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!

Some more stories

Second week in and I have definately starting to settle into it. I was back at Semillitas on Monday and was pretty much just playing with the babies and little kids. Fell in love with one little boy called Salvador who is about 3 months old and has cerebral palsy. I was told by the nurse to just walk around with him and talk to him. There was also another little girl named Fatima who is no bigger than a six month old, however she is actually almost two years old. Not quite sure what the condition she has is called. Lunch time is definately the hardest time of the day as none of the kids actually want to eat, so you are literally forcing the food into them and making them finish their plates so it can be quite an ordeal and take a fair amount of time!

Today I was back at the Wawa Wasi with the same 7 kids I had before. This time I came prepared with crayons and paper for them, as well as stickers, which they all absolutely adored. As soon as I walk in the door I have the little ones running up to me and giving me big hugs and just wanting me to sit with them and do puzzles and play games. The first photo is of all the kids in the Wawa Wasi: Huan, Lopes, Leyo, Hosai, Edwan and Raoul. The photo in the top right is of Edwan the youngest little boy in the baby house. He is adorable but it is really hard for me to make him smile, he is very unsure of me, but for some reason everytime I had the camera on him he broke out in the widest grin!

I finally had a talk to Lidia, the Mum of my home stay who is also in charge of the program, about how I want to use all the money that has been donated. Her first suggestion was all the Christmas Celebrations that are being planned for all the various Orphanages and Wawa Wasi's. I agreed that I would love to contribute to some of that, however at the same time I would like to put the money towards other projects within the slums that are actually helping the people.

The first project that she mentioned was that one of the Wawa Wasi's in the slums was being rebuilt. The 'Mum' of the house had saved up money and with the help of volunteers has built a concrete slab with the walls, however her money was then stolen leaving her with nothing and unable to finish the project. Some other volunteers are donating and I asked how much the difference was and she told me about 400 sols. This is the equivalent of around 140 australian dollars only! I have offered to put in the extra money and we are heading this thursday to help finish the house which should be done by Tuesday. All the volunteers are going to head down to put in a helping hand which should be good.

I have heard of a couple more projects within the slums that I am hoping to contribute too, but currently we are just tackling one at a time. We are also taking a group of students, who won a maths competition, for a day out on friday, in order to congratulate and encourage them.

Tomorrow it is off to San Antonio to help out with the crazy toddlers who keep me on my feet all morning!

One Week Down

One week down and I'm only just starting to settle in. We have had a busy week been shown around all the orphanages and the places we are able to volunteer at during the week and this afternoon we have been asked to make a schedule of what we would like to do on what days. So the different places I have to choose from are:

Pachacutec:

This is about a 45 min bus ride from where we are staying and this is where the school is and the Wawa Wasi's (baby house's) are. I have already decided I definately don't want too teach, I had enough experience of that in Kenya and I also don't know enough Spanish to be able to handle a classroom! Each classroom has about 40 kids in it, so a bit of chaos. Instead, on Thursday when we went back I went to one of the Wawa Wasi's and helped the Mum there. There were about 8 kids and they were ALL so naughty. They fight, hit, steal and don't share anything. You spend most of the morning breaking up fights between them and trying to help share the toys. It is a bit sad because the house is a tiny slab of concrete, so the kids are literally playing in dirt in these houses (they do try keep them clean) and they aren't allowed to go outside so they re stuck all day in this tiny room, it would drive anyone insane. The hardest job with them all was trying to feed them, they get given HUGE plates and are expected to finish everything, even the little baby of the group who was only about 15 months was expected to eat the same amount as the two year olds etc, the poor little guy fell asleep with his head on the table while I was trying to feed him. It was a good experience though and when I left one of the little boys shouted out at me 'Don't go!'

San Antonio:

This place is a 20 min walk from where we are staying and is the normal children's orphanage. They asked what age group I was comfortable with, so I ended up helping out in the 1-2 year olds room. There are 7 toddlers in this room, one with Downs Sydnrome, and only one helper to look after all of them. She works from 8am-8pm; feeding the kids, dressing them, bathing them, playing with them, I don't know how she manages on her own! The kids were all so cute but got into as much mischief as they could pulling the bins over, trying to open doors, pushing the cots around the room. You couldn't even put them in their cots to have a break because they climb over them into each others cots or try and climb out altogether. You have to pretty much have eyes at the back of your head.

Semillitas:

This place is a very short bus ride away and is the Special Needs Orphanage. We spent the morning there today and it was very full on. Luckily they seem to have lots of volunteers helping out there so our role was mostly to take the younger ones for walks outside to give them some fresh air. We also helped out with the older boys and took them down the road to the park which was really difficult because they were quite stubborn and would get sick of pushing themselves which left us struggling to try and push two chairs at once. I enjoyed this place but didn't feel nearly as needed as there were so many other helpers around the place.

La Punta:

Another 30 min bus ride away this is where we occasionally go in the afternoons. This is the home for Girls who have been abused and so far is my favourite place. I have been twice this week and we spend the time trying to teach the girls english but are generally just there to have a good time with them and they absolutely love it, which makes it great for us too.

So these are all the different places that I have been this week and my timetable will probably end up something like this:

Monday: Semillitas

Tuesday: Pachacutec and then in the afternoon La Punta

Wednesday: San Antonio

Thursday: Pachacutec and then in the afternoon La Punta

Friday: San Antonio

At the moment there are just three volunteers including myself. Some of the other volunteers are travelling and coming back afterwards and there will be some more coming this week. We are all staying in a house together in San Miguel and are all very well looked after. We are staying with a host family and the Mum, Lidia, is the General Director of TARPUYSonqo (The Peru branch of IVHQ).

First Days

Hey!

So it has taken me a while to finally write something on here, everything has been so busy and not at all what I expeted!

I am staying at a volunteer house in Lima, with all the other volunteers (which sadly is only about 5 of us). We are staying with a host family who works with IVHQ and are very well looked after. Monday was a Public Holiday, which meant that for the first day of the program we had the day off! We went out to lunch with our host family to try the ´Peruvian´chicken and Inka Cola ( a blue soft drink that tasted a bit like bubblegum... gross) We spent the day siteseeing which was a good way to start the trip.

Today we had our first proper day and ended up skipping orientation and heading straight out the School, where some of the other volunteers are working. Next to the school are the baby homes called the Wawa Wasi. These aren´t orphan children, but rather day care centres for the working Mums in the area (which is a very poor area). Each Wawa Wasi is in a family home and run by the Mother of the house. They have up to eight babies/toddlers in their care at a time.

We spent the afternoon in La Punta visiting the home for girls who have been abused. They are all teenagers who have been taken out of their homes for their safety. That was a greta experience as they clearly loved having us here and were eager for us to join in their games and to do LOTS of dancing.

SO as yet I have not even been to the orphanage. Tomorrow I am off to the Special Needs Orphanage and then on Wednesday off to the regular orphanage. The idea is for us to be shown all these different places and then we get to choose how we get to spend our week. This is great as it means we can spend some days teaching, some at the orphanage, some with the babies which is a great variety.

Well that is all. Currently all the other people I am volunterring with are Americans! This makes me the token Aussie.