Teaching (English)

The School at Pachacutec

So pretty much, the school at Pachacutec is some shacks on a pile of sand. The windows are made from plastic sheets, not actual panes, and in some places the walls are coming off and the kids use it as an escape route. They are in the middle of building a new school, but even then, this is just how it is. And the bathroom…don't get me started. Not good. Best to hold it until you get home. And there's a pack of stray dogs running around the grounds. But all in all, this is a fun place to teach. We teach the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade english. We teach the sixth grade classes on Tuesday, and the fifth grade classes on Thursday. Each class has class once a week. Our daily schedule is like this:

A mural that was painted by previous volunteers

8 am: Leave the house, catch a bus (about 45 min)
Get there when you get there, if you're not late, teach the first class.
10ish: The kids have break. About a hundred kids swarm out of their classrooms and run around doing crazy stuff for about a half hour. (they play games, eat random stuff, and come up to you for a quick conversation and then run away)
10:30: They go back to their classrooms
You teach three more classes, (sometimes less if they don't let you in), and then catch the bus, take a nap, and wait until you get home for lunch!
About 1:30: Lunch! The most important part of the day.

My role for the first couple of weeks was to follow around Maemie as she taught her classes, and be a distraction to the kids as they were trying to learn and I was hanging out in their classroom. But eventually, I ended up having to teach my own class. Maemie was leaving for the weekend, so, even though she would be back in time, I was going to take over her classes that Tuesday. Walking to that first class that Tuesday, I felt like I was walking to my own execution… but it ended up okay. Just as I feared, I had absolutely not enough spanish, and had no clue how to explain the lesson. At one point, I sat there and stared at the kids for a full five minutes, not having a clue what to say. It goes without saying, but Maemie ended up teaching most of the lesson plan the rest of that day. I did help, though! ha. The next time, on Thursday, it was the same lesson, so I attempted again, (again it was terrifying!) and I actually taught the WHOLE lesson by myself! Yes, yes, I know, you are proud. Except for the Ademi (the head of the english program there), had to stop my lesson a couple times and re-explain what I was talking about to the kids. It was pretty great, though. The lesson was on this, that, these, and those. (This is a book, those are windows). Hopefully I didn't confuse those children for life. But now, I officially can't say that I've never taught an English lesson before.
Here's some pictures from Pachacutec, most, if not all of them taken by Jade and Maemie (thanks for letting me steal them)

Picture of the string jumping game a lot of them play

Love this picture. This kid is so funny.

A lot of them play with these tops that you slide off a string and then pick up in your hand

Break time!

The kids having fun with Jade's camera. 

Us volunteers

Let's just say, I have a new found respect for teachers. I have NO clue how they do it, whether they speak the same language as their students or not.

Con mi amor,

Miranda

La Punta (the girl's home)

