The End

Christmas on the Beach



My volunteering time has come to an end and I am off to meet the Parents tomorrow! It´s amazing how fast time has gone. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I spent my day at the beach sufring with some friends over here. I was the only one who was used to the concept of a warm Christmas so it was a huge novelty to everyone else. In Peru they mostly celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. They have a big family dinner at about 10pm and then at 12am, everyone lights off fireworks in their backyards. We were all standing on the roof watching, it was really crazy, if felt like New Years Eve instead of Christmas Eve.

Otheriwse we have had a very relaxed week this week. I was able to say all my goodbyes at Semillitas and La Punta. I was meant to visit San Antonio on Friday for the last time but because it was a holiday we weren´t allowed to go which is really sad. I am going to pop in tomorrow before my flight just so I have the chance to say goodbye. My favourite little boy Javier is there and when I leave I am going to sponser him, so I´m going to miss him alot. He is the funniest little thing and has the best dance moves. It was also adorable the other day I was there, I was holding one of the little babies from the baby room and Javier ended up getting jealous and was trying to climb onto my lap at the same time so I had to hand over the baby to give Javier some attention!

It was a nice last day at Semillitas as well. Jessica, another volunteer had her last day on the same day as me so we were allowed to stay inside with all the babies while all the other volunteers were outside with the older children. I was holding one of the little girls Camilla, who is four months old and is paralysed. She is adorable but I will never forget the feeling of holding her up on my lap with her feet dangling like jelly underneath. She seems just like any other baby until you experience something like that which wakes you up to the fact that she is never going to walk.>While it was sad leaving all the orphanages, I end my tour back in Lima so I will most likely get the chance to go back and visit one last time before coming home. I have already told Mum I am bringing her home a grandchild!

One Week to go

This is the Orphan´s singing in Plaza San Martin

This is Soledad´s House finally finished! She hasn´t yet moved her Wawa Wasi into her house yet but I will come back and visit in Febrary before flying home to see it and post pictures so you are able to see where the money has gone.

This is all the volunteers and the host family we are staying with. We were all celebrating the Birthday fo their younger son Dan.

Everything has calmed down over this side of the world as everyone is getting into ´lazy mode´ for Christmas. We had a really nice night last Saturday after getting back from Cusco. We ended up heading into Central Lima to see the Orphan´s sing which was amazing. These were kids from another orphanage who sing every year in Plaza San Martin. They were in one of the buildings and each child was standing in a window singing out to everyone who was standing in the square. It looked and sounded incredible with all the lighst and everything.

I went to the Wawa Wasi for the last time on Thursday which was really sad. The School has now closed for the holidays so the Wawa Wasi´s are closing too. As they had all loved Spot so much I went and bought a couple of new books for them as well which they all adored. They would have ´reading time´ where the Mum would get all the books out for the kids and they sat around the table reading them and then exchanging them with the people next to them. It was adorable. It was also really good having Mum sitting down with them going through the books, teaching them their numbers and colours. I am hoping now to be able to buy some books for the other 11 Wawa Wasi´s just to try and help their education in the slightest way possible.

On Tuesday we had the Christmas Party for La Punta, which consisted of all the party games I hate the most including Musical Chairs, trying to copy dance moves and another groups game. It was lots of fun though and the girls loved it all. We also bought a Pinata for them which went crazy! They took it in turns to have a good bash which also meant whacking the wall in the process and also getting rather close to our heads. Then as soon as the lollies started to fall out the girls all dived on each other and scrambled to see how many they could get. It was utter chaos but a great afternoon. On Friday they had their own Christmas Party that they put on for us and other outsiders, some were members of their family. It was really sweet having them sing and dance, they even had all of us up practising our dance skills which were rather questionable.

We were also went to a Grade Six Graduation this week which was really really cute. All the girls were in Lilac and were so dressed up, they had their haird done and everything and all the boys were in their suits. Unfortunately none of us (the volunteers) had any idea that it was a dressy occasion so we were all extremely embarrassed in our casual wear, especially as we were called up in front of everybody! They even did partner dancing which was really cute, all the parents were standng on a balcony above them looking down on the dance floor. I just felt glad that we didn´t have to do anything like that when I was their age! After all the official stuff was over with they had a ´crazy hour´ where the music went really loud and they had clowns come in blowing whistle and pretty much the idea was that they just went crazy for an hour. Once again the parents were all right above just looking down on them watching all of this happen, it was quite a funny set up.

On Monday we had an interesting day. A group of us decided that it would be really nice if we cooked dinner one night to give our amazing cook a break and so she could sit down and enjoy a meal with us. Little did we know what we were getting in for having to make a meal for 11 people with no working oven. We ended up with a very interesting pasta dish that was questionable, a potato salad and a greekish salad as well. Luckily we had tim tams for dessert which saved the day! It´s the thought that counts... right?

