The Explorers Club or Los Tigres

  Clases Cadanino-  This is the group of five young adults that are currently receiving classes outside the center ABI. The classes are held  five and half days a week in the Cadanino rented house. Their primary classroom is a converted garage, but they also have a dining room, kitchen and bathroom.
Most days they arrive around 8:30 am and stay until 4:00 pm.   Their teacher is Jorge Maldonado. He is a dedicated and gifted instructor.    In a few short weeks Jorge has made enormous progress with the kids.


            The Kids (Los Patojos) 
     

   This sweet young lady is named Carmalina.  She is in her twenties and loves helping out. She enjoys helping with the dishes in the kitchen or folding laundry in the laundry room. She also loves hair clips, purses and costume jewelry. She is very quiet but can speak.

  This is Ernesto who has the nickname Canche (pale face because of pale complexion and bright blue eyes).  He loves to help out and has been fascinated by planes for years.  His dream of flying was recently fulfilled as he had the chance to fly with the military to the ocean. They gave him the royal treatment and he made celebrity status for his 15 minutes of fame. Several newspapers and television station covered the event.   He knows his numbers to 10 and most of the letters. He has strong fine motor skills and can copy letters on paper.

  Jose Luis  (nickname Pajaro (parakeet) for his high pitched chirpy voice). He is a bright and capable young man. Though he has a very short attention span he sees and takes note of everything around him.  He loves reporting on the activities of others (snitching) and has a broad understanding of human nature and actions.  He loves to wash our car and can be quite helpful.

  This is Sonia (nickname Chonita).   She is similar to Caralina in that she loves to help with washing dishes and folding laundry.  She also has terrific fine motor skills and is good at making, "Wipes" from cloth. Waipes are sold to car washes as absorbent cloth to wash and dry cars.   She also loves holding onto all sorts of knick knacks.   Like many she loves her costume jewelry and takes great pride brushing her hair.  She has an infectious and loud laugh that is a joy to hear.

This young man is Angel. He is quite talented physically and capable of productive work, particularly in the laundry.  He has limited communications skill, but is something of a gentle giant.  He is probably our fastest runner and often does well in the Special Olympics competitions.  After knowing him for many years, I still find him enigmatic.