Living in Datca was a very sudden and unexpected twist in our internship experience that we joined through AISEC (a worldwide student organistion). And like any change, at first we resisted, we weren't happy leaving our new life, new friends and new places in Istanbul.
Then there was the fact that all we knew about Datca was that it was far away from Istanbul and it had some pretty stunning views. But it only took us a day there for us to be very pleasantly surprised.
About the work itself, it's a world of difference from our experience working with mentally challenged children in Istanbul. Here we met so many children, all of them so young and adorable; I understood why the teachers loved the children. What impressed me was the actual therapy and activities the children were meant to partake in. Every day I was reminded of how complex the brain was, how a million different things could go wrong.
It isn't easy working with mentally challenged children for so many reasons. For one thing most of them look so normal and behave like you'd expect normal children to, that you're stunned when you start working with them and they can't spell or do simple calculations. The hardest aspect for me is a sense of helplessness when working with some children who have severe mental disabilities.
Always smiling
Her name is Sare and she is 17 years old. You need just one glance to tell that she is very mentally challenged. She always has a smile on her face. She communicates with some hand gestures, nodding and grunting.
The first time we met her, the teachers explained that she understood everything they said but could not answer or respond. Despite her disability, she actually did know she was different; she was aware that she didn't look like the other girls. Maybe that's why she told the teachers that she wanted to die.
Seeing these children every day and saying some basic Turkish greetings or even just finishing a puzzle with them helps these children feel noticed and normal even if just for a little while.
New techniques
Our job mostly involves assisting the teacher with individual therapy for the child. This is where I started learning about simple, creative ways to teach the children things like reading, pronunciation, mathematics, concentration. The teachers at the school were amazing; they knew the easiest way to teach the children; they were patient and encouraging and they always tried involving us in the session.
Every day we learnt something different and saw something new. At one session we would use chocolate for tongue therapy for a little girl, at another we would use coloured string to help a 19-year-old boy remember numbers.
I'm so grateful I have this chance to work with these children; for one thing it makes me realise every day how fortunate I am and at the same time I feel like in some small way I'm changing these children's lives for the better.
