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.