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.