A little bit different

Sorry that I'm only updating once a week now, it's manly just because I'm being lazy. The first week in Lima has been pretty fun, we went dancing a few times and have been out to get some Peruvian cuisine which is really good. My family here is really nice and they are always making sure that I am not cold and that I am well fed. So far I have visited the point which is a piece of land in Lima that juts out so it's completely surrounded by water, the Plaza de las Aramas in Lima, the orphanage I visited last time in Lima (and they said I can't work there so I need to look for another one) and a couple of other little suburbs in Lima. I want to go to go visit some cities in Peru this weekend but everyone that was going to go with me backed out at the last minute for different reasons and so now I'm not sure if I can go. A lot has gone on the last week but at the same time not much has gone on so it's kinda hard to write a blog. I promise I'll try to update more often

Lima so far

First things first, I guess the US is ignorant to whats going on in Lima b/c apparently some people thought that I was in some kind of danger. The unrest that is going on is only in the Amazon areas so in otherwords I'm about 1000 miles away from where the people were killed. There are protests going on close to me but the most danger they really possess is the cops throwing some smoke and or/ gas grenades to clear the crowds.

I made it to Lima on Saturday morning and have already gotten adjusted to where I'm staying. It is super nice here, I have my own room, there is a nice living room with leather furniture, a super nice kitchen with a large TV and the bathrooms have hot water and bidets. The family is also nice with the Grandmother, 2 guys one in his 20's the other 17 and 2 ladies in their late 20's early 30's. The mother here is really sweet and also is constantly shoving food down our throats (it's good but she keeps piling it on and I can barely finish it all). This time there is no disclaimer because this is actually how I'm living. I'll try to upload some photos for everyone later.

Also, I've only had one day of classes so far but they seem like they will be easy and on top of that my 5 weeks consist of a 3 day week, another 3 day week, a 4 day week, a 3 day week, and then another 4 day week with my final on the fifth day. Needless to say, the classes here should be pretty lax allowing me to enjoy my; stay more. I also might start looking for orphanages this weekend because my classes end at 3:30 so I could spend a couple of hours each day at an orphanage if it's not too far away.

Chao for now,

Brandon

My Trek Up the Mountain

Sorry that it's been so long again but there have been some factors such as working overtime to try to get this movie shot, electricity was down one day, the internet was down another, but anyways here's me update for today.

On monday I went with 5 other volunteers to visit a cross on the top of a mountain. There is this lit Cross that you can see from pretty much everywhere in Ayacucho and we heard that it was a great view so we decided to go. I followed Matt because he said he new how to get there but when we got off the bus we found out that we were a little over 2 hr hike from the cross but then we were pointed to another wooden cross that was only about a half our hike. So we decided to hike up to see this cross as well as the view. It was quite a trek and was very dusty getting up there and the dust, altitude, and being out of shape were getting to me because once we got up there I felt like that cross was for me. Anyways, we got to the top and the view was amazing and the sun was setting over the other side of the mountain so it gave it an even better look.

In other news, there has been some unrest the past couple of weeks because some agreements with the US have opened up the amazon for energy research and bio development and the native Peruvians are not happy about that so they have been setting up road blocks as well as running cables across the rivers so that boats can not pass. Well last week it got violent and about 30 were killed and again a couple of days ago some police officers were being help hostage and in the process of freeing them around 35 more were killed and somewhere around 150 were injured. As a result, the whole country is on strike indefinetely so the markets are closed (and markets here does not mean stock market) as well as some other places here and there. I haven't checked the bus stations yet but if they are closed then that will mean that I wont be able to get out of Ayacucho.

A Little Update

Sorry for the lack jof updates but I´ve been trying to make these posts interesting and frankly nothing out of the ordinary has happened this past week. I leave Ayacucho next friday and I can´t believe I only have one more week because it feels like I got here yesterday, as expected I´m really glad that I decided to not just come here to study for a month because I could not imagine only spending a month here but I have a feeling after two and a half months it still wont feel like enough.

As for what I´ve been doing this past week, on Sunday I went and visited some churches but out of the 12 I visited only 3 were open but one of them was holding mass so I sat through that but had a little difficulty paying attention because the sound system was kinda fuzzy, I was tired, the kid behind me wouldn´t stop talking/kicking, oh yeah and the whole speaking Spanish thing.

The rest of the week went pretty much as normal, I worked with the Lupes 3 times and the Pequeños once and I have today and tomorrow off so I´m going to try to go visit some more sites before I leave. I also brought up the idea of making a movie to Gill, the Dad here, and he was very accepting and gave me permission to interview some of the señoritas and the kids. I also brought up the idea to the other volunteers and they are very excited about it so I´m going to start working on that this afternoon. That´s pretty much it for now, I just figured I´d give a little update since I haven´t done so in almost a week.

