Eye Opening Day

Today, I believe, was the most impactful day of of the so many impactful days we have had in Peru.  Accompanied by Stefan and Andrea´s charge, Maciel Aquino, and the PPA´s Girls´ Social Worker Margaret, we went to the San Juan de Lurigancho District of Lima to visit the Aquino family.  It would turn out to be a day all of us will remember for a long time.  

We began the day by climbing into a city van, the kind that is hailed on the streets by commuters and tourists.  Our amazing coordinator Edith shared with me that the driver is a very hard working man who is a client of her mechanic father´s.  He took us on a lenghty and somewhat harrowing journey to the little shantytown where Maciel´s family lives.  Along the way, we saw brick and adobe homes clinging to the sides of steep mountainsides, while trying to avoid the moto—taxi´s buzzing around our van.

I´m not sure any of us were prepared for what we found when we arrived at Maciel´s home.  Behind a vacant lot with junk strewn about and three sweatered perro´s and their puppies leaving evidence of their presence everywhere, stood a ramshackle wooden abode that held a kitchen and three rooms, all in a line.  A closer examination of the rooms in the structure demonstrated a severe lack of hygiene which clearly posed a health threat to any residents of the home.

 We met Maciel´s abuelita, who started sobbing tears of happiness as soon as she laid eyes on the tiny girl.  The elderly women related to us how Maciel´s mother had been in and out of jail and has abused alcohol for many years.  Although the grandmother had attempted to care for the children, she is afflicted by osteoporosis and is obviously quite resource poor, and so had to give them up to PPA.  Unfortunately, she has not been able to visit the children as she does not have formal custody. Unfortunately, the mother of these children has not shown much interest in visiting PPA, just as she did not show much interest in the children while they were living in her home.  

All of us left with a greater appreciation for the role that PPA plays in improving childrens´ lives.  While I am certain that the children loved and continue to love their mother and grandmother and even their home, PPA not only provides a much healthier environment for children, but also an opportunity for children to live lives that are filled with laughter, games, and opportunity.

Also, today is a sad day for the Mylod Yee family.  The Steins, with their fun loving and gentle ways, are leaving us for an adventure on their own.  We will miss them and think of them often, especially when I´m alone at the Hospitalito, or when we encounter the Aquinos that benefited so much from Stefan´s and Andrea´s attention, or those crazy three year olds whom Owen will have just a little less fun caring for without Jessa and Eliza.  And of course, Alic will really miss their peculiar music selection and Harvard Baseball Team dance moves on those van rides home.

Dancing Skills

Today we had our last morning with the Kindergartener´s and it was surprisingly sad leaving them. The boys in my class are...interesting. They mostly just behave as they choose to. They were really entertaining though and I enjoyed their presence. When I said good bye to them, I was surprised to see that they thought I was really there to stay.

When we got back to the office, we did our usual routine of telling our morning stories and then we were off to lunch. Lunch is always really good and we always have something to talk about.
I always enjoy myself working with Jessa and Owen in San Rafael. All three of us really have gotten to know all of the kids and have grown to love them. I really am going to miss all the kids.
The best part of the day BY FAR was our car dancing skills. I never knew two families could have so much talent. I really wish we were traveling with the other family we are working with because they will be missed.

Our Babies

Yesterday was the third day on the job. I really enjoy hearing everyone's stories at the end of the day. I especially enjoy Owen's constant energy and laughter, as it always brightens up the room. Unfortunately, I have gotten sick so yesterday morning I slept while Helen took care of our babies. I always enjoy working with Helen with our babies even though the babies can be a bit exhausting. I am very happy that we are with such a wonderful and nice family to share the experience with. I wish we were traveling together next week too.
Yesterday afternoon Owen, Eliza, and I had such a wonderful time with the three-year olds. I always look forward to spending time with them. We got to play cars with them and then wash them and put their pj's on their petite cute bodies. I was sad to go and wished that we could have stayed longer. I am looking forward to seeing them this afternoon.
Last night we also went shopping and to dinner.

