Courtney in Peru

El Fin

2010-06-18T22:23:00.002-05:00

Has it really been a year? For the most part these past few days I just keep looking around and saying wow, time flew. I look at my room here, at my surroundings, at the kids houses, at my classroom and think, have I really existed in this place for a whole year? And wait, it’s already over?? Today Becca and I had our despedida (going away party type thing), something we were NOT looking forward to at all. We knew saying goodbye would be hard but it was worse, we both sobbed throughout the entire thing. The kids sang and danced, lots of words were said, and the volunteers put together this amazing video of all the kids saying things to the camera along with a slide show of pics from this year. It was beautiful, but it was a tough hour to get through. At the end Becca and I each got up and said a few words through our tears. I couldn’t say much but what I hope I got across was how much this year has meant to me.

I am so thankful to every single one of these precious children. They have opened my eyes to the harsh realities of this world, yet also allowed me to see the greatest beauty in their amazing adorable faces. They have shown me my faults, sometimes by saying them right to my face (got to love the innocence and honesty of a child), and I have grown and matured so much in this time.

I am beyond grateful for my amazing family of volunteers. We’ve become such great friends, I can’t stand the fact that I will soon wake up and not go out to meet the girls for our run or eat breakfast together or make fun of each other and laugh endlessly together. I truly could not have asked for a better group, I could not have made better friends.

I am so grateful for Miss Aly and my kids in Escuela Miller. They taught me to have patience I didn’t think I was capable of, lifted me up, loved me without question, and put a huge smile on my face every single day of this year. The laughter alone made every moment in that class worth it; and their smiles and hugs were like little presents they gave me on a regular basis. I have loved working in that class more than anything, I can’t even put into words what it has meant to me. I will never forget those children.

I also want to thank all of you at home who kept me going with your encouraging emails, fb messages, and phone calls. I am so grateful for your love and support, and it is so nice to know that even though I am leaving what has become my home, mi hogar, I am going back to a place where I am loved.

My flight leaves Monday afternoon so I still have a few precious days to spend here at the Albergue (although I think they will be spent mostly doing a lot of crying and saying goodbye). I arrive in the states Tuesday morning and it’s off to a busy summer right away. I’m grateful for the things I have to look forward to, and I’m excited to start this next chapter of my life, but I know that this place and these people have touched my heart – their words, their actions, their faces and the beautiful memories I have will be just there, in my heart, forever and always.

Pictures from my last week at the albergue will be posted after I get home…

un poquito loco

2010-06-09T18:07:00.000-05:00

So as of monday I have two weeks left of this part of my life, but that certainly hasn't keptthings from getting a bit loco. This past 2 weeks or so have been full of ups and downs, it'sdefinitely been busy. Below are some pictures of what things have been like here lately...

The morning that Becca and I got back from Huaraz we were told we needed to go and talk toSusanna as soon as we walked into the gates of the Albergue. We went straight to her roomand found her bags packed and her eyes teary. Susanna, Becca and I have all been here sinceJuly/August so we've grown pretty close. We were all supposed to leave around the same time (end of June). Well, Susanna had found at the night before that her dad was extremely ill andthat she needed to fly home right away (she would be leaving for good that afternoon). Wewere very sad for Susanna's dad but we were also hit with the fact that we suddenly had to saygoodbye to our friend when we thought we still had a month together. Needless to say it was aday filled with tears. Fortunately Susanna made it home safely and her father is now doingmuch better. Below is a pic of my class during the quick despedida we did for Susanna.

Spelling out "We Love You" and singing for Susanna

In what may have been an effort to get our spirits up after Sus left, Becca and I organized akiller Albergue wide game of Red Rover. All the kids came out to play, as well as most of thevolunteers and some of the workers! It was a great time.

With Sofia (one of the little girls in my class I've gotten really close to), Edwiiiin, y Pablo (oneof our twins) before the big Red Rover game.

Our youngest baby here turned 2 years old!! These are some pics of an afternoon I spent withhim during laundry time, is he not the cutest thing ever???

A few days after Susanna left we had to say another sad goodbye to two of our other volunteers(John and Lori). We had a big despedida and us volunteers performed yet another coreografia(song and dance)! haha It was definitely hard to see them go, we were so blessed to have suchan amazing group this past year. We had so much fun together.

With Abel at John and Lori's despedida.

I had just been thinking that we hadn't gotten any new kids recently, and it seems as though Ijinxed that! On Sunday it was my turn to watch Abel and Italo during church so we were theonly ones left at the Albergue. We were sitting in one of the houses when the vigilante came inand told me someone had left a kid in a wheel chair at our door/gate and asked if I could watchhim. Of course we welcomed him in, although I wasn't really sure that we had the ability tocare for his special needs. The picture above is of our new boy, Luis, with Abel and Italo, a fewhours after he first arrived.

Yesterday evening after work we looked out over the alfalfa fields next door to see a HUGEwildfire! And we're talking really big and REALLY close to the albergue. Some of themaintenance workers headed out to try and help put out the fire (even though it wasn't on ourproperty). They also brought along with them a bunch of our boys to help (not sure I agreewith the decision to bring 8 year olds that close to a fire, but hey I guess they needed the help). They did the best they could but there simply was no putting it out last night, so we all went tosleep with a fire blazing next door. When we woke up this morning for our daily run, the firewas still going strong and there was debris EVERYWHERE. Jen and I tried to run but onlylasted 15 minutes - we came back up feeling like we couldn't breath and covered in black sutand debris that was still flying through the air. Luckily the fire was put out at some point todayalthough apparently one house was destroyed in the process. Here are a few pics of ourvolunteer fire fighters hard at work.

They used shovels to try and stomp it out.

This is a project I did with my kids in class when we talked about family. They understand nowthat even though they might not have a traditional family of a mom and dad, they do have ahuge wonderful loving family here at the albergue. Each one of them made a member of thefamily (that's me on the right with the pink dress; I think my favorite is Abel's version ofSusanna - the one with crazy blonde hair). As the number of days I have left here gets shorter and shorter, I am starting to wonder how I'm going to be able to leave this familia. I thought I would be ready but I'm not quite there yet!!!

Huaraz

2010-06-04T16:27:00.006-05:00

This past weekend Becca and I took a trip to Huaraz - a beautiful mountain town in Peru. We did lots of hiking, rock climbing, and general sightseeing. Everything was gorgeous, and so quiet and calm. I loved it, I think it might be my favorite place in Peru (after the albergue of course!). Here are some pics from the trip. (p.s. i don't know why this is blue and I can't figure out how to change it!!!).

Only 4 Weeks Left

2010-05-24T20:47:00.001-05:00

It is so strange to say that, so strange to write it and to see it. There were certainly times throughout this year that I struggled and felt as though time was barely crawling by. But now, as it always seems to be, I look back and I cannot believe that the days and weeks and months have flown by so quickly. I can remember many phone conversations early on where I said to the patient friend or family member, “what am I doing? It’s only been a month, how could I possibly stay here for an entire year?” And now I feel more grateful for this year than I ever could have imagined.

Lately my days here seem to be filled with a lot of emotion. It has suddenly hit me that I don’t have much longer here and in my head I have begun to do the thing where you count how many more of this thing or that thing you will do (I only have 4 more Sundays, I will only teach my gym class 3 more times, we will only have 4 more volunteer meetings…) Fortunately I’m not yet counting the things I will really miss – the mornings that I walk into the class room and all the kids run to hug me and say my name “Tia Corniii” as if they hadn’t just seen me the night before; the amount of laughter that comes each day from working with these amazing, adorable, hilarious little children; the joy that comes when after teaching a child how to write the letter “E” or how to subtract for what seems like hours or in some cases days or weeks, they finally grasp the concept; I’m not counting any of that, partially because there are still too many left and partially because I don’t think I could handle it. In addition to dealing with the emotion of my time here coming to an end, we have been having a lot of big issues with some of our kids. I have known this entire year that these kids come from horrifying pasts, places that I know I could never completely understand no matter how hard I try. This week I was confronted head on with some of those pasts, and found myself lacking the strength to hold it together. The evil that has been done to some of these precious little children is something that brings me to tears every time I allow myself to think about it. I have found myself struggling with how evil such as this could exist, how it would be allowed to exist. I know that I have led a relatively sheltered life in comparison, but I have certainly always been aware of what existed outside of my world. I guess this year is just the first time I have really had to deal with or confront those evils in a real way, the first time I have had them so close to home.