First of all, the bus ride to la Punta is my favorite. It's about a thirty minute ride, and you see all sort of things along the way. You see streets filled to the brim with people, open air markets with all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and unsanitary looking chickens, you see a giant fort (now a museum) complete with canons and guards, you see the beach on one side of you, and then you turn a corner, and there it is again on the other side! You see all sort of gazebos and light houses, and sea-like decorations. But my absolute favorite street is the most colorful street of all time. A lot of building here are brightly colored, (which I like), but on this one street, every single building is one story, and an assortment of crazy random colors. Just one after another after another of colors. It make me smile.
And when you get there, the police station is pretty colorful, too. It's a tall white building with blue trim, and the back half is a pleasant orange-yellow color, and that's the part the girl's live in.
The first day I went there was a get to know you day, since a lot of new volunteers arrived at the same time as me. The first hour or so was for "english time", and the second half was allotted for dancing. After every one was introduced, (I forgot half the names as soon as I learned them), We divided off into groups, and I ended up paired with a girl named Carla. She is the sweetest girl, with a pretty face and some really nice braided hair. This was only my third day in Peru, so I knew very, very little spanish. Some how, I managed to have a conversation with this girl, and a very long one, too. She pretty much asked me questions that I understood very little of, and then went off on a long story, which the only words I understood were mother, father, child. I'm pretty sure she told me her life's story and I didn't understand it at all! It could have been the most tragic, heart breaking story… and I really don't know. But she seemed really happy that I was listening, and after that we talked about our birthdays, and she randomly hopped off into the other room and brought back a bracelet for me. It's a pink bracelet made out of yarn that she had made. She gave it to me, and it's one of the most cherished presents I've ever gotten. After this we all danced to some peruvian music.
Almost all the days at la Punta follow this pattern. Talk, hang out, chill, get to know the girls, and then dance with them. Dancing is always worked in to every visit. Sometimes we bring music for them, but mostly they just play their own music, some of which they have their own coordinated dances too. Some of them are really good dancers. One time, we even taught them the Macarena! They wanted to do it over, and over, and over. It was great because it was a dance I actually knew how to do. We've also done other activities with them. We've made bracelets, we've done origami, we've done team work activities. Mostly, we just chat with the girls, and bond with them.
Even though I don't know where any of them have really come from, I know they are all from backgrounds that are not so great. They're from abusive, broken homes, and horrible places. I feel so much for these girls. They are taken away from their homes, or from of the streets most times, and brought here, to live with other girls from similar places. I can't even imagine what their lives have been like. I can't even imagine what they must be feeling. There have been times when they just burst into tears, right there when you're talking to them. We've been told we're not allowed to ask what they've been through, but even if we did, we wouldn't be able to understand, in more than one way.
I know that they look forward to us coming, though. I hope, and I'm pretty sure that us volunteers are one of the bright spots in their lives. We're like their big sisters. One of the ladies that works there told Lidia that they ask all the time, "When are the girls coming? Are they coming yet?". I really do love volunteering there.
Sometimes we bring gifts for them. We've learned that if you bring something for one of them, you have to bring something for all of them, otherwise, they cry at night if they didn't get something. The girls ask for stuff sometimes, and it's hard when if you can't bring it for them. They ask for chocolates a lot, because they don't have them there, so the other day we brought chocolates. One day, we had a full on party with chips (crisps if you're british, haha), inca cola, cookies, and two giant cakes! And we had dancing and music that day. Lots of fun. And, some of the volunteers have donated clothes, and some jewelry. The most shocking thing was when we found out that they don't have pads or anything, and that they have to use their socks at that time of month! That just really sucks! So Maemie went out and bought them some.
The language barrier is hardest here, in my opinion, because you want to the girls to know that someone cares about them and understands them. And sometimes, you just have absolutely no clue what they are talking about. But sometimes, I'll forget there is that lack of complete communication because I love those girls, and feel like I know them as if we were speaking the same language.
Ever since the second or third time I've gone, on girl in particular has clung to me. She is officially, "my girl". Her name is Wendy. She's 12 years old. I've spent the most time with her than with any other girl. She's crazy, sometimes loud, and has a great smile. She is completely obsessed with the Lady Gaga song Bad Romance, and I've brought my mp3 player a couple times so she can listen to it. She cranks it up full blast, and sings along, even though she's the only one can hear it, and she has no clue what the words are since they're in english. It's so funny. She attacks me with hugs and kisses every time I'm there, and million questions I try to understand. She laughs at me all the time, because I some how still manage to be funny with out being able to speak spanish. Or maybe I'm just pretty ridiculous. At one point, she thought she was going to go home, so she wrote me a big long note (most of which I have yet to translate), and tried to communicate to me that she was leaving, and got my e-mail address from me. She also got across to me that she loves me, that she is my sister, and that she has me in her heart. I hope that she knows that I have her in my heart, too. I love my peruvian sister. Mi hermana.
Also, almost all of the girls seemed to have spend their free time making bracelets. Out of yarn, out of beads, out of whatever. I have been given to many bracelets now from those girls! But with every one I've been given, I know what girl it is from, and every time I where it, I remember them.

Some Bracelets from the La Punta Girls!

A Mixed Culture Family, We Are

In Lima, I'm staying in a district called San Miguel. It's a middle-class area, that's just in from the coast (still takes awhile to get there, though), and about a half hour away from central Lima. The house I'm staying in is the home of Lidia, who is the head of the Tarpuy Sonqo organization. She lives here with her husband, two sons, sister, and mother. And along with that, up to fourteen volunteers at a time. Yup, it's a pretty good sized (and packed) house. Mostly, us volunteers are like a family. We eat together, volunteer together, spend our free time together, travel together. We see the actually family around the house, but they don't eat meals with us (since peruvian time is different than our time, haha), so it's like our own little volunteer family. One thing that I haven't appreciated about this is that, since no one really arrives here at the same time, or is leaving at the same time, you get to know the people really well, and spend all of your time with them, and then they leave. Yeah, there's a constant influx and out flux of people here, which is a good and a bad thing. And they're from all over. Australia, the U.S., Canada, Japan, New Zealand, England, etc. So it's like a big, clash of the cultures family. In a good way. We're all from different places and backgrounds, but we're all here living with our awesome Peruvian family. As Lidia's husband told me to tell my family, my heart is now peruvian. And I think, so are all the other's.

