Christmas Card Contest

San Jose Clinic is hosting a Christmas Card Coloring contest for the children. I helped out with making the entry box, cutting paper for the children to color on and typed out directions for the contest. The winner's picture will be used on the cover of the San Jose Clinic's Christmas Card. We needed to have the directions translated to Spanish too, so we found someone to translate and printed copies of those. I always feel very limited by not knowing Spanish, especially when volunteering at San Jose and realizing that it can be a serious barrier to health care administration. But then again, there are ways of communicating that do not involve language. I have been able to interact with many patients at the clinic without knowing a bit of Spanish--especially while coloring with kids in the waiting room. When I went on the first day of classes this semester, I was coloring with a little four-year-old girl who kept calling me teacher because all of her older siblings had gone off to school that day too. We played "school," colored, and put a puzzle together while her family was waiting for the pharmacy to open and fill their prescriptions. It is extrremely satisfying to know that I was able to help out a family that was already stressed out with regards to medical concerns, just by coloring with a little girl. Even though we couldn't understand each other's language, we still understood each other.