My high of this past week happened on Friday afternoon during my daily tutoria (or homework time). I work with the first and second graders – there are about 9 of them and they all need help ALL the time, on everything. Needless to say it can get pretty crazy and stressful. One of the little girls that I work with in the class is also there because her other tutoria wasn’t working out – she is 8 years old but had no schooling before arriving at the orphanage a few months ago and she frustrates very easily. When she feels as though she can’t do something it’s like she closes off completely; you can almost see the wall come up and you know it’s going to be almost impossible to break down. She had no homework since Friday was test day so I was having her practice writing the letter “m.” After 5 months she’s got all the vowels and the letter “p” but she just can’t seem to get “m.” So, we were practicing and I could see her face hardening and her little hand stiffening up. When she would write the letter wrong and I would tell her ok, let’s count the legs (since there should only be 3 and she had about 8), she refused to count and then eventually counted 4, 2, 6, 3, etc. even though she now knows how to count from 1 to 9 perfectly. I took a second to breath and realized that this was not going anywhere good and that I was looking forward to two hours of both of us being frustrated. I was also about 100% sure that one of us would end up crying and slamming doors. SO, I decided to take things in a different direction. I had been thinking lately that if she can count from 1 to 9, I bet she can probably learn to add pretty easily. I had confidence that she could do it and I knew that accomplishing it would make her so happy. So I began to teach her and after only 20 minutes she was doing it! She was adding! She kept looking at me with that amazing smile she has and saying Tia, look at me, I’m adding! She was so happy. This little girl happens to be one of the children whose real past I had learned this week. I had hardly been able to look at her without feeling my throat catch and my eyes begin to get heavy with tears. I just could not imagine that we live in a world where anyone could hurt this precious little angel the way she has been hurt. After what had really been a wildly successful Friday afternoon Tutoria, I began to realize the only thing that would allow me to move on and put her past to the side. At least now this child was safe. At least now she is not being harmed, neglected, horribly abused. At least now she is not scared all the time. At least now she smiles. At least now she can add!!!!

Here are some pics from the past few weeks:

Leaving the Albergue - going out for lunch and ice cream for Isabel's birthday

Feliz Cumpleaños Isa!!!

Also took Carolay out for her 15th bday, Feliz Cumple Carolay!!!

Mother's Day

2010-05-03T18:37:00.001-05:00

Mothers Day is coming up this weekend and although I live in a place where “real” mothers are sadly lacking and often times the cause of much sorrow and pain, the theme of Mothers Day seems to be all around. Instead of ignoring the holiday, it seems to have been decided that we would celebrate it just as if all was normal, if not even more so. In school we have done multiple projects specifically for mothers day - making picture frames for our mothers, painting jewelry boxes for our mothers, drawing pictures of our mothers, etc. I'm not sure how I feel about all of this. Of course the women here who act as temporary mothers to these children should be honored for what they do, but should we really be having these kids make art projects and discuss mothers day ad nauseam when the truth is most of their mothers have abandoned and/or done much worse things to them. Do these women deserve to be honored? Do they deserve to have a day just to make them feel special? And more, do these kids deserve to be reminded over and over that they are without their mothers? The main teacher in my class told the kids that even though they may not be with their mothers right now, they should always remember that their mother loves them and they should never stop praying for her. I know this is right, I know that is a good way to think about it, but honestly I'm having a hard time with it. During our most recent mother focused art project I just about broke down right there in class. Abel is one of the little boys in my class, he and his older brother Italo are both special and have a hard time annunciating their words and therefore get by using very few of them. The art project was that the kids were supposed to draw a picture of themselves and their mom. Abel is very artistic and he is also extremely stubborn. I was standing next to him trying to explain the assignment - I kept repeating "You need to draw Abel and mamá." He kept shaking his head at me, shrugging his shoulders and saying no. The main teacher repeated no Abel, you need to draw yourself and your mother. It was very strange to me that I was being told to ask him to do this, knowing that Abel has been at this orphanage since he was probably about 3 years old and all the run-ins with his mother have been disasters - ending in her screaming and making a huge scene and the two boys crying hysterically, so confused and having to be carried away. Prior to coming to the orphanage he and his brother were supposedly "locked" in a hole in the ground each day, left to sit and wait until their mother returned. Needless to say the experiences Abel has had with his mother have been traumatic in many ways. So, after being given the "just keep trying" look I get so many times on a daily basis in the classroom, I repeated the request of "Abel y mamá" once more. That's when Abel stared up at me and said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "mamá no hay" (basically "there is no mom"). Mamá no hay, mamá no hay, over and over, like why don't you get it? Mamá no hay, that's just the way it is tia, so stop asking me to draw her, she doesn't exist! Well that sure shut me up. It didn't seem to change the other teacher's mind as she continued to repeat the assignment. After walking around the classroom helping others for awhile, I returned to Abel's desk. He had a picture of two boys drawn on his page. I said, Abel what's this? He responded that it was "Abel and mamá Italo" (Italo is his older brother). I stared at him and he happily repeated "Italo mamá, mamá Italo!" It was heartbreaking to see this little boy say so simply that there was no mother in his world, and then so amazing to see him find a way to complete the assignment, showing us that he still knows what a mother is, and that his older brother has been just that to him for the past 6 years.

The day before I was helping the first and second graders in our daily afternoon homework session. We were just about finished and the little girls began discussing their mothers and why each of them is here at the Albergue. One of them talked about how she’s here because her mom won’t stop drinking, and she just keeps praying that she will stop one day soon. Another said that all the neighbors and the bad people always came to fight her mother, and for this reason her mom had to leave her here. A third little girl, who has been here since she was 3 months old, then spoke up and said I know why I’m here too! “Why?” The other girls asked. “Well I cried a lot, and so they brought me here.” She then added with the most innocent voice I’ve ever heard “but you know, sometimes babies cry, even adults, they sometimes cry too you know.” All I could do was hug these girls and tell them that I love them, there were no other words. And all I could think was how could a mother abandon any one of these girls, these beautiful, precious, amazing little girls?

And so this mothers day, even though I'm more than 3000 miles away and on a different continent than my mom, I feel more grateful than ever before for her unconditional love, for her endless giving, and for her always being there for me, no matter what. ... I love you mucho mom.

Easter

2010-04-02T17:30:00.006-05:00

So Easter doesn't seem to be as big of a deal here in Peru as it is in the states - there is definitely no easter bunny and none of our kids had ever done an easter egg hunt. SO, we decided to change that! this week in my class Miss Aly and I had the kids decorate eggs and make little baskets to put them in - we also had Jenn bring in the babies from kinder to participate, it was so cute! Then today we did easter egg hunts! We did four rounds so that all the kids would get a chance to find a bunch of eggs. They went crazy running around and searching for the eggs (which were filled with candy), it was so fun! Even the teenagers (who hardly ever get excited about anything) got pretty into it. After the hunts the kids colored Easter themed coloring sheets and then we all watched a movie together and had a few pieces of easter chocolate that was donated by one volunteer's parents. Definitely a successful day!

kinder babies in the big kid classroom ready to paint eggs!

Miss Aly painting eggs with Heydi and Consuelo

concentrating!

Edwin was SUPER excited about his egg!

Showing off their Easter baskets!

with the final product

First group Easter egg hunt!!!

Jose Louis after we found his eggs! very happy baby

Cristina and Consuelo showing off their candy after the easter egg hunt

Jennifer with her easter egg hunt candy

the teenagers getting ready to start their easter egg hunt

Jose Louis all smiles after easter candy!

Jhon enjoyed smearing easter chocolate all over his face and clothes!

Cajamarca

2010-04-02T14:39:00.004-05:00

A few of us volunteers took a long weekend trip to the mountains of Peru - a place called Cajamarca. The main reason for the trip was for a former volunteer's wedding but we took a day off of work and were able to see all of the sites, do some hiking, and visit gorgeous waterfalls. I like living in Trujillo but it was so great to see tons of green and beautiful mountains. I think the biggest difference was that we could actually breath there, the air was so clean and refreshing (versus living in the middle of an asparagus factory and a cow slaughter). The trip was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Peru so far.
Cerro Apolonia - we climbed up and the view was beautiful
Susanna and I at Cumbemayo - huge amazing rock formations
local girl at Cumbemayo
Cumbemayo
the baby lamb I got to hold!
Cumbemayo - we hiked all through this
These are the Ventanillas de Otuzco - an Incan burial site
Susanna, Beks, and I hiking up to see the waterfalls

after climbing Cerro Apolonia
one of the Cathedrals in the Plaza de Armas of Cajamarca

January and February

2010-03-07T12:39:00.017-06:00

So many things have happened in the past few months, I will try to give you all a brief summary of the highlights. After Christmas the summer programs here at the Albergue began. Each volunteer was responsible for multiple programs and the kids had tutoria (basically summer school review stuff) and other mandatory programs in the mornings, and then electives that they were able to choose in the afternoons. A few of the programs included sewing, drama, card making, reading, art, guitar, choir, creative writing, basketball, and soccer. Our days were PACKED with things to do but the kids were able to be exposed to lots of different things that wouldn't have been available to them outside of the albergue. Below are a few pics of kids in some of my programs - lectura (reading) and joyeria (jewelry making).
My youngest summer reading group - Kamila, Abel, Paul, y Cristina
Christina during Joyeria (my Jewelry making program)
Kamily y Aldair making bracelets
Dante, Brigitte y Cristina hard at work
Abel y Edwin in Joyeria

Out for a volunteer dinner in Trujillo.

