Being Back and Going Back

The past few months being in the States has almost been as startling as living in Peru, you get used to things, and any change can be hard. I walked down every single grocery store isle when I got back and was almost amazed at the difference in variety and quantity. A month later I stopped and stared at the shelve of molasses. In the one year we were in Peru, we had only been able to find one jar of molasses, which went into gingerbread cookies at Christmas time. I hand washed ALL my dishes for the first month because I forgot we had the modern connivance of a dishwasher. I still  take cold showers because I don't expect to have hot water.  Other things have been different too. If I bump into someone, my first response in my mind is in Spanish. But the biggest change for me has been not volunteering, I really miss that. I do a lot of YSA/JAS (young single adult) activities and go to Institute every week, but I haven't been able to fill my time with volunteering or working and that has been hard for me.

I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had in Peru.

I have learned more about life in the past year than I have ever learned from a textbook. The lessons I have gained about humanity, and compassion and love will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Living in Lima Peru has been eye opening, and an incredible experience. I am blessed to have had such an opportunity and to have been able to meet so many amazing people, and to be apart of their lives. I am grateful for those who took time to help me, and to give of their time and efforts to volunteer beside me and I hope that you will all continue in your own way. If there is any lesson I have learned it is that, if you do good, it impacts your life in ways you never thought it would.

This isn't goodbye, not yet. 

 I will be back in Peru for a few weeks in December. I am so excited to be able to see my kids (the children at Westfalia) and to be able to see friends. I hope to be able to do something for the children this Christmas, even if it is something simple. I want to challenge you all to find a way to give to someone else this Christmas who is struggling, or just needs a little extra love. It doesn't have to be big. It's really the small things in life that matter the most. 

Think about it, and how you might be able to do something for someone else this Christmas season. If you need any ideas, feel free to comment or contact me.

I also just wanted to say thank you, for reading this blog and supporting me. It really means a lot to me, and I am very grateful to you all.

Project #3

Before I left I finished project #3, making hygiene kits. I ended up making 140 kits, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, a soap container and a package of kleenex. It took a lot of time to buy all the items since buying in bulk is unheard of in Peru. The hardest to find was the soap boxes. I think we had to go to four different Plaza Vea's, two Wongs, and a Totus to find them all. Not to mention we had to improvise at end and buy small plastic containers from the kitchen isle, but after about a month of shopping and with some help from Laura and my dad all the kits got put together and my mom helped rearrange them in boxes for us to take to the orphanage.

 

 

 

On the left is a kit with a toddler toothbrush for the kinders, and on the right is one of the regular kits.

 

 

We delivered the kits on Wednesday, and hopefully in this past week they have given a kit to each of the children and hopefully they are using them.


Project #4 fell through, I was too busy running around finding everything I needed for the hygiene kits that I didn't get to make the first aid kits, but maybe in the future that can be something I do. I don't know if I will be going back to Peru or not, but you never know, right?


Mi Ultimos Dias Parte Uno

Hello from Utah!

It's been a hectic few days. Thursday was my last day in Peru and Friday we flew to Atlanta and then to Salt Lake.  We ran into a few problems with immigrations and security along the way. Is there a way to travel without being hassled? I didn't think so.  Saturday was spent with my cousins and getting groceries. Now we are just settling in and getting used to being back. The differences between here and Peru are as great as an ocean. I miss Peru but I am happy to be in Utah. It's a bittersweet experience because I miss the sweet kids at the orphanage and volunteering, and all my new friends but it's exciting to be here and be with my family and start a new adventure.

My last few days were spent with friends, family, adorable kids and volunteering with Express Connect.

I have loved working with Express Connect. Going to schools and talking to children was a great opportunity, to both practice my Spanish, and become more educated on issues like abuse and bullying but really the best thing was being able to help kids in a small small way.

The last two weeks I went to two different schools to talk about self esteem and bullying with kids. With our self esteem presentations we bring out a mirror and have people say what they like about themselves, something inside like a talent or trait they have and one thing that they like about the way they look. 

 

I've learned a lot about my self while volunteering and the importance of thinking of yourself and being okay with yourself if not happy with yourself. 

My last time I went to a school, was Monday and we visited the Alexander Flemming school, one that I have been to before and talked about before on my blog and as we were doing the last presentation and there was a boy who was autistic and he wrote down on a piece of paper "this is CNN" and I wasn't sure why, except that maybe that was the most English he knew and he helped with a part of the presentation, we were doing roleplaying with the kids and after we left and he came and gave me a big hug and then he slipped the little piece of paper into my hand. I saw him after in the hall while he was putting his coat on and he gave me another hug. It was a good feeling being hugged by a boy who has seen you once but as so much love for all those around him, friend or foe and I wish that everyone could feel the same feeling I did because it is a truly amazing feeling.