My room… haha. Not exactly clean.

For the first three weeks or so of my stay, I had a roommate, Jade, from New Zealand. She's 18, and has been traveling around South America taking a gap year before college. After she left here, she traveled on to Columbia. Maemie, one of the other volunteers, is also in Comlumbia traveling with her. (she let me borrow her laptop while she's gone for three weeks, so that's why I've actually gotten around to blogging, hehehe). But now, since Jade's gone, I have a new roommate. Her name's Atsuko. She's originally from Japan, but she's been living in Canada. She'll be my roommate for the rest of the time though, so I'm glad to have some one who's sticking around!
 

The view from my window. Some of the neighbor's houses.

Life here is absolutely nothing like I expected it to be. Us volunteers are actually quite spoiled. We have T.V.'s in our rooms, a computer in the living room that is ours to use, tons of books and DVD's, cookies in the kitchen whenever we want them, a corner store literally two doors down with other snacks, and pretty much every convenience, at least by Peru measures. And the best part of everything, is the lady who cooks for us. She is seriously the most amazing lady ever! I love her! She cooks lunch and dinner for us everyday, except Sundays, and once a week she cleans our bedrooms, and she's just generally completely amazing! Her food is fanatastic and I feel so spoiled. Her name is Soledad, and she lives in the area where we teach school, Pachacutec. In fact, I think that some of her kids go to that school. She is totally my hero. I'll tell you more about her food later.

Con mi amor, 

Miranda

From IVHQ to Tarpuy Sonqo

Tarpuy Sonqo- Sembrando Amor- Spreading Love

So, you're probably wondering how in the world I ended up in Peru. Well, that's a good question. I'm not so sure of the answer myself.

 What I am sure of is that by the end of senior year, I was majorly sick of being in school, and that I had absolutely no motivation to start college in the fall. I also know that I really enjoyed volunteering and helping build a house in Mexico a couple years ago, and I'd since then decided that any travel I'd do in my life would either be for volunteering or educational purposes. Being the small town girl that I am, it seems so weird to me to go anywhere farther than Saint George (about 45 minutes away). So how did I even come to the conclusion to leave? That's another good question. I was inspired by the stories of my cousin Shamra, and my friend Annie. They both seem to have a passion for travel, and just the fact that they are young, independent women traveling by themselves made me realize that I can do it to. Really, I've learned that absolutely nothing is impossible. Part of the reason I picked Peru is because Annie went there a few years ago to volunteer in orphanages, which I thought was a brilliant idea, and so I'm following pretty much in her foot steps. I even looked into the program that she went with, but the age requirement had been raised to 21. So, next stop: google. Through the website volunteerabroad.com and much research, this is the program I found:

www.volunteerhq.org

IVHQ is an organization based in New Zealand that has a locations across the globe where people can volunteer to do different things like help in orphanages, teach english, work in medical clinics, and building projects. It's not free, but the cost of the program is one of the cheapest I've found, and it's a very excellent quality program. The specific program am I at is the Lima, Peru orphanage program. IVHQ is technically only a middle man that hooks you up with a local organization in the country you want to volunteer in. So, even though I got here through IVHQ, I'm actually working with Tarpuy Sonqo (quechan for spreading love). It's a local organization that is run by Lidia, the lady whose house I'm staying in (my peruvian mom). With the organization, I personally help in four different locations, as explained below.

1. The orphanage at San Antonio- 


I suppose this is our "main" orphanage, even though it's not necessarily the most important one. It's about a twenty minute walk away from our house, the most local orphanage we work at. It's a fairly nice orphanage, by Peruvian standards. It definitely houses a lot of kids. They all seem really happy and well-adjusted, too, so it seems like a good place to live for them. Anyway, I haven't been to all of the rooms, or even very many of them, but they have a room or two for every age group, from zero to about age fourteen. I work with the older girls, from around age 6 to age 14. They are quite an exciting bunch! The very first day I got there (when I had absolutely no clue what was going on or what I was supposed to be doing) they all swarmed around me, took me by the hand, hugged me, braided all of my hair, etc. They are all really sweet girls, but there are always the crazy, wild, rambuncious one's too! We go there a couple times a week in the mornings and generally just hang out with the girls. I'm have free range to do any activites with them that we have time for. We've played musical chairs, danced, watched movies, painted finger nails, did hair, played lots of volleyball, etc. I also have plans for bringing some sidewalk chalk in the future, and maybe we'll do some origami… Well, we'll see. Some of the girls go to school in the morning, so I don't see them as much, but the majority go in the afternoon, so we hang out with them and help out until after lunch, and then we clean up the cafeteria, and our work there is done for the day!


