Progress is an amazing thing. It is the sole thing that keeps the world turning; on the global front when it comes to dealing with humanity, but also on the personal level. Today Johan walked all by himself. No hand-holding, no guiding, no wall for support. He got up off the ground, onto his unstable little feet, and walked. Amazing.

4 weeks ago when I first met Johan, this would have seemed impossible. Our first interaction involved a good portion of his lunch being spit onto my new Delta Gamma shirt. He was in a fit of rage due to being contained in his high chair. Chicken, rice, and green sauce were smeared all over his table, bib, hands, and face. However, none seemed to make it into his mouth. He enjoyed feeling it too much to waste any through eating.

The work at Semillitas as all about helping the kids with disabilities learn to develop their basic skills. They aren’t striving for a group of geniuses. Instead, they are hoping that, by age 5, they’ll be able to walk (maybe), feed themselves, and communicate on at least the most basic level. Even still, these goals are a stretch.

Johan walked today. All by himself.

I was so happy that I found myself in tears while calling his name, watching his little hands reach out for me, hearing my voice, and trying to follow it through the paths of the orphanage. I couldn’t help but think, “so this is how every parent, everywhere, feels”. Having kids must be an incredible experience when they take their first steps…literally and figuratively.

Progress is also a difficult thing to achieve however. I’ve been putting off grading my student’s exams because I’m too afraid that they all will have failed, and thus I will have failed them. I am so inexperienced in the classroom that I am scared that my ignorance will only be a burden on them. What if their time was better spent learning something else? With a different teacher? I am so afraid that I can’t do this.

This truth is though, I can do it. I am. And that’s progress.

(*Note: My students averaged a 25.5/32 on their exams. progress.)

333KEC