Kids are so loving and kind and patient, I think we could all learn a lesson from them.

Two Days

I only have two more days in Peru. Two more days to volunteer at the Orphanage, two more days to see Alexandro and Eduardo, and two more days until I say goodbye and start a new adventure.

Two days. That's only 48 hours.  So little time to get everything ready for the next part of my life. I feel like I am at the end of a chapter in a book and it was just so good I don't want it to end but at the same time I want to see what the next chapter holds. It is such a bittersweet feeling. A happy, sorrowful, beautiful, tragic feeling.

A Busy Week

This has been a busy week. I've barely had any free time, between volunteering and getting ready to go home. I can't believe how much time has passed so quickly. I leave to go home on Thursday and it just doesn't seem like I've been here for eleven months.

I spent Monday and Tuesday with Express Connect. We went to a new school and gave multiple presentations about Self Esteem.

Wednesday, as per usual I went to the orphanage.

Thursday I volunteered again with Express Connect, we went to the Alexander Flemming school again, the school we first visited in November. We gave five presentations about bullying.

Friday I was back at the orphanage of course spent some time with Alejandro and Eduardo. Ale played with my camera, and took lots of selfies, which I think are absolutely adorable.

How can he not make you smile?

Today we went to the Inca market and bought some souvenirs and a few gifts for friends. We also walked around at Locomar and made a visit to the Gap store. I bought a hoodie that says GAP Peru. It was a fun day with my family despite preparing for leaving.

It feels crazy to be going back, and I am sure it will seem as alien as Peru did at first when I go back.

 

An Armadillos English

Today I visited the orphanage with my brother Marcus and as I didn't have a fluent Spanish speaker with me I had to try really hard to speak to others. Luckily there wasn't too much to say to anyone over five, however I managed to thoroughly confuse Eduardo. He is a sweetheart though so he didn't seem to mind too much, although it could have been due to the fact that I brought him food. 

The kinders were really cute today, they were coloring giraffes when we got there and after lunch had a small party. They were doing renovations in the kindergarten room so we were all outside today, luckily it wasn't too chilly.

 

I brought the kinders tangerines and chocolate milk, which was good because otherwise Ricardo, Xiomara and Angelo would not have had anything for lunch. 

 

Marcus and I played soccer with Eduardo while Alejandro was doing lessons with a tutor.

 

 

And of course I fed him cookies, and when Alejandro came out I gave him a pack too.

 

Alejandro played with my camera as per usual and we took some pictures together.

 

 

I'm not completely sure what we were doing when Alejandro snapped this, but I was definitely trying to give Eduardo some bunny ears. Look at his smile. Is he too old to call cute?

 

I loved watching the kinders dance, and of course I decided to join them. If you have never danced with a bunch of little kids, you should add that to your bucket list. Seeing how they dance and watching the girls talk and giggle was very amusing.

 

After we said our goodbyes, and I promised Alejandro and Eduardo I would be back on Friday, this time with Laura we left. Marcus and I decided to grab some lunch and see if we could find any bottled milk at the store.

 

We ate at a sandwich shop at La Molina Plaza before shopping at Plaza Vea. I ordered myself a sandwich and coke and Marcus a hotdog without any condiments and an inca cola and thought I had done a pretty good job ordering in Spanish. My confidence only lasted until the food was brought out and the only thing placed in Marcus' basket was a small baguette, not even cut.

 

We both looked at each other and I apologized before bursting out laughing. Marcus found it more of a nuisance than he found it amusing.

 

 

He angrily chastised me on my poor Spanish skills and said “Your Spanish is like an armadillo's English" I stared at him blankly before he continued, “...except an armadillo doesn't even know what English is, which is more the point."  I asked him where he had heard that and he looked at me with a serious face and said, "I made it up myself."  Funny kid. If you can make any sense of Marcus' armadillo analogy let me know.

 

Happy Wednesday!

Plans and Life

Saturday we had planned a visit to the orphanage.

 

It didn't go as planned.

 

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. -John Lennon

 

It started out well, Laura and I had spent the week planning the event and the morning arrived. We were both so excited to see the kids and play games with the teenagers at the Orphanage. I got up and got ready, and made sure I had everything I needed by the door. All that was left was to wait for the taxi when I got a call from Laura with bad news. All of the HAS canceled on us! After a few frantic attempts to see if any others were free we decided to go. There were four of us in total. Laura, Marissa, a friend of Laura's Gorge, and myself.

