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Breaking through the language Barrier

Working around a lot of little kids you only understand half of the time is a difficult thing to do. When I first started working at the day care and the older women would try to talk to me, I never understood them. Having that happen did get frustrating at times but it didn’t compare to the feelingI felt when the little kids tried to talk to me and I didn’t understand.

Ever since I could remember I loved helping little kids. While my peers were going home studying after school I was going to a elementary school not to far from where I live to help tutor. So when I made the decision to take a Gap year and saw that I could enjoy what i do best while experiencing a new culture, it was a dream come true. I just didn’t realize it would be hard as it wasFirst time I started working at Lupi, I had mixed emotions. Some kids hadn’t quite gotten used to me yet so when they wouldn’t greet me when I greeted them I tried my best to not let it get to me. But I kept trying to think of ways I could try I speeding the process up. Everyday I went and let them throw stuff at me, pull and play in my hair . I might have gone home with an aching body and sore scalp but I just kept thinking anything to get them comfortable. But as months went by after they got comfortable another problem had appeared, they were trying to communicate with me. I never thought about the possibility that my Spanish would be a problem at work after a certain amount of time in Ecuador. so when I realized it was a problem I had to figure out how to not let get in the way of me gaining a relationship with the kids. I started to study even harder and listening really closely to what they would say. I now understand 80% of what they say and I spend time playing with them to make up for the 20% I don’t understand. Now I feel like I have the closest relationships with these little kids who even though sometimes I don’t understand have made a great impact in my life and my goal everyday is to make as much of an impact in theirs as I can before I leave.

Kimberly Reed-Hyman

About Kimberly Reed-Hyman


Kimberly is most proud of receiving buildOn's Global Citizen Impact award for her region. She is passionate about making sure children all have an equal opportunity to get the education they deserve, and she even spent two weeks in Malawi, Africa, helping to build the foundation for a school.

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