Spot is back!

Spot made a come back last week in the Wawa Wasi that I work.

I asked my host brother for help translating it into Spanish and then spent the entire morning reading it in Spanish to them. I must have read it about 20 times before I gave up and then they fought over it afterwards! I went out shopping today and bought them some more books, this time in Spanish as they have none whatsoever in their Wawa Wasi.

I spent the last week in Cusco and had an amazing time. I met up with Jessica, as well as two frinds who I am volunteering with who were there for the week. I got to visit the Kinder where Jessica is volunteering at in Cusco. It was a great experience. The kids there are 3-5 years old and once again they are really naughty! Lots of hitting a fighting and hiding behind us for protection, even when they started the fight. It was raining the day we went, which meant they were not able to play outside so instead they were taught dancing. The Teacher had set up a little routine for a group of them to do and it was adorable watching the little girls waving their skirts and the boys shaking their hips.

We went horseback riding the following day which left us very sore by Saturday. It was then back to Lima on the Saturday morning, after our flight was cancelled and Peruvian Airlines attempted to convince us that we wanted to stay in Cusco for another day. We just ended up catching a later flight instead which wasn´t so bad.

Party Pics

Semillitas:

This little girl´s name is Fatima. She is actually 2 years old, she is just tiny.

This is the little boy I have fallen in love with. His name is Salvador and he just curls up and fits perfectly in your arms! He has cerbal pausy and only rarely opens his eyes. He is gorgeous!

WAWA WASI:

We went to hand out presents in one Wawa Wasi where most of the kids were already asleep. We had to just leave the presents next to their head for when they wake up.

Let the Parties Begin!!

All the Christmas Parties made a kick start this week and it was nice to watch hours of wrapping being pulled apart within seconds!



We started on Thursday by handing out all the presents in the Wawa Wasi. I had the most fun handing them out to the kids in the Wawa Wasi where I work during the week. The kids were so excited and didnt actually want to open their presents. They were more than happy to sit there with them wrapped on their laps. They kept repeating ´Mio´ (mine) and making sure no other kid was going to touch their present. We eventually helped them open them and soon there was a scatter of presents across the floor, with them all fighitng over what was theirs.



There are 12 Wawa Wasi´s altogether, so we had to split the group up in order to get around to them all. The next one we went to after lunch time and half the kids were napping. It was really sweet though as we left presents next to their heads so that they will have a nice suprise when they wake up.



Finally after we were done playing Santa Claus it was off to build another house. The project we are currently working on is funded through all the money I raised and I am paying for the majority of the house with it, with a little bit of help from other volunteers. I have mentioned this in the previous blog but just to refresh: We are helping by building Soledad a new house in which she can move the Waw Wasi she currently works at to. At the moment she is living in her sister in laws house and has been told that the roof is too unsafe for the kids and she needs to fix it or the Wawa Wasi will be closed. Since it is not her house, we are building her a new place that she can live as well with ehr Husband and her three kids. It was quite a sight to see around 11 Gringos (white people) helping to mix cement and bringing wheelbarrows of it into the builders who were spreading it across the floor. Can´t say I was much of a help!



Friday was another Christmas Party, this time at Semillitas, the Special Needs Oprhanage. We went in with Christmas Decorations, and lots and lots of presents that the little kids and especially the older kids loved unwrapping. Their faces when we handed them a present was absolutely priceless, I wish I could have captured it on camera to show you all. Literally made me melt inside to see how happy and excited they were. I also had my little boy Salvador, in my arms all morning so I was right at home!

Saturday morning, myself and another volunteer offered to take out this little 8 year old boy who has Cancer. He lives in Pachacutec with his Mum and younger brotehr, Sebastian, who is in the Wawa Wasi that I work at. They met us in San Miguel on Saturday morning, so all five of us went out to a games place which is the equivelant of timezone. They had an absoulte blast and were so excited the entire time we were there. We also let them pick lunch and ended up at McDonalds of course. It was absolutely amazing as the kids had never been on an escalator before and were both absolutely petrified, even Mum was a little bit nervous about it. By the end they loved the escalators and just wanted to ride up and down them. We then came back and gave them some Christmas presents (a football and remote control car). Both Maemie (the other volunteer) and I gave over a bit of money as well to help them Mum out. She is a single parent and when the older boy gets sick she is unable to afford the taxi to get the boy too and from the hospital so we were hoping to help her out a bit with that.