As I've mentioned before the majority of our kids are not actually orphans in that they have at least one living parent. They are here at the albergue for various reasons including abandonment, neglect, abuse, etc., but some parents are allowed to visit for a few hours on Saturdays and a few are able to go through lots of paperwork and courts to prove that they are now able to care for their children. So we occasionaly have kids that have been here for awhile who are able to go home to be with their families again. In the middle of the summer two of our kids who had been here for almost 5 years were able to go home to live with their mother and other siblings. It was a very emotional day for all of us in that we were happy that they could be with their family but at the same time sad to let them go. As you can imagine the kids had mixed emotions as well, this place had been their home for 5 years. They were sad to leave all their friends and what had become their family, but it was good to see a family reunited again.

After saying goodbye almost all of the kids, workers, and volunteers were standing around feeling a bit down. Our newest baby (Jose Louis) - who had been at the albergue for a few weeks at this time - was strapped to his mother's back until he came to the albergue so even though he was at the age where he should be walking, he was very behind developmentally. We were all standing around and one of the madres said put that baby down, he needs to learn to walk. She happened to have some sweet bread that Jose Louis wanted and so we were all standing around watching as she held it out to him and he took his first steps!!! It was so amazing to see and in that moment I felt how much of a family we really are here. I also happened to have my camera at this moment and was able to capture this great moment!!
Jose Louis reaches for the panneton (sweet bread)
First steps!!

That same night I left the albergue to spend my three weeks of vacation time in the United States. It was tough saying goodbye to my kids, even though I knew I would be back in 3 weeks! Here is a pic of me and the luces house right before I left to catch my flight.

The three weeks in the states were definitely chaotic! I traveled all around the country to attend grad school interviews and also went home to Louisiana for a few days and spent time in Los Angeles visiting Rob and USC friends. The time in California was definitely the most relaxing (the only part of the trip I would actually call vacation), because a large majority of the rest of the trip was spent in airports and hotel rooms. It was weird being in the states and during the first few days I accidently spoke in Spanish more than a few times, but it was a great trip and I was sooooo happy to see all my friends and family!!!
Rob and I during my visit to Los Angeles
Scotty with all of the girls, first night out in LA!

After three weeks I was sad to leave home but so ready to get back to my kids!! The day I got back I was met with about 30 kids running up to me for a huge group hug screaming "TIA CORNY!!!!!!!!!!!," it felt great to be back. As I arrived Summer programs were wrapping up and we had a celebration of all the kids had learned with a fun pool party at a nearby park. The kids had a great time spending hours in the pool, on the playground, and putting on performances of what they'd done over the summer.
Abel poolside
Edwin hanging out at the pool

Junior having fun splashing around

Abraham showing off his new guitar skills

Here are a few pics of one morning that it was my turn to watch the babies...

Yhon y Maricielo - they were a great team - he played the piano, she sang!

Until they both wanted to wear the apron! haha

Maricielo
Yhon

this was the best we could do at a group shot

At the end of February we had 4 volunteers leave the albergue. All 4 had been here since I'd arrived in August so it was really hard to say goodbye. We had a big despedida where all the kids performed, all the adults sang a song, and us volunteers did a performance (the song where the kids in Sound of Music say goodnight/goodbye to all the party guests). Below are a few pics from the despedida.
during our volunteer performance
Sam (one of the volunteers who left at the end of feb) con Abraham y Italo

As I think you all know for the past 8 months or so i have been in the process of applying to graduate school in clinical psychology. Going to interviews was one of the main reasons for my trip home in February but after a few of them I realized that there were so many extremely qualified applicants, there was a strong liklihood that I would not be accepted this year and have to work for a year and apply again. I tried to be ok with that idea but in reality I was pretty sad that I didn't think things were going to work out and that I would have to go through the HUGE application process again. I had just begun to start to look for jobs when I got an email saying that I was being offered a fully funded offer at the University of Missouri, St. Louis!! After interviewing UMSL was my first choice and so you can imagine how excited I was! I have accepted the offer and this fall I will begin graduate school for my Ph.D. in clinical psych in St. Louis! I don't know much about the city at all (so if anyone has any advice on where to live or just general info I'd really appreciate it!), but I am so excited to move there this summer and I can't wait to start school!

Well I guess that was not really a brief summary AT ALL, but so much has happened! I now have a little less than 4 months left in Peru and my plan is to travel a bit (two weekend trips - one to Cajamarca and one to Huaraz), and just to give these kids as much of myself as I can. Will try to update again soon!

Christmas at the Albergue

2010-01-17T16:40:00.008-06:00

So I know it's been awhile since Christmas... but i thought I'd share with you guys what we did to celebrate at the albergue...

Our class had a Christmas party on the last day of school - we sang songs, took pics, and had popcorn - good times

Our attempt at a class photo! haha

Some of our kids at the Trujillo Orphanage Christmas Choir Competition - they got 2nd place!

Miller School Teachers

Peruvians typically celebrate the holiday on Christmas Eve. Here at the orphanage we had our big Christmas party on the morning of Christmas Eve - with all the children, volunteers, and workers. We all sang songs, did skits, and ate the typical Peruvian holiday foods - Panneton (kinda similiar to fruit cake but more bread-like and much better! and chocolatada which is basically like hot chocolate). Here are a few pics from that morning...

Deysi, Yuriko, y Brigitte eating Panneton

the women of the albergue (volunteers and workers) singing Joy to the World

Navitiy Skit

We also had Nikki's despedida that same morning - this is a pic during the volunteers goodbye skit for her

All of the Volunteers at the Christmas Party

Peruvians typically wait until midnight on Christmas Eve to eat their big dinner - and so thats what the kids here at the orphanage did too - and surprisingly the majority of them made it all the way to midnight! We sang carols and told the Christmas story, it was a good night. Being with the kids just hanging out and waiting for midnight to arrive got rid of any of the homesickness I might have been feeling.

On Christmas day we took all of the kids to the Plaza de Armas of Trujillo (the center of the city) where there were a bunch of huge Christmas trees decorated. We walked around in small groups and Carolay, Milagros, and Deysi were in my group.

(Yes that is a Jonas Brothers T-shirt - they are popular even in Peru)

All of us on Christmas day in the Plaza

After seeing all the trees we went to a restaurant where we got pollo a la brasa ( a big treat for the kids) and they all played in a huge ball play set type thing. The kids had tons of fun and overall it was a great day.
our little baby Yhon (although he doesn't seem very happy in this pic, he is now walking and talking and doing great!) and Yuriko playing in the ball pitt

Jhonatan on Christmas day playing in the ball pitt - Christmas Day

It's Starting To Feel A Lot Like Christmas... (kinda)

2009-12-15T16:45:00.005-06:00

So even though all of the decorations have been put up and we've had more than a few Christmas parties for the kids, it still hasn't really started to feel like Christmas. Summer has just arrived and so I think that has a lot to do with not feeling very Christmas-y. Although it's been strange not to feel like I'm in the holiday season, I also thought it was probably a good thing because if it didn't really feel like Christmas then I wouldn't miss Christmas at home quite so much. Apparently all of the volunteers were feeling a lack of Christmas spirit because we decided to have a night of doing a huge puzzle and singing Christmas carols together (one of the volunteers (Matt) plays the guitar). It was a lot of fun and it definitely put me in the Christmas mood, but at the same time my suspicions about the whole out of sight out of mind thing seemed to have been valid. As we were singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas," I definitely started to feel a bit of remorse that I would be missing all the things that come with Christmas at my house. BUT just as I began to get all emotional I looked around and realized how lucky I am to get to have this experience of a Peruvian Christmas and be with all of these niños and at the same time have my family here with all the volunteers. I know that I will miss decorating the tree, helping in the kitchen, and having the whole family together on Christmas day, but I also know that there are 9 other volunteers that are missing those same things. I'm glad that we can be together and I think that with our Peruvian family here at the albergue we will all have a crazy, beautiful, funny, ridiculous, wonderful, and HOT Christmas.