2. The orphanage at Semillitas (Special Needs)


This orphanage was at first the most difficult, frustrating place I'd been to. I honestly didn't know if I would go back, but I was told they needed the most help, and it was pretty evident that they did. This orphanage is for special needs children only. I'm not certain how many children live there, but there are plenty, believe me. Our job as volunteers is to take them outside, play with them, make them smile, help them learn if we can, and we help feed them lunch. My first day there, they gave me a quick tour, and then pretty much handed me a child to go off with. That day was a struggle. It was filled with much picking up and putting down, trying to stop the kids from eating things that aren't meant to be eaten, being slobbered on, being slapped and kicked, being led around (and out of bounds) by a blind girl (got in trouble for that), trying to get them to a.get off the slide, b.eat their food (I mean, actually eat it without spitting it out or just staring at it), and c.drink their juice with out spilling it all over them, me, the table, and the floor. The most memorable moment of that day was when I was trying to get one girl down from the top of the slide, and another girl just came over and sunk her teeth right into my arm! Yep, it was pleasent. That was about the time when I decided I wasn't sure if I wanted to back. It was a tough day. But, I signed up anyway to go once a week. The next week I was a little aprehensive to go, but one of the volunteers told me I could come into the room with the babies if I wanted, and I did. Let me tell you, that day went a lot better. And every week since then (even if I have to shove other volunteers out of the way with my elbows so I can be in the baby room) I've gone to the baby room. Slowly, Semillitas has become my absolutely favorite place! I love it there! I've learned all of the babies names, and their faces, and their personalities, what they respond best to, what they love to do the most, etc. I will post more about this place later.


3. The school at Pachacutec


About a forty-five minute bus ride from where we live there is an area (quite a large area, actually) that is really poor. It's pretty much one shack (by our standards) after another, after another, for miles on end. We teach at a school in this area. There's english classes taught by volunteers for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. There is also a physical education class taught by volunteers. We go there twice a week, and for the first couple weeks, I was just helping in Maemie's (another volunteer's) english classroom. Mostly standing around and observing.They've been learning vocab like clock, chair, desk, light, and how to put them into sentences, (this is a desk), and other stuff like that. I've had the chance to teach some of my own classes, though, and an origami class! More about that later. Lastly,


4. La Punta


Twice a week we go to a home for girls that have been sexually abused, or in prostitution, (or other similar backgrounds, of which I'm not sure) that is actually located in a police station in an area called La Punta. There is about 14 girls from around ages 12 to 18. The time we spend there is actually a lot less structured, we just hang out with the girls, talk, teach them some english words, dance, and some days we do activities like make bracelets or have a parties. The girls kind of pick volunteers that they cling to every time, and we kind of become their older sisters. It's actually a really great place to go. The girls need so much love, and we are ready and willing to give it to them. However, their stay there is sometimes temporary, so you never know if the girls you've been bonding with will actually be there the next time. It's kind of hard. But I love that place. I love those girls so much, and I hope that they know it! 


In short, those are the four places I volunteer at every week. My schedule is like this:


Monday- San Antonio (normal orphanage, morning)
Tuesday- Pachacutec (school, morning), La Punta (girl's home, afternoon)
Wednesday- Semillitas (special needs orphanage, morning)
Thursday- Pachacutec, La Punta
Friday- San Antonio


I really do love my schedule. I have a little bit of everything- babies, teenagers, in between, teaching, playing, etc. I love this program. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.


Con mi amor, 


Miranda

Bienvenidos!

Welcome to my blog! I hope you find it interesting, enlightening, or even just funny. Right now, I am in Lima, Peru. I've been here for over a month, and as of today I have exactly one month left. Boy has time flown. I was attempting to try and keep everyone updated on my adventures as I went along, but that resulted in a weekly email that only happened once. Yeah, I've been slacking, but who can blame me when there is so much to do in Peru? So, in order to keep everyone updated, I plan on blogging about all of my adventures. Hopefully I can keep eveyone happy and appeased.

This blog is a tribute to all of the people who made it possible for me to be here, and I know there is a lot of you. I am immensly grateful for your contributions of time, money, and support. I would not be here without you. This experience has been worth all of the time and effort that was put in this summer, believe me. I love you all, and can't wait to see you again.

Con mi amor,

Miranda