 

We had an even bigger suprise when we got to the orphanage. They not only gathered the teens but all the kids. This meant we had to do a lot of improvising on our part because the games we had planned were not meant for such large groups and creating smaller groups of kids proved to be a somewhat difficult, un-organized and disastrous idea. It was chaotic at best.

 

Eventually, after trying our best to play the games, the kids went off and did their own thing. We split up and hung with the kids, drawing, talking, playing uno, volleyball and soccer.

 

I let a few draw in my notebook and a few more took turn playing the car game on my phone.

 

 

 

 

We talked and laughed until a rummage through my bag by eight year old Maria and six year old Melissa produced a roll of orange painters tape. I soon found my hands secured in front of me and my mouth taped before I was paraded around the courtyard. I am not completely sure what was going on, but the girls had fun dragging me around and I got them to laugh when they untied me and I bowed to each of them, carrying on the charade.

 

 I had a picture of Angelina playing with blocks in my notebook and she found it. She picked it up and looked at it and turned to me and asked, "For me?" I told her she could have it and she held it to her chest and said "Oh! Gracias Darcie!"  before running off and showing it to her mom and the tias. Her reaction and big smile made my night.

 

We hung out for a few hours, just playing games and talking with the kids before we drove home. It was a  good day and a good activity, even if it didn't go as planned.

 

Sometimes life is better than the plans we make.

Just Dance

I had a lot of fun today, hanging out with Alejandro, Eduardo and Melissa. I played Uno with the boys while Melissa sat beside me and played on my phone and then I taught Melissa how to play. I don't think she quite understood the concept, but it was still a lot of fun. And then we danced.

 

As far as I am concerned you haven't lived until you have danced, in public, with people watching, without a care in the world, laughing as you spin round and round until you think your legs are going to give out beneath you and you sink down into the ground breathing hard from laughing so hard.

 

 

Movements are as eloquent as words.

Isadora Duncan

 

Twirling. My mother and I used to twirl.

-Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail

 

 

I also gave Melissa a piggy-back ride to her house and around the courtyard with her clinging onto my neck yelling "Correr! Correr!" a little bit later we sat out of sheer exhaustion.

 

Of course, I also played with the little Kinders, because who could ignore such adorable children?

 

 

I hope your Friday was as happy and carefree as mine was, and I hope you find time to dance. Just dance.



The Joy of Building a Legacy Worth Leaving Behind

 

A few weeks ago, I spent some time stacking building blocks with Angelina. The concentration, dedication and pride she put into this simple activity amazed me.

 

 

The  joy she felt when she successfully managed to add another piece was easily portrayed on her face. She clapped happily and laughed at her success.

 

 

 She eagerly pointed out her masterpiece to others, expressing pride in her work.

Angelina did more than just stacking blocks. She built something she was proud of. Something that brought her joy, and something that she wanted to share with others. Each of us, no matter age, gender, culture or lifestyle are all building something too: a legacy.

A legacy is something that is past down to others, whether to future generations, or future CEO's a legacy is something WORTH passing to another person.  A legacy of love, of hope. A legacy of virtue and honor, of integrity.

We should all be thinking about what we want to leave behind in this world, because contrary to others beliefs, we all pass on something to someone when we leave this world. Leave a legacy you can be happy about, something you are proud of, something that makes you happy and something that you want to share with others. Like Angelina find joy in building a legacy; and build a legacy worth leaving behind.

A Society's Soul

I was overwhelmed with emotion on Wednesday morning as I was welcomed with a big hug from Eduardo. He wound his arms around my waist  and held me for several minutes, when I tried to pull back he grabbed me even tighter. No words were needed for me to know that he not only missed me, but needed that small show of affection and love.

 

 

As I once again saw the need, the craving, for affection I became filled with anger and confusion. Anger because these kids need love and confusion to why others were so unwilling to show them the love that they not only need but deserve.   

 

I wish these kids were given more consideration, more compassion and more love.
 

I've said it once and I'll say it again, these are not bad kids. These kids have done nothing wrong to be cast aside so quickly by family and friends. I looked up the basic meaning of family on dictionary.com:

 

Family: noun: A basic social unit consisting of parents and children considered a group, whether dwelling together or not.  

 

I then scanned the page until I found:

 

The principal function of which is provision for its members.