4 Month Update

2009-12-11T11:54:00.009-06:00

So I've been here four months now, the time is flying! I'm learning so much and although I'm looking forward to hopefully visiting home in February, I'm still loving everyday here at the Albergue. Here are some pics and explanations of what I've been up to for the past few weeks.Roxana and Elisa at the going away bonfire we had for the Hanson family. The current US based volunteer coordinator and her husband (Robyn and Joel Hanson) were previously volunteers here at the Albergue and decided to adopt a group of 5 siblings. They have been dealing with all sorts of delays in paperwork for months, but last week they were finally all able to go home to the states as a family!

Buddies Enrique and Fernando in our classroom before leaving for lunch.

Cristina outside of our classroom - she begged me to take her picture and then this was her best pose and smile haha.

Deysi, Rosario, and Enrique outside the classroom.

This is Arnold, a really sweet eleven year old boy who had a rough past and has been here at the orphanage for a long time now. All of our kids either want to go back home to their birth parents or want to be adopted, but for some reason it seemed like Arnold wanted a family more than anyone. This week he found out that his prayers are being answered! He still has a little more time for legal matters to get worked out but now he knows that he will be adopted by a family from Texas. He was given a photo album telling him all about his new home, his parents, and his brother and sisters. On the day he found out I was talking with him and when I asked if he was excited, he said yes now I'm happy because I have a family, a family for forever.

The next few are some pics I took during recess with the kids one day - with Junior, Fernando, and Enrique

Lariza, Isabel, and I had a photo shoot but this was the best we could do haha

Paúl and I
Abel and Heydi hanging out on the monkey bars
I have been covering the houses as mom for 24 hours at a time more often these days and most recently I stayed in the Amigos house (which is the boys house with this adorable little baby - Yhon). I pretty much fell in love with him after the first fifteen minutes. Covering the houses is in my opinion the most difficult job here - you're completely responsible for between 10 and 13 kids and you do absolutely EVERYTHING - laundry alllll day long, serving meals, sweeping and mopping the house so it's clean at all times, getting the kids dressed and ready for school, dealing with bath time, helping with homework, waking them up at 5:30 for school and getting them to go to bed at night, dealing with fights and disciplining (probably the hardest part), and giving lots of hugs to adorable children (probably my favorite part). My first few times were a bit traumatic and included a trip to the hospital for stiches for one little girl, but the more I do it the easier it gets!
That night I spent in the Amigos Jhonathon and I had fun reading to and playing around with little Yhon.
Even though it has just become Summer here, it is now December so we've put up Christmas decorations all over the Albergue and the Chritsmas parties have commenced. Apparently for the weeks leading up to Christmas many different groups come and request to throw a party for the kids. Most put on a show, play games with the kids, and hand out sweets, etc. but we had a really big one yesterday evening where Papa Noel came and each child was given a present. This was a mission group called Tend to Every Nation (TEN) and in addition to the gifts they donated about 15 new bikes. The kids went CRAZY for the bikes, they were so excited!! They love riding bikes around the albergue but the ones they have are so old, rusty, and always falling apart - some don't even have seats anymore. So, this was a great gift!
Aldair jumping out of his seat, ready for the fiesta to start!
Jennifer with little Maricielo looking kinda grumpy.
Tia Nikki (one of the other volunteers who has been here for a year now and who will be leaving at the end of this month) with some of the Amigos boys ready to play games.

Some of the boys from the Tesoros house preparing for the games.

All the kids patiently waiting to try out the new bikes!!

Brigitte trying out a new bike
Enrique gets a turn
One of the twins (I still can't tell Pablo and Pedro apart!) enjoying the new tricycle

One of the men from the missions group and Papa Noel teaching kids to ride bikes

Abel and Papa Noel

Día de Accion de Gracias

2009-11-29T13:51:00.004-06:00

Bekah, Becca, and I

Our yummy Thanksgiving feast (I made the sweet potatoes with marshmellows on top - they weren't bad but definitely not as good as at home - next time I will go with your recipe Aunt Anne!!)

The kids table aka the BEST table! (John, Becca, me, Lori)

The other table (Carmen - the orphanage secretary, her son, Matt, Willy, Nikki, and Bekah)

So I was starting to feel pretty sad about missing Thanksgiving at home and thinking about the fact that I'll be missing Christmas too. Of course I was sad about not being able to be with my family, but I was pretty bummed about missing that Thanksgiving meal as well! Since Thanksgiving is obviously not a Peruvian holiday, Thursday was just like any other work day for all of us volunteers, so we thought it would be pretty tough to work all day and then try to make a big meal that night. But then the orphanage secretary invited us all to come to her house so that we could celebrate Thanksgiving, and that gave some of us motivation to cook! One volunteer made stuffing, another pie, I made sweet potatoes, we bought chicken, and had veggies, apple sauce, and of course we had rice because it's Peru and no meal is complete without it. A few ingredients were very hard to find and some are just nonexistent here, but for our first time cooking a Thanksgiving meal in Peru, I think it turned out pretty well! During the meal we all went around and said what we were thankful for, and I sat at the kids table too, so it felt a lot like home! It was really nice for us all to be together and enjoy our American traditions together, definitely a great first Peruvian Thanksgiving.

Feliz Cumpleaños Estephany!

2009-11-22T14:30:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago two other volunteers (Becca and Susanna) and I took Estephany and her two younger sisters out for her 13th birthday. For this b-day paseo we took the girls to a place called "Las Lagunas" - it's basically just a few big pools with a small waterslide and a play ground. The warm weather has arrived here and we can feel that summer is coming, but unfortunately it happened to be a pretty cold and cloudy day for this trip. BUT that certainly did not stop all 6 of us from having lots of fun swimming and playing in the water! Christina, the littlest sister, was a bit afraid and had some issues getting in the water at first, but by the end of the day she was so happy to show us all how she could swim around on her own. After swimming we took the microbus into the nearby town (Salaverry), ate at a little cafe (birthday cake -lemon pie or tres leches - and of course the peruvian soft drink of choice "Inca Cola," which is bright yellow, tastes like bubble gum, and of which EVERYONE here but me seemes to be a huge fan), and played some more on a playground. Overall it was a great day and it was so nice to get out of our usual environment and give the girls a special day. Here are a few pics from the day!

Sunday Morning with Abel and Italo

2009-11-12T17:33:00.003-06:00

Every Sunday one of the volunteers has to stay at the orphanage with two of the kids (Abel and Italo) because they aren't able to go to church. Their mother often goes to the church that our kids attend and creates a big crying/screaming scene, so the workers have decided that it is better for the kids not to have to deal with that. Here are a few pics from our morning together - these two are so funny and we had a great time together! (pics - from the top) 1.) Abel hard at work on our masterpiece, 2.) yelling "tiaaa" and probably asking for pan or platano like he did every 3 minutes, 3.) a bit upset because I asked him to stop eating the chalk, 4.) happy again!!, 5.) Italo coloring in the Amigos house with a big grin (they both love doing art projects), 6.) Abel after we made his crown.

Christmas Wish List

2009-11-09T18:43:00.001-06:00

Ok so a few of you have asked me if there is anything you can do or send for the kids here for Christmas. If you would like to do something there are a few options…

1.) You can send packages with items for the kids – you just have to make sure to include a letter in the package saying that it is a donation because if you don’t we will have to pay a fine/taxes. You should also know that it is illegal here to send used clothing, shoes, etc.
2.) You can send a monetary donation to the orphanage for general use or you can specify what you would like the money to be used for. If you want to do this you can send the donation to:
Saving Street Children, Inc.
422 Armour Road
North Kansas City, MO 64068
3.) Also, if you have specific things in mind that you want to get for the children but think that it would be cheaper for me to purchase them here in Peru instead of shipping them, we can also do that, just send me an email at courtneychappuis@gmail.com and we can work it out.