Peace,

Brandon

A Hidden Treasure

This morning I worked with the Grandes starting at 6 (and after going out to eat last night and not getting back til 1 waking up was a little hard) and so I helped all of them get up, get dressed, eat and then I left for breakfast but was told to make sure to be back by 8:30 becuase I had to take some of the kids somewhere. After breakfast I learned that the 3 I had to take were Sabina, who is 21 and has some mental problems, Margary, who is I think 16 and also has some mental problems, and Sonia who is 16. We hoped on a bus which had about 30 people too many and rode into town. We the walked a couple of blocks and then turned to climb what was the steepest climb I think possible without some rope and a pick axe. After conquering Everest I saw where we were heading, it was a shop with clothing and some little knicknacks...Seriously, did we really go this far out of the way to go shopping...but it doesn´t end there, we then were welcomed and walked into the store, went into a dark back room and then a lady was there to welcome us and then she just turned to the girls and said you know what to do...ok this is getting a little sketchy...we then went up a spiral staircase to this big room


I had heard about this from one of the other volunteers but had forgotten all about it. On Saturdays these three go to classes on sewing, stiching, crocheting, whatever you call it. There is a family that owns this shop and teaches the craft to younger generations in order to keep the arts and culture alive. Alex, who is the oldest son, told me all about what they do and showed me around the shop and also to a gallery that had various tapestries as well as carvings, masks, paintings, etc. It was very cool to see the rich culture in this little shop and Alex and I had some pretty long discussions just about the culture and history of Peru and how different it is from that of the US. He also brought me up to the roof which is actually another story being built but in Peru building is a very very long process. He also told me how his family owned all the surrounding land and so the sold most of it and the rest of it is used for the family.

Peace,

Brandon

Here´s Alex working on a tapestry




This was the veiw from the roof/4th floor in the making

OOOPS...

Before I get to the beef of the story I want to first talk about one of the Children in the Casa. His name is Fermin and I mentioned him in my last post. He is 9 years old but has the mental capacity of a 3 year old becuase of a mental handicap that could have been from birth but is thought to be caused by physical abuse. Growing up, he had a mother who also had a mental disability and since she did not know how to take care of him she would just lock him in a room and he was naked, cold, and hungry. He lived like this for 6 years until Fermin was found one cold and rainy day in a corner of a dark lane, he was very dirty, just wearing a jumper, bare feet, and seriously malnourished. Fermin is placed with the pequeños in an effort to stimulate him. He often just paises back and forth sometimes running, sometimes just sitting down. It was during one of his series of running back and forth that this story begins:

I was working with the pequeños this morning so I was in one room making sure the young ones were eating while one of the señoritas was in the other room with Fermin. I look over to see that the señorita had gone downstairs for a second to give some of the kids their medication when I saw Fermin running and he tripped over the uneven floor and bumped his head on the drawers in front of him. I went ove to see if he was ok to see his face covered in blood and a nice gash in his forehead. I brought him downstairs to the señoritas and they washed his forehead and tried to put a bandage on it but he kept ripping it off so we just kinda left it how it was for a while so that he could eat and we could get the kids off to school. After all the kids were gone one of the señoritas brought Fermin to the hospital where they put in 5 stiches but I´m pretty sure back in the states it would have been atleast 10 or 12. I then had to watch Fermin for the rest of the day trying to get him to not touch the stiches. I found out the best way to do this was just to give him food. Fermin absolutely loves to eat and if you let him eat on his own he´ll scarf down his food in no time flat so instead I hand fed him and would give him only a little bit at a time to drag out how long it would last. Well eventually I made it through my shift and was very tired.

Peace,

Brandon


Here´s a picture after the stitches

Casa Hogar

So I realized that I never really talked about what the project is here. I mentioned a littel bit about it before I left and I gave you a link to the website but I figure I´ll tell you about it from my point of view. First of all, the two that started it are Gil and Chantal he is from Belgium and she was from France. I believe that Chantal may have passed away because I have not seen her and noone has talked about here but they also have their son Aaron here. They just decided to move one day and so they came here to Ayacucho to help with the problem of homeless children. There are 27 children her in three different catagorize. There are 7 Lupes which is for children with disabilities. The majority of these children have cerebral palsy and one of them is blind. There is then the 6 pequeños who are all 5 or under with the exception of Fermin who is 9 but has the mental capacity of a 3 yr old so they put him with the pegueños so that they could try to stimulate him to be able to develop. The third group is the 14 grandes which range in ages from 6-18. We work in 2 shifts one form 6-1 and another from 2-7 or 2-8. They early shift with the Grandes simply consists of waking them up and getting them to eat and get ready for school and then when they leave at 8 you are done for the day except on weekends when you play with them/ help them with homework til 1. Then the afternoon group comes in at 2 and helps them change out of their uniforms, eat lunch, do homework/play and then eat dinner and get ready for bed. The Pequeños do all of the same things except during the week the early shift stays with Cristofer who is 3 and Fermin who I mentioned before. The Lupes is a more demanding group but can also be a more rewarding group. You do all of the same things expect for helping them with getting up, getting dressed, brushing their teeth etc means that for all but three of them you are doing everything for them and changing diapers and then with the 3 that can do it themselves they still need help, supervision, and encouragement. Also playing with them is more of just sitting with them, carrying them, or helping the 3 that are able to walk. Of the 3 that can walk, María Jesús needs alot of help b/c she can only barely walk, Eberson, who is blind, needs a little less help than María Jesús but obviously since he is blind you have to direct him. María Antonieta is the most developed and so she can walk with you only holding one of her hands. Then the late shift also often has to give a couple of the kids oxygen or help with therapy at night. In addition to us volunteers there are also the Señorita who work 12 hr shifts 6 days a week. They are there to basically do everything while we help them out. At first I felt like the volunteers don´t really do all that much until I really thought about it and realized that the Señoritas are working 12 hrs with hyperactive children and they need all the relief that they can get during their shifts.

Chao,

Brandon

This is Eberson, Yacner, Diego, and Ruth with one of the Señoritas

This is Emerson, he is kinda the ringleader of the Grandes

This is Luiz or Chinito, he is one of the mischevious Pequeños