For the Kids 2005

Alvin with his mum (left).

And it happened: the day I had much anxiety about. Dean and I finally got to spend a day with Alvin and his mum. We got to know Alvin better today than we ever did when we visited him back in his school at Barrio Obrero Elementary School. He was very lively and active--here I am, totally exhausted having spent more than half of the day with him, playing games and stuff.

Alvin, as I may have posted here before, is a special child: he has been diagnosed of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition that is characterized by excessive, almost endless physical activity, restlessness, rapid speech, prolific memory and the constant need for touch. Alvin exhibits all of them.

Dean and Alvin.

Alvin was surely a challenge to keep up with. I am very grateful that COSCA assigned Alvin to not only one Lasallian volunteer, but to two, as he likes pacing about. You could only imagine the distance he went after being set free on DLSU's football field. ;-)

Once you learn and pretty much figure out how to deal with Alvin, everything went quite well. (except for his tenacity for pinching people. bad. really bad. my arms suffered much from his repeated pinching.) He liked talking about the Clusivol ad (bawal magkasakit) and some weird and violent news stuff he often hears and sees on TV. Proof that children are indeed affected by the overly sensationalized crimes on primetime news on the local networks. :-D

The day ended with both and Dean and I tired, but much satisfied with how everything turned out. Yes, it was excessively tiring and challenging (I had to occasionally remind myself that Alvin is just a child, and a special one at that.) but it was worth it. The experience of sharing your time and effort with a child that is likely to be ostracized by society in the future is wonderful. I look forward to meeting another Alvin again in the future... :-)

Did I mention Alvin liked prancing about? See below.

Alvin dancing to 'Totoy Bibo.' :-))