If you would like to send or have me buy things for the kids, here is a list of a few things that they need or would like:

Things that the kids and/or orphanage need:
-children and adolescent books in Spanish
-new backpacks for school
-Ink for printers: HP 21 or 27 black, HP 22 color, Lexmark 17 black and Lexmark 27 color
-large dry erase markers
-masking tape 1” wide
-children’s scissors
-red colored pencils
-box sets of colored pencils
-construction paper
-copy paper
-new underwear for kids ages 2-16

Things that the kids would like for Christmas:
-baseball caps for boys
-nail polish for girls
-wallets for boys
-little purses for girls
-coloring books (themes for both genders – the girls really like princesses and the boys cars and dinosaurs, etc.)
-small toys/games...

Bugs in my Belly

2009-10-25T20:38:00.004-05:00

So I know it’s been awhile… but I have a valid reason for not updating!! I’ve been pretty sick lately with bad stomach pains, cramping, nausea, and vomiting pretty much every time I eat. After a few days of this I decided it was time to visit the doctor. I was examined, had some blood tests, and it turns out I have parasites! Um yeah, not good. But at least it finally made sense why my stomach would go crazy about an hour after I would eat anything. They gave me anti parasite medicine and I think I am finally starting to get better- I’ve been able to eat a few things without problems so I think I’m moving in the right direction. The visit to the clinic was actually pretty normal for being my first trip to a Peruvian medical facility (I didn’t have to wait long, the doctor seemed to know what he was doing, and the needles were clean haha). Robyn, one of the volunteer coordinators who speaks a lot of Spanish, came with me and she was able to help me out when I couldn’t quite catch what the doctor or nurses were saying. Being sick a lot of the time was definitely starting to wear on me and I’m really happy to finally start feeling better.

Besides the sickness the past few weeks have been really great here – I’m having lots of new experiences and my Spanish is getting better and better. This past week I actually had 3 different people tell me that my Spanish has improved and that I’ve learned a lot (one of whom was one of the little girls I do language therapy with haha). It is really nice and encouraging to get positive feedback because it is definitely still a huge struggle some days. But I’ve realized that I LOVE this language, I love learning it and I love speaking it and I love understanding it. I am so happy that I have this chance to learn another language while immersed in the culture, and I have decided that whatever I end up doing I want to be able to continue to use my Spanish. I’m not sure if that will mean that I have a job where I need to use it, or if I’ll continue to do volunteer work where I need to speak Spanish, but I know that I definitely don’t want to lose it.

One of the new experiences I’ve had was playing futbol for the first time here – on the beach, with no shoes, and with Peruvians. I haven’t played in a very long time, and honestly I was never very good – thus the reason I’d been avoiding it so far. We had a lot of fun but we played for a loooong time, and playing futbol with guys is definitely different from any of my soccer games that I remember – verryyy rough and lots of crashing haha. After we finished I knew that I was going to be sore the next day but I had no idea how bad it would be. The next morning when I woke up not only were my legs and really my whole body sore, but my right foot was so swollen and bruised I could barely walk! The inside of my foot, where I had kicked the ball over and over again, had this huge round red and purple welt that lasted for a few days and was pretty painful. Needless to say I decided that I will take a break from futbol for a few weeks!

One thing I’ve been slacking on is taking pictures. I feel like I am always telling myself oh you don’t need to bring your camera, you have a whole year here. But I know after this year I will regret it if I don’t have lots of pictures so I’m going to try and make an effort to use my camera more. I was in the Chispas house again this Saturday and took a few pics so I thought I’d share those with you guys (with Maricielo – the baby of this house – she’s 2, girls painting nails, having tickle wars, and us just having fun) – I work with a lot of these girls in my class and I love hanging out in this house. Also, a few of you have asked for a list of things that the Albergue or the kids need that you could send for Christmas - I will start asking around and post that here soon. Love and miss you all!!!

Birthdays and Babies

2009-10-07T09:23:00.004-05:00

e
Since I am sick AGAIN and stuck in bed all day, i figured it was a good time to update the blog. I have begun to enjoy my life here so much! I know I still have a long time here but the other day I was thinking about how I just never want to leave! I feel so lucky. Everyday I get to work, interact, and have fun with these amazing kids, most weekends I get to go out with the other volunteers and have fun/explore Peru, I have my own room and 3 meals a day, and I am getting to learn another language! Of course I miss everyone at home, and other things like food (especially when we have stomach, intestine, or fish soup!!), but I am definitely appreciating how blessed I am to have this experience.

At the beginning of every month the volunteers divide up the kids who have birthdays that month, so that we can take them out for a birthday paseo. They are allowed to invite a friend but usually if they have a sibling here they take them instead. Last weekend another volunteer (Nikki) and I took Junior (10 years old) out for his birthday. His bday was actually the Sunday before (September 27th), but Nikki was out of town that weekend so we waited for her to return. On the Friday before his real bday I went to find Junior to tell him ok I know it's your bday on Sunday and I don't want you to think we forgot, we're just going to wait and go out next weekend. When I found him on the playground and started to explain this to him he was giving me the strangest look - I tried to explain again, saying you know, your birthday, it's Sunday. And he was like no, no it's not. I said yes it is (a few more times) and slowly he started to get this huge grin on his face. He had no idea that his birthday was in two days! Once he believed me he was so excited, i felt like I had given him the best news in the world! It's very strange, a lot of the kids just don't know when their birthdays are, or maybe they know the month but not the day. Anyway we took Junior and his brother Josue (14) out this past friday. We ate papa rellenas (basically a ball of fried potato with meat inside - sounds and is very unhealthy, but so good!), saw a movie "Lluvia de Hamberguesas" in 3D, and ate ice cream. It was simple but fun and I think Junior really enjoyed himself. I've realized how important it is to give these kids one on one time and extra attention, and birthdays outings are a great way to do that. Here are a few pics of us with Junior eating ice cream!

In addition to me getting sick, yesterday was a big day here because we got a new baby. Our general rule is that we only take children ages 2 to 10, but those rules are stretched for special reasons and also if there is a group of siblings and some are older we will generally take them all in order to keep them together. All of our kids have sad stories, and this new baby is no exception. The police found his mother and another woman shot and killed in the dessert yesterday morning and the baby was still in his dead mothers arms crying. They have no idea how old he is or his name. The police brought him here and he looks to be between 1 year and 16 months. As I mentioned before the staff often has the job of giving kids names here, so it was decided that he will be named Daniel. This month the entire Albergue is reading the book of Daniel from the bible and so I guess it just seemed to fit. He is very cute but very sad and they are having a hard time getting him to stop crying or eat anything at all. I can't help out since I'm sick right now but I think all of the volunteers will take turns caring for him since it's not really fair to ask one of the madres who already has 13 kids in her house to take complete control of a new baby. The one positive thing is that since he is so young there is a strong possibility that he could be adopted within the next year or so. All of the kids here that are eligible for adoption want desperately to have a family, unfortunatley the older they get the harder it becomes. Please keep this new baby and all of our kids in your prayers! Tomorrow is a national holiday and we are planning to take all 50 kids to the beach so I'm going to rest and try to get better, I will update again soon!

Otuzco

2009-09-29T17:47:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday I went with two other volunteers, Lena and Bekah, and the teacher from my class, Aly, to the mountain town of Otuzco. It was beautiful and we had so much fun! I was so excited to get out and see some more of Peru (honestly here at the Alberque and in Trujillo it is not very pretty, a ton of sand and a lot of the color brown), so I was ready to see something different! The trip started out great and I think the two hour ride up the mountains was one of my favorite parts of the whole day. I loved being able to stare out the window at the mountains and see the houses, people, and animals (lots of burros (donkeys) and llamas). Also, the people in the mountains wear more traditional clothing (for example the really tall hats that the woman in the pic is wearing), so that was interesting to see. Once we arrived we just walked around the town and then did some hiking. Up on the mountains we had a picnic looking out over the town and just layed out and relaxed, it was so quiet and so nice. I thought the mountains were beautiful but Aly said that they are 100 times better in April and May when everything is green, I think I’ll have to go back then to check it out. After our picnic and hike we hung out in the plaza de armas (the center of town where the church is), sat at a café and had coffee, and just relaxed some more. When I write it out it sounds like a lot of relaxing but I guess that’s what we needed after the craziness that is working with these kids everyday! I took a lot of pics, here are a few for you to check out!