Finally we went into San Antonio today and handed out presents to all the kids there. There were over 100 kids that we had presents for and it was quite stressful hoping that I had somethine for every kid and especially something age appropriate for them. It ended up working out really well, the kids were so so so happy to get a present and we also handed out cookies with them as well which was just as exciting.

Thats all the parties for now, we have one left next Tuesday for the older girls at la Punta. I am also going to be helping the clinic out too.

This Wednesday I am heading off to Cusco to visit Jessica, a friend I met in Croatia who is volunteering there. Very excited to be having a bit of a break and of course to see Jess one more time before she heads back in Melbourne.

A Busy Week

It is definitely beginning to feel a bit like Christmas over here in Peru. We already have our Christmas Tree up and I have spent most of the week shopping for all the kids at the various orphanages. So far we have managed to buy a gift for all the kids at San Antonio (the normal orphanage), as well as for all the kids in the Wawa Wasi´s, which is almost three hundred altogether. I think the hardest part however, has been gift wrapping each of these presents individually for the kids, so that they all have something to open. We have had a few late nights!!

On Monday I was at San Antonio this week and there ended up being a giant party for one of the babies who was turning one. We were told that a woman there was in the process of adopting this little girl and it was her who had paid for and organised this party. All the kids had a great time, eating plenty of sweets, dancing and even KFC for lunch which was a big treat for them all.

The rest of the volunteering this week has been pretty straight forward. I was taken around Pachacutec on Tuesday and shown some various projects that are needed to be done that I am hoping to help out with. One of the Wawa Wasi´s is run by a Mother, although she is running it out of her sister in law´s house as she does not have a place of her own. She has recently been told by the Director of all the Wawa Wasi´s that the roof she currently has is unsafe for the children and unless she manages to replace it the Wawa Wasi will be closed. As it is not her own house she cannot make these changes and of course cannot afford to anyway, so we are hoping to help her build a new Wawa Wasi nearby and also a place for her and her husband and three children to live as they are currently sharing one bed in a tiny, tiny room.

We also finally celebrated the official opening of the Wawi Wasi, which was the last project we were working on, where we added the roof. All the parents and kids of the other Wawa Wasi´s came to celebrate and as tradition we (me and two other volunteers) were asked to use a hammer and smash a bottle of Champagne that was hanging above the entrance. It was very interesting and we managed to leave the whole place smelling like alcohol!

I have just arrived back from another weekend away. This time we just went to a friend´s beach house for the night. It was just nice to escape Lima for a little while.

More Huacachina Photo´s

Cerviche- I finally tried the local dish which is literally just raw fish (Patrick you would love it, it was spicy too)

Huacachina

Got back yesterday from an awesome weekend away in Huacachina. We left on Friday afternoon after volunteering and took the five hour bus ride to Ica. From there we caught a cab into Huacachina to go sandboarding!

The town itself was incredible. It was an Oasis and only 25 people actually lived there, the rest lived in Ica and would just come during the day to work at the Hostels, etc. We just lazed by the lagoon all morning, as you can see in photo´s and decided to be brave and swim in there too.

On Saturday afternoon we booked in our sandboarding trip and went out in a Dune Buggy and it was INSANE. They drove so, so, so fast. Upa nd down the hills, it was like the Dune Buggy defied gravity when we just fell off some of the hills. I was very grateful for being strapped in and for having a roll cage over my head. It was literally like going on a crazy rollercoaster, just with no tracks. The sandboarding itself was an experience too. I was way, way, way too scared to stand up and go, which is understandable as everyone knows how great my balance is. The first ´baby´ hill was pretty big, so instead we went down on our stomachs which was scary enough. We found a smaller hill and a few of us had a turn at standing up which was good fun, but that was enough for me! For the rest of the hills we all went down on our stomachs because the hills just got bigger and bigger. You would look down at it and think how crazy it is to go down, so our instructor would just push us and it was great fun.

That night we decided to go on a wine tasting tour which was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen. The wine tasting was in this night club, we just went underneath the night club where there where hundreds of ceramic jugs full of wine, with dead, stuffed animals balanced on top throughout. We tasted about four different wines before heading back up to the night club where we got asked to pick which one we liked and between the six of us we were given 4 litres of wine with shot glasses and were pretty much told to do the shots of it.

That was about it for the weekend, we had breakfast the next morning (at about 12am) then got on the bus back to Lima, ready for volunteering again today.

I was back at San Antonio today and it was lots and lots of fun. A Lady there is in the process of adopting a little baby girl and it was this baby´s first birthday today. The Woman adopting her threw a big party for her and all the kids at the orphanage with lots of sweets, soft drinks, presents for all the kids. There was a dancing Snow White, and a pinata and it finally ended with KFC for lunch. It was a big treat for all the kids and I´m sure they will all be on big sugar high´s for the rest of the day!!!

