Waaw!

SO, we started Waaw (formerly Wawawasi, but it means house of babies in Quechua and we take 6-11 years olds, so we needed to avoid confusion) this past Wednesday. It has been really crazy, loud, a bit chaotic at times, but really fun!
Monday and Tuesday we went to the local school and handed out fliers and jumping origami frogs to the parents and kids. My Belgian friends showed me how to make a new and improved jumping frog to the ones I make from post-its.
Wednesday afternoon was our first day of the program. We start at 2pm since the schools get out at 1pm. Our planned schedule is to have homework time from 2-3pm, activities at stations to learn and foster creativity (with different mediums like clay, drawing, acting things out, etc) from 3pm-4pm, sports and games in the park up the hill from 4pm-5pm, a nutritious dinner from 5pm-6pm, then we all go home. This week since we are just getting started, we have been doing homework, a snack, puzzles and games, sports, then going home. Homework is a challenge as many times we don’t understand what the homework is asking to begin with (we are all at different levels of learning Spanish), and then often they are doing things like Peruvian geography which we aren’t familiar with. I need to find an Atlas somewhere in town.
Our first day we had 21 kids come. Most of them left early because they were giving out free shoes in San Sebastian, so they definitely needed to take advantage of that. It rained that day, so we couldn’t take half of them to the park to play like we’d planned, which meant we had stir crazy kids making a LOT of noise in one tiny room. All of the volunteers were a little relieved that a bunch of kids left to go get shoes as we were a bit overwhelmed the first day, but overall it went very well and we were happy with the supplies we had and that all the kids seemed to enjoy it.
Yesterday was our second day and we had 43 kids. It was a bit crazy, but since it didn’t rain we were able to go to the park and they loved it! We played some crazy running around games and when we participated they were so excited. There’s one game where everyone sits in a circle. One person walks around the circle and stops between two people. Those two have to get up and run in opposite directions around the circle, and try to get back first to grab the flag. They think it’s hilarious when we are competing with them, so they chose me and a kid a few times. They call us “profe” short for profesora or professor, so when we play, they scream “Profe! Profe!” It’s pretty funny. I have to remember to wear clothes I can be fast in :D. Also, these kids are tough. There were a couple of times when they ran into each other or just lost control and fell on the concrete, but instead of crying like you’d expect they jump right back up laughing.
They have been loving the bananas and apples we’ve been giving them this week. Our goal is to provide nutritious meals every day because according to the research done for this program due to malnutrition, it’s very likely with a lot of these kids that their brains will not fully develop. Next week I get to cook for 28 kids, so if you have any ideas for nutritious meals that you can cook in a pot, please send them my way. So far all I have in mind is spaghetti with a veggie on the side for one day. They intend for us to cook chicken once a week and fish once a week. Other than that, suggestions? Please? 
You can see in some of the parents that are coming up to the door the intense need they have for this program. Moms that are working on the street selling random goods all day, that can’t give their kids the attention they need and can’t help with their homework because they can’t read themselves. This is going to be an awesome program. I just wish we were able to take as many kids as want to come, but we are limited for space, limited on volunteers, and limited in funds to support the program. We have to select 28 kids to stay in the program this weekend and I’m sure we’ll have more than 43 today as we had moms coming and asking yesterday if their kids can come. The selection process is going to be horrible and telling the parents and kids that we can’t take them is going to be worse. Please pray that we’ll have wisdom in selecting the kids that need this the most and can benefit from it the most.

 Margo (New York/Holland) and Stejn (Belgium) when we took the kids to the park yesterday.

The kiddos playing that game I described earlier.

Typing back on our little cloth bandanas that help us keep track of who needs to come back to the school with us.  Other neighborhood kids come over and want to play too while we're out.

The view from the park is not to shabby :)

Ohhhh before I forget... thank you so much to the people from work and family and friends who gave me money to spend on volunteer work down here... so far we've contributed to this program by buying paints, playdoh, two large plastic tubs for carrying toys to the park, facepaint and brushes, and velcro to use on the puppets for the puppet theater.  All that costed 106.80 soles, which is about $39.55, so we still have over $450 to donate when needs come up.  Believe me, these kids really appreciate everything that is given to them here. I've never seen kids so happy to play with puzzles and silly games.  Thank you so much for your help!!

Some Maps

I used google maps to show my mom where I'm living now and she thought it would be a good idea to post it here...  so if you're in Cusco, Peru in the next few months, look me up!

A Little Piece of Paradise... I mean Peru

Don't read too much into the song... I'm not trying to run away from you guys forever.  I just love Coldplay, and this song, and wanted you guys to get a peek at what I'm seeing down here.  The snowy picture is the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu that I hope to do with Ruben in the fall.  Enjoy!