It Finally Happened

2009-09-23T17:44:00.002-05:00

So before coming to Peru I thought that it would probably be inevitable that I would have to deal with some sickness from the water or accidently eating something bad, etc., but I had started to feel lucky because I was totally fine! And then this weekend it happened. I'm still not sure what did it to me but we did eat hamburgers from a place on the street, so that may have been it. Whatever it was I was sick for two days with throwing up and everything else you can imagine, it was not fun. To make matters worse we didn't have water here for a few hours during that time, but luckily my roommate keeps a bucket full of water for times like that. I don't know what I would have done without it. Anyway it was pretty bad but I felt back to normal yesterday morning and was able to get back to work. I definitely missed the kids in my class and Miss Aly on Monday (all the kids made me a get well soon card, it was so cute!). All was good until this morning I woke up and felt like I was having a repeat of one of my first mornings here at the Albergue - I looked in the mirror and again I had a HUGE swollen mosquito bite on my face, this time it was my lip! The one on my eye was definitely worse but this is pretty annoying too. I wear bug spray every night but I mean who thinks to put it on your lips?? From now on I will apply it more throroughly I guess...maybe I should consider getting a mosquito net???

Chan Chan

2009-09-13T15:22:00.006-05:00

This Saturday I went to Chan Chan (pre-Incan ruins) with two volunteers (Bekah and Susanna), Robyn (the volunteer coordinator for the US), and the 5 siblings from the orphanage that Robyn and her husband are in the process of adopting. Chan Chan is the largest pueblo city in South America and it's an archeological site that's about 30 minutes away from the orphanage. First we went through a small museum and then we went to the actual ruins and had a guided tour (with an amazing guide who spoke English and played instruments for us along the way!!). It was huge and so amazing, and it was really great to get out and see some more of Peru. Here are some pics of the ruins - all of the diamonds represent fishing nets and a lot of the other symbols represent parts of the sea (which was very important for the livlihood of the Chimu people). Also there are a few of us while at the ruins (a group shot of Bekah, Susanna, and I with the 5 kids - but my eyes are closed, Danni isn't looking at the camera, and Zuzu is standing in front of Yen - it was the best we could do haha; one of me with Zuzu and Yen, and one of us with Danni making a funny face).

One Month!

2009-09-08T20:54:00.003-05:00

So I will officially have been in Peru for one month tomorrow! I feel like it’s been way longer than that, but not in a bad way haha. I have just started to feel so comfortable here, it feels like home. This past weekend I had another new experience, I covered one of the houses all day on Saturday. I was in one of the girls houses (Las Chispas) while their Madre went to the doctor, ran errands, etc. I had so much fun (I brought coloring books and nail polish, which the girls loved), but by the end of the day I was exhausted! There are 13 girls in the house and they range from age 2 to 16: one 2 year old, one 3 year old, one 4 year old, one 6 year old, two 7 year olds, two 8 year olds, one 10 year old, one 11 year old, one 13 year old, one 15 year old, and one 16 year old! It was crazy but I really enjoyed it (which is good since now that I’ve been here for a few weeks I will be covering houses a lot more often on Saturdays and Sundays), and it’s so cool to think that I took care of 13 girls for a day, in SPANISH!! Here are a few pics I took while in the house – starting at the top, me with Maria (she’s about to turn 14 and she helped me out a lot with figuring out the rules of the house and how to serve lunch, etc.), me with Rosario and Marita (they’re both big jokers and for some reason they always want to hold something up in photos, in this case it was stuffed animals), me with Brisa and some of the pictures we colored together (Brisa is FULL of energy and she’s crazy! Also I can’t really understand anything she says, she would just sit on my lap and ramble on and on and I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about but I loved it haha), the next one is Rosario with Maria and Brisa (Rosario’s little sister), the last one is me with Zuzu (she is so sweet; she is the youngest of a group of 5 siblings here at the Albergue and they are in the process of being adopted by one of the former volunteers who is now the volunteer coordinator based in the US).

2009-09-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

There are a few strange things that I’ve started to notice about Peru. I’ll discuss one in particular – names. I feel like in the United States a person’s name is often seen as one of the most defining and important parts about them. When we’re kids it’s the first word we learn to spell and it’s probably a lot of kids favorite word for awhile. I’ve noticed that here names just don’t mean much. In the Jewelry program I noticed that on the labels a few of the kids names were spelled different ways (for example: Heydi and Heidi and Heidy). I asked a few of the girls about this and they said casually, oh it’s not important. Not important??? I didn’t get it, how can you just not really care how people spell your name, and spell it different ways at different times yourself? Once I was aware of this I started to notice it more and more. The secretary here is named Mariam but when she first arrived they thought her name was Marian so they spelled it that way on everything (including her email address), and she was just like oh it doesn’t matter, and so now everyone calls her Marian! Also, when new kids arrive here if there is already a kid with their same name, they usually just give them a different name, and the kids are totally fine with it. Another strange thing was that last week when we got 5 new kids (siblings), the two little 4 year old boys are twins and BOTH of their names are Pedro! Like literally they have the exact same name. So they decided to call one of them Pedro and the other Pablo (and everyone thinks this is totally normal). And then when Anthony left this week the staff made him a t-shirt with all of the volunteers and workers names on the back and they spelled my name Corny, and they were just like oh no big deal, whatevs!

While names in Peru don’t seem to be too important, I’ve noticed that saving everything and using every single part of something is very important. They do not throw away ANTHING. And you actually have to be careful here and always ask someone before you throw things away because they can get upset or offended by this. If you think about it it makes sense, if you really don’t have much you would need to make use of all that you can. I have started to develop this habit myself and it has really made me realize how much we just throw away without even thinking. I’m realizing that if you’re creative, everything can have more than one use, and every part of EVERYTHING can be used for something. I guess this is one of the positive effects Peru has had on me so far, (but I don’t think I’ll quit caring about how my name is spelled anytime soon!).

Más Fotos del Despedida

2009-08-31T18:18:00.002-05:00

Here are a few groups shot (before and after total costume transformation), Anthony pouring soda for the peruvians with Sam (the volunteer coordinator) in the background, becca and matt standing on the side of the road while we were waiting for the micro, and a random shot of a peruvian fruit stand.

More despedida pics

2009-08-30T21:11:00.003-05:00

these are all the pics that I took but I will get better one's from others and post soon

Despedida

2009-08-30T20:50:00.002-05:00

This Thursday the volunteer who has been working in the Escuela de Miller for the past 8 months (Anthony) will be leaving the Albergue to go back home. Today the volunteers had his despedida (which is like a going away party). He wanted to do something really different and fun so we all dressed up as super heroes, and he paid the drivers of a microbus 80 soles so that we could basically ride the bus for its entire route and do whatever we wanted. One of the guys brought his guitar, we sang, danced, and we also brought food. We gave out food and drinks to anyone who got on the bus, at first they were all very weirded out by a bunch of gringos dressed up in costumes and being crazy, but when we gave them food everyone got really into the party. It was strange and we definitely got a ton of stares, but it ended up being really fun. Here are a few pics…

2009-08-26T18:28:00.001-05:00

I am starting to settle in and have been getting more and more comfortable with my surroundings every day. On Sunday I was supposed to take the microbus for the first time by myself from Trujillo back to the orphanage because no one else happened to be going back at that time. I was a little nervous about knowing where to go and how and when to get off the bus, etc. Also, once you get off the bus near the Albergue, you have to walk up this long road to get to the actual orphanage. Apparently people get robbed there all the time because it’s common knowledge that there are a bunch of gringos who live nearby. So needless to say I was worried about walking the road on my own. Luckily I made it on the right bus and then about ½ way there one of the madres stepped onto my bus! So I didn’t have to do it alone after all (although I know I will soon, and at least now I’ll be a little bit more prepared).

My work here is going pretty well, there isn’t too much to report. I think the kids are starting to respect me a little bit more and I am starting to understand them more as well. My Spanish isn’t coming along quite as fast as I’d like so I’m thinking of getting a tutor. One of the other volunteers has a guy that comes to the Albergue once a week for a lesson and so next Monday I will observe that and decide if I’d like him to work with me as well (she pays him 15 soles per session which is about 5 US dollars so that wouldn’t be too bad).

Some bad news is that 3 kids at the regular primary school that some of our kids attend have the swine flu! (not our kids) So they have cancelled school for the rest of the week. Today we had some medical professionals come to give us a talk on preventative measures for the swine flu, symptoms, etc. I wasn’t able to catch much of it not only because it was in Spanish but also because I was sitting next to Edwin (the little boy with Autism) and I basically had to tell him to be quiet and sit in his seat every 2 seconds. I will need to ask someone what was said but I’m sure it was mostly just wash your hands, don’t share food, etc. Also, 4 kids in my class today either didn’t come to school at all or had to go home this morning because they were sick (I think just a cold). I’m really hoping it doesn’t continue to spread but with all these kids living together it seems like one person gets sick and then everyone gets sick.

