By Kristen Calderón
VE Assistant Program Director from California, USA.
Kristen is the Assistant Program Director at VE Global. Like every VE staff member, she also volunteers one day a week at one of our partner organizations.
For the last two months I’ve been volunteering one day a week at Casa de Guaguas and have had a very positive experience. Casa de Guaguas (Home for Babies) is one of the organizations VE collaborates with that serves young children from birth to age 5 that have been neglected or abandoned. The home helps prepare these children for adoption or for reuniting with their own families. The staff and volunteers serve as the temporary parental figures that help guide these young children in their early development and learning; quite a noteworthy task. I have been blown away at how loving and caring the team is in treating the children as if they are their very own.
At my prior job in early childhood education, I became a Certified Educator of Infant Massage. I have had the fortune of using this skill by teaching the tías at Casa de Guaguas how to provide nurturing touch with the babies, beyond what they are already doing. Infant massage provides numerous benefits for babies. It enhances neurological development and immune system function, stimulates growth hormones, promotes bonding and secure attachment, reduces colic, and improves sleep quality, just to name a few. When babies receive this type of nurturing touch, they are more likely to thrive, despite the trauma they may have experienced.
I feel blessed that I have been able to share my skills and knowledge in this area to help make a difference at a time when it matters most. The staff I have trained have commented on the benefits they have already noticed as a result of massaging the babies. Each week that I go help out, I am left with great fulfillment. At times it is hard when you grow attached to the infants only to see them leave. At least I can safely say for a time, in their temporary home, they are shown the utmost care and attention in addition to receiving the loving touch they so deserve.