Wawawasi Progress...

Sorry it’s been a long time since I’ve updated… our progress in getting ready for Wawawasi has been slow!  We’ve been buying supplies, painting, buying more supplies, getting the wrong colors, getting stuck… but the room is almost completely painted…

Today after painting, we worked on puppets for the puppet theater.  We are making a variety of animals, a Peruvian boy and girl, and an Incan king and queen.

Saturday the teachers from FairPlay are going to come and clean and help get the room ready. 

Monday and Tuesday we will be doing “marketing” by walking the neighborhood and giving out information to the mamas and origami jumping frogs to the kids. 

Wednesday we are projected to start!  It’s going to be really fun and I’m sure very challenging, but we are all really excited to get started!

I also got an email from Yanapay saying that the first email was an error and they still need help, so it’s possible I will work with them later this year.  I would really like to work with them as well, since they seem to have an awesome program and they are also located much closer to where I live now, so I could walk up there.  ALSO, I think they would benefit from the money that you all donated much more than FairPlay since FairPlay does their fundraising in Belgium/Europe.  It’s hard to say though.  I’ll watch and see if there is a specific need we can fill at Wawawasi.

Here are some pictures of the art that was designed by Josie from Northern California of all places.  She’s an art student at a college in Oregon.

I moved from my homestay (which is a little silly because Wawawasi is in the same house) to a hostel near the mercado San Pedro.  It’s a covered market where you can buy everything from half a cow carcass to fresh mangos (my fav!).  It’s not quite as quiet here as Cari Grande, but I love being walking distance to the plaza and the market.  I also have a kitchen so I can cook and I’m paying about half as much as I was at the homestay.  The other residents of the hostel are really funny to live around.  The bulk of them right now are Argentinians that are in some kind of circus.  Others are musicians, so we constantly have some type of music playing… everything from an acoustic version of MGMT’s “Kids” to more Andean sounding music with flutes… it’s a happy place to live.  The owner is a really nice lady named Delsy.  Her husband and 16 year old also live here and her parents visit often.  She often gives me food when she makes lunch for the family like fried fish with giant corn and salad and when I cook French toast, crepes, or Korean bbq, I always share with the family.  The only thing I don’t like about this place is the freezing cold water when it’s already 45ish degrees every morning and night… and this is SUMMER.

In other frivolous news, I got a haircut near my hostel for 5 soles (that’s less than two bucks) and colored it (I have lots of grey hair) for 40 soles (less than 15 bucks).  Since we don’t have hot water in the hostel, having my hair washed in hot water felt like a little piece of heaven, haha. 

A blurry pic of my new look (it's just my old look refreshed):

Puerto Maldonado and Wawawasi

Disculpame.  It’s beena long time since I last wrote.  I took a little trip to the jungle (Puerto Maldonado) with my buddy Ruben and came back with a fever.  I've been taking multivitamins that the pharmacist told me would make me feel maravillosa, and I actually am feeling much better.  Here are a few pictures of that amazingly beautiful place.

So originally I didn’t want to volunteer with FairPlaybecause I’m taking my Spanish lessons there, and home staying through them, andgoing to cooking classes through them… I wanted to branch out a little.  However, after applying to one place, playingwith kids but not really doing much at another, and seeing/hearing of countlessothers that I’m not quite sure of… I’m going to start volunteering with FairPlay.  I know the people that are running thisprogram have a heart for these people are doing this for all of the rightreasons.  They are trustworthy and theyhave an excellent program planned.
If you didn’t know, FairPlay is owned by John from Belgiumand his Peruvian wife Fanny.  You canread more of the history of FairPlay in better detail on their website.  It’s a really cool organization.  But as for the volunteering, this is acompletely separate venture they are starting in March.  Basically for 6 years John has wanted tostart a program for the children of mothers living in extreme poverty.  The idea is to start an afterschool programto teach subjects – like information about countries around the world – thatare not taught in the schools.  Thisgives the kids a place to be that’s not on the street when they are not inschool and a chance to learn new things they would otherwise not be exposedto.  The problem is that these kids aremalnourished, which means theirs brains will not develop normally, makinglearning harder for them.  So as part ofthis program we will be cooking healthy meals for them, packed with nutrientsthey need to grow and learn.  The programis completely free to the mothers, but they are required to take classes onnutrition and hygiene and other things on how to care for their children.  So the kids will learn about different thingsat 4 different stations, eat some food, play some games in the garden with thevolunteer staff, and get to play with the puppet theater.
The program is supposed to start in March, when the kids goback to school from summer (heh, it’s freezing here) break.  So we have been working this week on buyingsupplies and painting the room, buying supplies to make cushions for sittingon, and organizing what else needs to be done. Next week we will complete our painting, buy the supplies and set up thekitchen, and get the materials ready for the start of the program.  The name of this program is Wawawasi, whichin Quechua (the main language of the Andes) mean house of babies.
We’re pretty excited to get started!  Wish us luck!