These are some pics I took today in art class. The kids had to draw a picture of what they remembered from their treasure hunt last week. One thing I’ve noticed is that the kids here have a really hard time doing anything on their own, they always want to trace something or copy someone else’s drawing. I try to tell them that they don’t all have to look alike and that being different is beautiful, but they insist on everything being perfect. (using rulers to draw a single line, needing a small round object to trace in order to draw a circle). They get very upset when you tell them to just do it on their own, and they will sit for the whole class period with hardly anything on their paper. I’m not sure what this stems from but it seems to be in all of them. Today one of the other volunteers had the idea to play music during art class (not really music, it was one of those sounds of the ocean cd’s), and it was great. Somehow it really relaxed the kids and even though they still wanted a lot of help, they seemed to be less stressed out and for the most part they were all able to finish their drawings by the end of class. Here are pics of a few of them working and with the finished product, enjoy!

A Better Day!

2009-08-19T19:13:00.001-05:00

Today was a much better day! I was able to help multiple kids in the classroom this morning with their reading and math (only simple addition and subtraction, but still I was teaching math in Spanish!). Then we did a treasure hunt type thing for the kids, which was really fun. The kids got really into being pirates and about two thirds of the way through I snuck away and positioned myself as the mermaid holding the final treasure box (little hard candies which they call caramelos). These kids have a really hard time using their imaginations, so this was an attempt to get fun play type ideas floating around in their heads. These pics are of today’s treasure hunt (some of the kids in the classroom, Anthony [the other volunteer that has been working in the class for 8 months and will be leaving in 2 weeks], and Miss Ally [the main teacher]).

Tonight after language therapy I decided to go to one of the boys houses to see if anyone needed help with homework. I tried to help out with math but it was more advanced and even though I knew how to do it, I had trouble explaining it in Spanish. But then I helped a little boy study his English and it was great, I felt so proud when he started getting it. I also had a lot of fun just joking around with the boys and for the most part we were actually able to understand each other! Today made me realize that even though I will probably have many more lonely days while I’m here, the good days like today that are filled with laughter and lots of hugs and kisses from the ninos will make it all worth it.

Starting to Struggle

2009-08-18T21:09:00.000-05:00

The past two days have been rough. Even though I’ve only been here a week I’ve started to feel a bit lonely for family and friends. I’ve also been having some issues with the kids and so that combined with the homesickness has kind of been bringing me down. I am having a lot of trouble with getting the kids to listen to me, which I think has to do with both the fact that my Spanish is extremely limited and with the fact that I’m new and they just don’t really care what I have to say. Yesterday I had to punish a kid for the first time here. I am alone with the kids on the playground during recess and when one boy continued to push others and throw rocks I made him sit down for 5 minutes of time out. He then proceeded to make ugly faces at me and just kept walking around, would not listen, etc. When we got back in the classroom and Miss Ally asked how the kids were, I told her about Pedro refusing to listen to me, etc. She then called him up in front of the class, yelled at him for about 10 minutes and gave him the punishment of writing 500 times “I will listen to Ms. Courtney” and 500 times “I will not push others.” 1000 lines, I felt so bad! He then walked up to me and in a very sad voice said “forgive me, tia.” I felt sorry for him but the other volunteers told me that it is important to be firm with them because if you don’t punish them in the beginning and keep giving them chances, then they will just continue to walk all over you. The kids here are different from kids I’ve worked with in the past – they lie constantly, cheat off of each other whenever possible, and you have to watch them at all times because anything sitting out they will just pick up and steal. When you think about the lives they’ve had, it is hard to be mad. They have nothing, so it makes sense that they would want to take everything. They don’t respect anyone because no one has ever respected them. The little boy that I had to punish for example just arrived here 3 months ago with his two younger sisters and he came from a home where his father would beat his mother, even punching her repeatedly in the stomach when she was pregnant with his youngest sister. Once when he tried to make his father stop beating his mother by throwing a chair at him, his father retaliated by beating him as well. This is a 10 year old child, it’s no wonder that he has problems with aggression.

It seems that every single kid here has a story like this, and each one is worse than the one before. I’ve learned that there isn’t actually one kid here who is an orphan. All of them have either been taken away by the police or brought here by their parents because they don’t want or can’t afford to take care of them. We have a lot of siblings here but there are also kids here who have siblings still living at home. Imagine knowing that you are the only one that your parents chose to bring here, feeling that for some reason you were the only one they didn’t want. It breaks my heart to hear about what they’ve all gone though, and it makes me only want to hug them and love on them. But at the same time I know that having rules and giving discipline is an important form of love as well. I am definitely struggling in a few areas right now, but I know that with time things will get better.

2009-08-16T20:53:00.000-05:00

Friday was my first day in escuela de miller and I couldn't understand about 80% of what was said, but that means that I understood about 20% so that’s better than nothing! The class starts at 7:15 and there is a sort of prayer/devotional time where we read from the bible (the kids that can read each get a verse) and then the teacher (Miss Ally) talks about what they read. After that the kids have about 30 minutes of reading time where the older kids can just pick any book they want to read and the younger kids go through these workbooks (learning words, how to pronounce, how to read, etc.) with the help of the other teacher (which will be me!). I helped out as much as I could with that. There were a lot of words I didn’t know but I was able to help them sound them out correctly, etc. Then because it was Friday the kids were taking tests so I worked with two of the youngest boys in the class (they also have the most severe disabilities). We worked on numbers and counting and I was able to draw on a lot of my therapy skills from working with kids with autism. The kids in this class are all at different levels as far as what they know and also in regards to their disabilities, so the class can be very chaotic at times. Every afternoon they have a different activity and Fridays are P.E. The other volunteer currently runs all of these activities but I observed and participated because soon I’ll be doing this stuff on my own. Miss Ally told me that on Thursday afternoons I will be teaching the kids English, so that should be fun.

The volunteers have the weekends off unless they are asked to cover one of the houses or there is an event. Apparently usually one or both of these things happens but I’m new so I probably won’t be asked to cover a house for another week or two until my Spanish gets a little better. So I was able to just relax for the most part on Saturday. I studied some Spanish and sat out on the patio where there is a nice swing. The sun came out which was great because it is still winter here and most days are very overcast and gloomy. I also had my first experience with Peruvian food that I did not like, at all. For lunch I got my bowl of what seemed like some sort of soup and went and sat at the Tesoros table (this is one of the two boys houses). The meat in the soup seemed like it was probably chicken but I noticed that it had this strange fluffy texture. When I tried it and didn’t like it much I asked Samir, the little boy sitting next to me, what it was. Being a 10 year old boy he began to tease me and tell me it was chicken skin and cow testicals and my heart, etc. I asked the Tesoros madre and she said that it was cow intestines! I knew there had to be a reason I didn’t like it. Here in Peru you are expected to eat everything that is on your plate and so when the boys saw that I was not eating they said Tia Courtney, eat it, eat it!! (in spanish of course, and also if I haven’t mentioned it the ninos call all of the women here Tia and all of the men Tio (aunt or uncle) and also Peruvians cannot pronounce the letter “r” and then “t” so my name here is Courney). I couldn’t eat it though and next time I’ll know not to fill my plate with a lot of something unless I know what it is first!

That night the volunteers were invited to go to dinner with someone’s Peruvian friend and their English class so that they could all practice English. It ended up that we actually went to their house and they bought roasted chicken and french fries. At first it was awkward with the Americans mostly on one side of the room and the Peruvians on the other, but then after we ate it was better and I actually practiced my Spanish way more than they practiced their English (they said they were almost finished with their class but to me it seemed that they didn’t know anything more than hello, goodbye, and thank you). Eventually they pushed aside the couches so we could all dance, and I was able to have another new Peruvian experience. The way they dance here is very different from the way young people dance in the US – you have to have a partner and you don’t really touch at all and you have to do the exact steps of the dance (salsa, meringue, etc.). It seemed like the whole time you just stare at your feet to make sure you’re doing the dance correctly, which means you’re nervous the whole time that you’re going to mess it up. Apparently the volunteers go out to Peruvian clubs some weekends to go dancing so I’m sure I will get some more practice.

Today was Sunday and we had no power from 7am-4pm and now (9pm) we still don’t have any water, no bueno. This morning I went to church and then a few of the other volunteers and I had a picnic in a park where we ate bread (that I later found out was made with pig fat), avocados, and some really good Peruvian cheese. I experienced one of the other types of transportation when we took a collectivo to get back to the albergue. These are just cars that wait along side the rode and try to stuff as many people in as possible, it was a very tight squeeze. I’m off to bed soon and I hope that the water comes on before that, tomorrow will begin my second week here in Peru!

