Saturday, September 13, 2008

Welcome dinner and House visits...

Martes, 9 Septiembre

Had a pretty relaxing day at home in the morning. Bummed around the house for a bit and did a few odds and ends. In the evening we had our welcome dinner for all the new volunteers. We went to this fantastic authentic Peruvian place- can't remember the name though (too many Pisco Sours have bamaged my drain). They had lots of yummy dishes including sushi and curried alpaca. And the desserts... wow! I had a miss piggy moment and decided I had to try a little bit of everything ......

Miercoles, 10 Septiembre
Our second day up at Pumamarca was just as rewarding as the first. We did Inglés class with the 5th and 6th graders and went through the "Who, what, when, where why" and "I like". Teaching the classes is quite challenging as the students vary in age in from 9 to 14 years in the same class and they all have different levels of comprehension. It was still fun though. Next on the time table was the hygenie and sport. Sport was with 1st and 2nd graders and was chaotic and fun as usual. We started off with a jog around the field and some stretches and then played tip. Tell you what... running about at 3200 meters asl is tiring!

In the afternoon, myself and 3 other volunteers had house visits with some of the families in the community. Our first visit was at La Casa de Jessica. Jessica has a family of 9 or 10 and they have a really small house. Peru's Challenege put in a few windows for them last month but they have makeshift bamboo walls. Its really awful that the whole family have to sleep huddled together upstairs when the weather sometimes goes down to about 2 or 3 degrees in the night. The wet season is also approaching and so Iris the social worker with Peru's Challenge had a talk to the Mum and asked them to get their act into gear and to come down to the school to get the cement for the walls. Next step after they get their walls will be to help the family get some beds.

Our next house visit was with to the house of Arturo and his mum Asunta. Arturo is the cutest little kid ever!! Asunta his mum helps out in the school and cooks meals for the kindy kids. She has had a hard life as a few years ago she left Cuzco to go to Lima to get a better life. When she got pregnant with Arturo, her husband left her and she had to come back to Cuzco. She is also estranged from her mother. She invited us into her humble home which was kept very neat and tidy and allowed us to take some photos. When asked if there was anything she could ask for, what would it be.. she said just food, education and clothes for Arturo. Asunta is a really strong lady and works really hard and it was sad to see her cry when we were told her story.

Our last visit was to the house of a man who had had something fall on his leg and has been in bed for the last week. Unfortunately, he also drinks and abuses the family. We walked into their house (I think it was the kitchen) and it was full of smoke from the wood fire used for cooking. There were 3 children.. the youngest one about 3 years old. They also has guinea pigs running all over the kitchen which I found rather amusing, but I guess is normal out here. Iris gave him a talking to and told him he had to go into town to get his leg x-rayed and also that if he did not stay off the alcohol Peru's Challenge would stop providing the family with support. Hopefully this will get him thinking and on our next house visit, he will be sober and the family a little happier.

It was an emotional day.. but a good one......

Rest of the photos are here....
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040195&l=68039&id=212900300

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