La Escuela

The second week has been harder than the first...the kids are just as cute, but the realizations of their quality of life are heart breaking. The teachers went on strike, so I helped out with 2nd and 3rd yesterday, and it was maybe one of the hardest things I´ve ever done. Kids will be kids, but these kids are a whole different breed...they never listen, they call you bad names in Spanish, the hit/wrestle the other kids (most of the boys are obsessed with WWF, so that becomes fun), they don´t want to learn, so at the end of the day, you´re toast. I asked another volunteer if we could send one kid home because he clearly wasn´t here to learn or do anything school related (he wouldn´t even draw a picture...most the time you don´t even care if they´re doing the assignment you told them to as long as they´re keeping their hands to themselves and being somewhat quiet)...and the volunteer said no because he´s here for the food. That´s when it dawned on me...I already knew that the slums of Peru (and this town in particular) did not put anywhere near the same emphasis and importance on education as we do in the states, but what I hadn´t thought about was that these children weren´t sent here to learn...they were sent here to be fed a nutritious meal...something they wouldn´t get without the GVI program and support. I know that seems a bit dramatic, but it´s true...there are 2nd graders who still can´t write their names...our goal here is to provide a nutritious and filling meal and maybe some TLC to those being good that day.

It´s a really hard place to be in because you want so badly to walk away everyday feeling as though you´ve tought a child something or improved their day, and most days, you can´t get out of there soon enough. Again, I am so glad that I decided to come on this project and to be with these kids in this country, but it´s a lot harder than I had imagined. Everyday I am overwhelmed by how thankful I am for the circumstances I was born in...there´s a voluntter, Giddeon, who´s Peruvian, but his parents adopted him as a baby and he´s been living in England since then, and his sheer motivation for coming to volunteer with this project is that he could have, and without a lot of luck and fate, would have been one of the kids that we see everyday. It´s humbling, heart breaking, and somewhat rewarding all at the same time. I will have no regrets in my decision to be here, but everyday feels like a struggle to remember why I am here.

On to a less depressing topic...ha...sorry...I´m headed to Camana Beach this weekend! Camana is a small beach town about 3 hours outside of Peru, so we´ll head there Friday night and come back Sunday night. The hotel we´re staying at has a bar in the pool...I know that sounds fancy, but you wouldn´t think so if you saw the pictures...ha...our theory is that if we drink enough alcohol at the pool bar, we´ll kill any bacteria that we might be getting from the water...ha! Being in Arequipa was fun last weekend, but it´s nice to get away for a few days...split up the routine. I then have 3 days of school next week, Thursday and Friday off for Easter weekend where I´ll be headed to Cusco, then back for a few days of school, off to Lima for a few days, then headed back to home sweet home.

Sorry I haven´t posted many pictures...it´s just not safe to have my nice camera on me regularly, so since I´m headed home early, I figured I´d send them out in a few weeks when I get back. I hope everyone has been well! Have a great rest of the week and weekend! Chat soon!