Here is a picture of the room after we painted the base coats and before the designs are going on (maybe tomorrow).

Trabajo Voluntario III

Hola a todos!

So this is my fourth week in Cusco... it's been really fun getting used to the differences in living here, rather than just vacationing... there are funny quirks in living in a house rather than staying in a hotel.  It's more relaxed in our neighborhood than it is in the centro.  There are less taxis, less traffic, so less polution and you can actually breath... there's also more dog poo all over the sidewalks from the random dogs that roam around the city ;)

Classes are going well.  I love my professoras.  They are both really sweet and we laugh a lot during our classes when I try to explain things in spanish and they don't have a clue what I'm talking about because I'm not making sense.  Other than those times, I think I am making a lot of progress in speaking.  At least I can understand loads more than when I got here and people seem to understand what I'm talking about about half to 3/4 of the time, rather than 10%.... heh heh.

I have been spending lots of time with the students in my house, who are really fun.  Laura from Texas is super smart and going to go to school for study abroad in Arequipa.  Stephanie and Paul are a couple from Minnesota (they are a pastor and youth pastor) and they are traveling before hosting a group from their church to volunteer at this school they support as well as take the train to Machu Picchu.  They already hiked it themselves on the Inca Trail.  We have been having a good time trying out food and drinks, and doing fun little stuff in Cusco like the overpriced chocolate museum.  I will be very sad to see them go at the end of next week.  It's been like having a little family in Cusco. 

Stephanie and Paul took me to the school they are volunteering at.  It's pretty awesome.  During the school year the kids actually attend classes, then go to these little classes in the afternoon to learn trades like bracelet making, baking, carpintry, painting and drawing, and ceramics.  Right now they are on vacation, so they just come in the afternoon and do their trade classes.  I went with them the last two days and we played with the kids and hanged out with them while they were doing their classes.  I sorted beads with little girls and asked them about their siblings and their favorite games.  They asked me how to say words in English, and I had them teach me words in Quechua.  The teacher borrowed my llama bracelet to figure out how to make it so they can make those too... it's kinda weird not to be wearing it since I've worn it since August nearly every day.  :)  Grace is still wearing hers while I'm gone, so I have to be sure to get it back.

Yanapay is a strange sitch.  I went to visit that one day and they said come back sooner if you want!  Then they sent me an application, I had issues returning it, so they sent me another format, finally they received it... then they told me they don't need volunteers for the kids right now.... just in marketing.... which I know nothing about.  :)  I might just email them back and ask what particularly they need help with... but it's odd.  The school in Choqachaka is really cool, but it doesn't seem like they need volunteers.  They are pretty self sufficient.  So the hunt is still on for volunteering opportunities... I do think it will be good to finish my classes before volunteering full time anyway because it is pretty exhausting doing both.  Also, my friend's dad seems to know of some places and would like to help me out.... so please keep praying that I will find the right place to serve.

Here are some pics from the school we visited this week. 

The girl in the pink in the first pic is my pal Milagros (miracles).  She taught me a bunch of clapping games, then we were running through Cusco holding hands after school the first day because I thought she lived close and wanted me to walk her home.  Turns out she lives like 30 minutes by car outside of the center and wanted to walk me home... somehow we compromised and Paul, Stephanie, and I walked her close to her bus stop before going back to school for our cooking class on Tuesday night.

Well... that's pretty much it for now.  I'm going to check out the jungle with my friend tomorrow.  I had to get a yellow fever vaccination in order to go there.  If you saw me after I got my shots for the trip in August, you'll be happy to know I didn't come down with a 4 day fever this time ;)

Have a great week.  I'll try to post pics of la selva (jungle) soon after I get back! 
Kelly

Unas Fotos de Cusco

Here are some pics of where I am living in Cusco Peru

 My room in Cari Grande, San Sebastian

 La Iglesia de San Sebastian

 The view from my bedroom window on a sunny day.

 Taken from our roof.

 Clouds rolling in for more rain

 On my walk home, or from the roof, who can say?

 Taken from a secret location in the Plaza de Armas... 10 pts to the person who can guess where from...

 Taking down the Peruvian flag for the evening

 Soy una fanstasma.

 Cristo Blanco y Kelly oscura

 Plaza de Armas from Cristo Blanco

 Plaza de Armas por la noche

 Una otra de la catedral en Plaza de Armas

La iglesia de San Sebastian