Yanena

7/1/10
Today, I got an opportunity to work with Yanena, a 21-year-old girl here at the orphanage who always wears her hair in one long French braid and has a giant toothy smile, full of braces. Unlike most of the kids here, she has spent her entire childhood at this orphanage in Monte Cristi; she has been allowed to stay past the age of 18, because she shows numerous signs of mental retardation (although she has not been officially diagnosed). Just a few hours ago, she read me the story of Cinderella. Ella está preciosa. Her reading level is probably that of a second grader, and she also has some minor speech impediments. Although my Spanish is not great, I know pronunciation fairly well, so I was actually able to help her practice reading and pronouncing words correctly. I never thought Cinderella could be such a mutually beneficial tool for literacy, speech therapy, and learning Spanish...gracias Cinderella! (LP I totally thought of you…literacy! Thas yo’ thang girlll.) After working with Yanena, I really think she is also dyslexic, because she kept switching the same letters around over and over again. When I asked her to spell the word for me, she still had a very difficult time saying the letters in order. But...we will keep reading together and helping each other. She’ll become a better reader and I’ll (slowly but surely) get better at Spanish.

Quick sidenote - all of the kids at the orphanage pick on her and laugh at her, and I believe that she lives a very isolated life. Please pray for Yanena.