New Experiences

2009-08-13T17:47:00.000-05:00

Only two days have passed since I posted something, but I feel like a lot has happened. Yesterday morning I did a few different jobs around the albergue (that is what they call the orphanage here) including washing down the plastic chairs we use for meals. In the afternoon I observed one of the other volunteers doing one on one speech and play therapy with some of the really little kids. Then I had my first language therapy sessions, and they went much better than I had expected! I was able to get by with the little Spanish I know and the girls and I were able to understand each other for the most part. Granted they did have to repeat themselves many times, and occasionally I had to pull out my trusty Spanish English dictionary, but I made it.

This morning the volunteer coordinator took the other two new girls and I into the town of Trujillo so that we could see a few things. We took the microbus, which is a very dirty, very fast, very crowded bus that you have to wave down in order for it to stop (there are no bus stops). It costs 1.50 soles, which is about 50 cents in US dollars for a one way trip to Trujillo (about 20 – 30 minutes). We walked around for about 3 hours and saw a bunch of things but I honestly don’t think I would be able to find my way around at all if I was back there. It was very confusing and loud, and there were a million taxis everywhere. Also, 4 American girls walking around is apparently a huge spectacle, the cat calls and whistling were nonstop. I’m sure after a few trips into town I will get the hang of it but I’m not sure that I will ever be making the trip alone because it can be pretty dangerous for a gringa on her own, especially at night. During that trip I also learned that if someone sends you a package you have to go into the post office in Trujillo and wait in a huge line for them to go through your package and inspect it, etc. Apparently receiving used clothing is prohibited, which I thought was strange.

We were back at the albergue in time for lunch, which was white rice, green mashed potatoes (sounds weird but it was really good), and chicken. I’ve really enjoyed every single meal here so far, which is good because we have the same thing every night that we had for lunch that day.

After lunch I had the Jewelry program which I am really liking because it gives me a chance to get to interact with all the different kids in small groups. After Jewelry I had language therapy with Marita and Brigitte again and it went well. I took some pics of the two girls (above) – the one in the green shirt blowing bubbles is Brigitte, she's 7 and she slurs most of her words and will randomly leave out syllables every third word or so. The one in pink is Marita, she is 8 years old and she has trouble with her r’s. They are both very cute and I’m having lots of fun with them. Tomorrow will be my first day in Escuela de Miller, I hope it goes well!!

2009-08-11T18:36:00.000-05:00

Here is a pic of my room and the bathroom I share here at the orphanage.

2009-08-11T18:30:00.001-05:00

Well the past two days have been interesting. Yesterday morning I had an orientation where I signed some paperwork and learned all of the rules, etc. I also got a tour of the orphanage and met most of the full time staff. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. I also learned my schedule:

-7:15 – 1pm – Escuela de Miller (this is the school for special needs kids – there are 17 kids in the class and they range from having severe mental disabilities to just being behind in school because they had no education before coming to the orphanage. The volunteer who has been doing this job for the past year will still be here for the next three weeks so I will slowly be integrated into the classroom. My first day there will be this Friday.)

-1 – 2pm – lunch

-2 – 4pm – Jewelry Making Program (this is a program that the kids can choose to participate in where they get to make jewelry (beaded necklaces, bracelets, etc.) and then when big groups of volunteers come to the orphanage they can buy the jewelry and 50% of the profit goes into a personal savings account for the kid that made that piece)

-4 – 6pm – Terapia de Languaje (this is the speech therapy program – I will be working for an hour each with two little girls. Unfortunately the program booklet for language therapy that they have is completely in Spanish so I’ve had to spend a few hours over the past two days translating, I think I’ve got most of it now though)

So yesterday was mostly just an introduction. I also met a few more of the kids, which was nice. One girl named yuliana wrote me a note that said "I love you con todo mi corazon y espero que te guste la carta" with a bunch of hearts on it (that means I love you with all my heart and I hope you like the card). A boy named kevin was obsessed with my watch and every other minute he wanted to compare the time on his watch and the time on mine (mine was 3 minutes faster than his and he didn't understand why, all i knew how to say was mi es mas rapido, i hope that made sense haha) And one little girl named brisa wouldn't stop running her fingers through my hair, making it very frizzy. My Spanish is muy mal so I am struggling a lot with that, I think that once I start work in the school it will get better.

This morning I woke up and when I looked in the mirror my left eye was completely swollen, I couldn’t even open it. (see picture above, it’s very embarrassing but I thought it was worth posting). We aren’t sure what bit me but a few of the other volunteers think it was a spider. I took benadryl and the Peruvian workers made me put tea bags on it (which actually seemed to help a little). The swelling started to go down this afternoon, but I’m still not completely back to normal. I’m hoping it will be gone when I wake up tomorrow. Needless to day that kind of put a damper on my day. Tomorrow I start language therapy though so I am excited for that and will let you know how it goes!

First Day

2009-08-09T19:31:00.000-05:00

Well I made it to Peru! My flights were fine and my luggage made it all the way to trujillo (YAY!). I wasn't able to sleep at all the whole night so by the time I got to the orphanage around 7am I was pretty tired. Most people were still asleep when I arrived so I unpacked a little and took a (freezing cold) shower. I have my own room with two dressers and then I share a bathroom with one other girl. It's pretty cold here (not really, but compared to Louisiana) and the orphanage is surrounded by these huge sand dunes. Around 9:00 I went with the other volunteers to church. We had to wait out on the street for the right bus to drive by and then it was about a 20-30 minute ride into town. (the bus drivers here are crazy, it definitely seemed like we were about to crash every other minute) Church was nice (all in spanish of course) and I enjoyed the music. It lasted almost 2 1/2 hours though and by the end of it the lack of sleep was really catching up to me. I wasn't able to understand much of what was being said but I'm hoping that will change soon and that when I'm not so tired I will be able to focus more on understanding. A few of the other long term volunteers have also arrived within the past few weeks and like me, a few of them don't speak much spanish, so I don't feel so alone in that regard.

After church I came back to the orphanage with one of the other volunteers and took a much needed nap. I thought that I set my alarm for 6pm but when I woke up and my watch said 5:45 for some reason I assumed it was morning and I had accidently slept through the whole night. I got up and went out to make breakfast when one of the other volunteers told me she was heading out for the rest of the evening. I was very confused. So anyway, instead of making breakfast I had dinner (chicken, white rice, and some sort of potato thing). I still feel pretty tired and out of it, I'm looking forward to getting to bed soon. Sam, the volunteer coordinator, said that tomorrow morning she will give me a tour of the orphanage and let me know what I'll be doing. I haven't really met too many of the kids yet because apparently on weekends the volunteers usually do their own thing. I'm looking forward to that tomorrow. I will update you all on what I'm doing soon!

Ready To Go

2009-08-07T21:56:00.000-05:00

I had hoped to pack light but i just couldn't get everything I need for a year into one bag. Tomorrow is the departure date, Peru here I come!

A Few More Days!

2009-08-04T23:05:00.000-05:00

The summer has flown by and I am now only DAYS away from leaving for Peru. I still have some last minute packing to do but for the most part I think I'm all set. I've received all of my vaccinations (including the very painful yellow fever) and I'll be picking up the malaria medicine sometime this week. Everyone keeps asking if I'm excited and I am, but I'm definitely also a bit nervous. I'm excited about going to Peru, about experiencing another culture, and most of all about meeting all of the ninos. I guess the nerves are surrounding the language barrier. I know my basic Spanish (what I learned during three semesters at USC), and I can usually understand if someone speaks slowly, but I have a lot of trouble actually speaking the language. I'm just hoping that this won't be as big of an issue as I'm imagining, and that I will be able to catch on quickly.

Catherine left for her semester in Spain yesterday and my dad left for a week of National Guard meetings in Utah this morning, so my mom will be driving me to the airport in Houston on Saturday. My flight leaves Houston around 3pm and arrives in Lima at 10:30pm. I will then be in the Lima airport until my 5am flight to Trujillo (should be an interesting night). That flight is short and arrives in Trujillo at 6:15am on Sunday the 9th. I should be picked up by one of the other volunteers and after that I'm not too sure about what will happen! I won't have a cell phone but there is supposedly a landline that the volunteers can use for free. I should also have internet access (although I don't know how reliable it will be). I will try to post soon after my arrival at the orphanage and hopefully upload some pictures soon after that. I will miss all of my friends and family but I know that this will be an amazing experience. I guess that's all for now, wish me luck!