 

The reason we are placed in families, is to be cared for physically, mentally and spiritually.  Every society is like a family, be it a church society or a  community society it's a unit dedicated to the welfare of it's members. It is impossible to go through life alone, without guidance and support, especially when the world is bent on destroying all morals and values.But like all things in life, people are not perfect, and people make a lot of wrong choices. I don't know what made these parents give up their children. I don't know why these children weren't loved. Within minutes of meeting Alejandro and Eduardo I was enchanted by their smiles and love. How anyone could willingly abandon such a gift is beyond my understanding.

 

Nelson Mandela once said, "There can be no keener revelation to a society's soul than the way it treats its children."  My experiences, both good and bad have lead me to this same conclusion. You can tell a lot by a person, group or culture by the importance they place on their children. 

 

These kids want to be loved as much as they need to be loved. They need to be given more consideration by others, and they need to see more compassion by those around those around them. These innocent sweet children deserve more than they receive from others.

 

Children are a gift from God, clean and pure. They are innocent and loving, more accepting and understanding then most adults. Children can teach you so much, and children will always give their love to you- whether you deserve it or not. Why can't we as people, as a society do the same?

Through the Eyes of a Child- Part 3: Love Freely

On Wednesday the children said their goodbyes to Nicole, who just moved. It was a wonderful send-off as Eduardo read the card Tia Violeta so carefully read. Today, as they said there prayers, they prayed for all the volunteers and Ricardo asked if they could say a prayer for Nicole.

 

The thoughtfulness touched me and I was reminded again at the love these children willingly give without a thought. What  would the world be like if we gave  love as freely as a child does. How much more warmth would reside in the world.

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit." ~Peter Ustinov 

I couldn't have defined love any better- Think if we lived in a world with endless forgiveness, tenderness and mercy. This is the world those kids see, the colorful view they have not yet dimmed by grime people bring into the world with such hate.

This world, is the world we should strive for.

Through the Eyes of a Child-Part 2: Trust and Protection

 

This is Otto. He is three years old. Like all children and adults alike, he has fears. Every Wednesday, right after lunch and playtime, a music teacher comes, guitar in hand,  to sing with the kindergarteners. And every Wednesday, Otto bursts into tears at the sight of this man and his guitar.  Sometimes he is forced to sit through the music time, sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't take it, seeing him cry.  I took him in my arms and walked outside, where I sat with him and gently told him it would be okay. After a few minutes he calmed down and clung to me. A few minutes later, Tia Violeta comes out and tells me to go sit in the class room with him. I did as I was told grudgingly, unwilling to inflict pain on the child snuggled in my arms. I got to the door when he started crying. Angry with myself and with the Tia, I took him out and sat. It took him longer to calm down the second time, and I couldn't help but feel that I had let him down. His fear, however unreasonable it may seem to everyone is real and he had willingly let me lead him out of the anxious situation only to thrust him back into it.

 

Feeling bad, I led him away from the noises drifting out of the room and towards the playground. We stopped and fed the goats first, of course. We tried out the swings first and then the slides.

 

 

At one point, Otto started climbing up ladder type poles to get to a slide. I watched as his confidence slowly waned the more he climbed. Noticing his uncertainty and fear I came and stood beside him gently placing my hands around him to let him know he wasn't going to fall. He climbed the top with some help and then stood on shaky legs as he clutched my hand for support.

When he let go I clapped with enthusiasm to reassure him he was okay. I waited at the end of the slide for him and made sure he got safely down.

 

He then went to another slide, this one smaller and designed for younger kids. I helped him climb up but didn't stand at the bottom of the slide, thinking he would be okay. I watched in horror as he came sliding down, flew off and landed on his hands and knees. I felt for the second time again that I had let him down. He trusted me and I let him be hurt- but the lesson didn't end there. I was amazed as he let me help him up and he shook off the dirt and started running to another slide. I stayed close by as I thought about the incident. Twice in only a matter of an hour I had let him down, and twice he got back up, put on a smile and let me help him. Again. After I messed up. 

James Cash Penny said, "I believe in trusting man, not once but twice- in giving a failure another chance."

 

At some point we have to trust others, we have to rely on someone to pick us up, help us climb up a ladder... trust is not lightly given in this world, so many are cynical of others, and so many fail to trust again when they have been hurt. But we should be more like Otto. Willing to let it go, willing to trust you one more time, willing to forgive your endless mistakes.

 

 We should all give others another chance- give trust another chance, and give those who have failed you another chance.