org has a great word processor and spreadsheet program, plus a free language program from www.download.com), and then takes them to the school. The kids and faculty there love his visits, and they benefit from his donations, even though the computers he donates are very old and very slow.
Dia del Niño is a great tradition. Unfortunately it isn’t celebrated in most English-speaking countries, but we English speakers can still take part in celebrations here.
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