Getting Settled

We all settled in nicely in our second day at PPA.  Everyone became more comfortable with the children and our work, although each day was different.  It was wonderful to hear how much fun that Owen, Jessa and Eliza had with the three-year olds in the afternoon, I watched Martin do a great job playing with the boys in the area around the basketball courts, and two sisters seemed very attached to Helen.
 
As for me, the morning was calmer than yesterday, as Marty and I stayed with half the number of kids in the hospitalito than were there yesterday.  One of the children, Jeremy, was very enthusiastic about learning English and I taught him English words for at least two hours.  In the afternoon, I was happily run ragged by a five-year old

1st Day of Work

We had our first day of work at PPA and everyone had interesting stories to share. I worked in the kindergarten in the morning and was frustrated that I was unable to communicate with the students and teachers due to my poor Spanish skills. However, the kids were very sweet and full of enthusiasm. I especially enjoyed visiting the kitchen with the kids and observing their awe of the kitchen appliances, large quantities of food, and the chef's expertise with a knife.

After our lunch break, we all had a little Spanish refresher, which was quite helpful. Stefan and I worked together with bringing siblings together for some private family play time.  First, Edith described the kids' family situations to us, which was quite moving. We were only able to gather 3 out of 6 siblings. The siblings initially didn't play much together, but after a brief time, they jumped together on the trampoline and chatted away. It was a pleasure spending time with them.

Team Aloha carries on, less our Compadre Jim, who returned to his real world on Sunday.  He is missed.  Still, Carol, Jared, and I continue the good works under Edith’s expert tutelage, serving the special children of PPA.  Jared and Carol spend their mornings sanding and painting doors, to address the challenges of aging buildings, and in their afternoons, bring together sibling groups to strengthen tenuous family ties. I have been spending mornings in a classroom as a Kindergarten teacher’s aide, and in the afternoon provide recreational relief to shut-in children in the infirmary.  As the end of second week approaches, we seem like familia to PPA staff, who greet us daily as we come and go.

Peru has provided the perfect experience through placement at PPA, and the perfect mentor, Edith Rodriguez Perciado, for us to achieve our Team Aloha goals:

·         To share and show aloha

·         To experience Peruvian culture

·         To learn to speak a bit of Spanish

·         And of course, to wage peace and promote justice as Global Volunteers.

Discovering the wonders of Lima and the warmth of its people has been a bonus for us

We will carry our special memories of an incomparable experience as we return to our home on the weekend. Among my favorites are:

Visions of the luminous big brown eyes of our children.

 Forehead kisses as cure-alls for sad faces.

 Knowing you can reverse a mini meltdown with hugs

   Balloon volleyball as a perfect antidote for shut-ins.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed in the things that you didn’t do than by the ones that you did do. So, throw of the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Morning meeting at PPA sets the tone for the day before we take turns at the loo and move automatically to our workstations, be it kindergarten or an 82-yearl-old building in desperate need of a face lift. Senior Napoliano’s welcome greeting is by now a fixture as are the worn and paint spotted gloves, scrapers, gloppy paint brushes and diminishing cans of white enamel. By this, the 4^th day of work, progress is evident in the white gleam of the doors and window panes as Global Volunteers pack up our equipment at the end of another morning to turn our attention to the afternoon with Siblings.

Less than five hours after a hearty breakfast we find ourselves trudging hungrily toward D’Gallia for purple corn juice and another substantial meal. Fully satiated and reluctantly suppressing visions of an afternoon siesta, we select the items that we know by now will please (or at least entertain) the various members of our Sibling Families. Meanwhile, Joanne, having spent the morning volunteering at kindergarten, heads off to the infirmary to bring joy to the shut-ins with the help of Snoopy.

Sibling time has become more laid back and casual. We no longer scramble to find the perfect toy or the correct building and room to pick up or drop off a kid. The Sibling’s routines are better understood as are their individual habits and personalities. Hopefully, thanks to Edith’s daily lessons and tips, language is becoming less of a barrier to communication. Sibling interaction seems to be more relaxed and natural so that they can play in the same area, each doing his own thing, but being aware of each other’s presence. There are fewer demands and less competition for the Volunteer’s attention with the constant “mira, mira, mira” -- “Look at me, look at me…”

All in all, it seems like the Volunteer and Siblings have become their own little temporary family.