Day 8 ~ One Week Completed

Friday, April 25

It’s Friday, we managed to survive our first week. Today is a short day for us since we're taking off to Machu Picchu for the weekend.

Mili (our team leader) is impressed at the fact that we’re departing as a group. Peru has had 72 groups, none of which have ventured off together. We’re really fortunate to be getting along so well.

Since I would only be able to participate in the kindergarten program, I had notified my siblings Luis and Enrique that they would not be seeing me until Monday. When I arrived to my morning Kindergarten class, I found it interesting that the children were inquiring as to whether or not I’d really be returning on Monday. I reassured them that I would be but some didn’t believe me. I guess there are upsides and downsides to the children being accustomed to “visitas” (visitors). Peru is one of the most popular GV programs that could always count on having continuous volunteers sign up (probably because of the possibility of visiting one of the wonders of the world ~ Macchu Picchu). Therefore, PPA is fortunate enough to have volunteers be a consistent part of their curriculum. I guess this is the reason why the children are used to seeing volunteers come and go making it easier for them to say goodbye.

This 1st week has been incredible allowing each of us time to settle in with ease. No words can explain how amazing our team leader Mil has been in facilitating this entire transition. With the week at an end

• Laura continues to feel a bit frustrated at her inability to add more value to the children she interacts with due to her language barrier. I wish I could make her see how truly amazing she’s been with the children at the “Hospitalito” by simply being in person to care for them.
• Libby and Lisa seem to be feeling a bit accomplished at their continuous break through with curriculums for each class. Lisa already packed items to help her prep for next week’s assignments. She's been doing a great of learning Spanish through these lessons prepared.
• Dan is feeling a bit ill. He seems to be the only one who’s least satisfied with the program. His expectations included a more rustic experience. Participating in the kindergarten class, English instructions, and occupational therapy have him wondering how much of an impact can he really make in such a short period of time. I don’t know if this has to do with the language barrier. He knows Spanish pretty well but just needs more confidence to speak it.
• Jozi is glad to simply be done with one of her six weeks.

As for me, I finish my first week feeling like I managed to make a true impact. It might be because of my fluency in Spanish which permitted me to build a different kind of bond with the children since I’m able to have full conversations with them. In my kindergarten class I’ve been able to identify some of the shy children that lack some confidence. I've interacted with them a bit more than the others with hopes of encouraging participation in different leadership activities during and after class. My sibling program also seems to be progressing well. The boys are getting along great and have been looking forward to each other every day.

We left PPA around 12pm and headed to another kind of adventure.

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