Third Week In

We have all had a very busy weekend and our volunteer group has grown from three people to nine people which makes everything a bit more interesting!

The first project is now finished and I have pasted a photo of it above. She hasn't yet moved into the place as it still needs to be painted but all that is being done on the weekend. This means we can start another project and that looks like it is going to be a new kitchen for the Wawa Wasi's. There is one cook for all 90 kids in the seperate Wawa Wasi's in the slums. We are hoppign to build her a new kitchen with all the plumbing so she can have running water. There is also a little boy in Pachacutec who is eight years old and has Lukemia. His Mum is by herself, so we are hoping to do something for her and the boy although no thoughts as to what exactly yet.

All of these projects aside we have had a good past few days. On Saturday we went to a Japanese/Peruvian Festival, which was good fun. We all had a taste of some interesting foods that I dont think we will be trying again anytime soon. We went out on Saturday night and were given a good insight into the Peruvian nightlife. It was also really nice as I had the chance to catch up with Jess before she flew off to Cuzsco. We went out for sushi that was so so so so so good!! For those of you who don't know, Jess is a Melbourne girl who I met in Croatia on my sailing trip and she is now volunteering with the same program I am, except in Cuzco (it was a complete coincidence). We are also planning to do some trips together later in the month which is awesome!

As I mentioned there are now nine volunteers in the house, yet I am stil the token Australian. There is a token British person as well and the rest are American or Canadian. I hgave been taught the art of hair braiding (with teh pretty coloured string etc) and we took it to La Punta today and did a braid for all the girls there which was good fun. Still enjoying being with all the kids, especially in the Wawa Wasi, I get big hugs from all those kids and constantly asked if I have stickers or balloons for them as well.

Thats all for now. Just finished dinner and found out that I was eating cow´s heart. Bit of a surprise there but it tasted so good!!

Photos

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1. This is is me with all the kids in the baby house that I work at.


2. This photo was taken in the slums in Pachacutec just after we finished the building project.

3. This is at the zoo with the kids today

4. This was a group photo that we tookn at Miraflores which is where the beach was.

5. Once again at the zoo, two of the girls we took.

Projects

So after a busy last few days I finally have pictures and things to show.

On Thursday I spent the morning in the Wawa Wasi with the little kids again and this time brought out balloons for them which they all absolutely loved. I think I spent most of the morning blowing them up as they were popping left, right and centre. It was after this that we went to Magarieta"s house which is where we have been doing our first project and where some of the money raised has gone too.

Margarieta owns a baby house in the slums, which has been shut down. One of the photos up top is of her house that she is living in at the momnet. It is literally about the size of my bedroom and her and her daughter are sharing a bed. Through the volunteer program we have helped build her a new house for her and her daughter to live in with the baby house in the room next to it. All the volunteers went to help out with building the roof after lunch, although I believe we were more of a hindrance than a help. I think my contribution was succesfully nailing ONE nail into the wood (there were two other nails that I didnt actually manage to get in!). We havent seen it completely finished yet but it should be done by Tuesday so we will get to go back and check it out then.

Today we took seven kids from the school in Pachacutec, where some volunteers teach during the week, out for a treat. These seven students got top marks in a mathematics test that was held in Peru and as a result we took them out for the day to congratulate them and to encourage them as well. They all came to the home stay in the morning and all seven volunteers took the kids out. We started off at the zoo which is walking distance and they loved it there, we were there for a good few hours and were exhausted by the end. Afterwards we went to Miraflores which is where the beach is and took the kids out to eat a Norkys, a Peruvian chicken place that they all wanted to eat at. Finally after this we went for a walk along a lookout over the beach and they were all so excited by the view there and were happy to stay there for ages just playing around. On our way back home we took them to a store called Tottus and told each kid they could pick out a pair of shoes or item of clothing for themselves. One little girl picked out this sparkly top and when we went into the changing rooms with them she came out with the biggest smile on her face saying how much she loved it.

We are finally back home and EVERYONE is exhausted, the kids all had a great time though. They all live in Pachacutec near the school, so most if not all of them have never been to the places we went today which was nice for them all.

The next project on the list is hopefully the kitchen for the baby houses, so I will hopefully get that started soon.

We are also starting to think about Christmas and at the moment out of all the volunteers here it looks like I am the only one staying for Christmas! Hopefully more volunteers will come too. We are putting together a big hamper of toys and games for the babies at the Wawa Wasi. There are also plans to put on a parade for the kids at Semilltas that they can join in with too as they wont be very god at sitting still for long. There will also be plans for La Punta and for San Antonio, we just arent sure yet!