Will Mize Volunteering at the Clinic

¡Hemanita!

My daily trip to La Casa de Niñas has really opened my heart and reminded me of the expressive nature of Latin Americans. I was instantly welcomed, kissed, and hugged by habitants of the three-story home for girls. Their contagious positive energy and alegria vibrated through the dusty air. As each day passes I become more attached to these strong little women. I feel like mother hen surrounded by little ones.

These girls were mostly left at this home by their struggling parents who are unable to raise them due to financial concerns or to help them escape from an abusive situation. My heart shrunk yesterday when I met a mother in tears, leaving her older daughter behind at the house. Like many other single parents, she expressed how she could not afford to take care her own children and had no choice but to leave her abusive husband behind and ultimately provide her off-spring with a better future by leaving them at the house.

Leaving today was tough. It so easy to look around my surroundings and compare the poverty I see in The Casa with life in the U.S. It makes me feel hopeless and detached knowing I cannot do enough to help improve their living environment. The dirty sheets, the dusty play room, the cold bathing hose, the heads covered in lice, and the three-to-a-bed situation can be quite shocking. But, every time I take a deep breath and truly look around I see so much life and happiness beyond the physical elements. These girls exude nothing but positivity and light. Their little bodies stand tall above these issues and I can see the thankful gleam in their eyes to have each other. It’s hard not to feel inspired and loved.

I will truly miss each little one.

The Little Ones

--Ana Maia

It Is What You Make It

My position coaching basketball to 10-16 year old Peruvians at summer camp has not been easy, but my experience has been extremely positive.

Language barriers, a lack of basketball experience, and physical limitations made my coaching experience difficult at first. Traditional instruction was impossible, because I don't speak much Spanish, and the 80 kids I coach don't speak any English.  Also, the camp is the first basketball experience for many of the children so they weren't ready to play games and didn't know basic drills. Finally, many of the children lacked the strength to throw the ball up to the rim or stamina to run the court. Though I initially felt overwhellmed, alone, and discouraged, I stuck with it.

Each challenge eventually became a positive. The language barrier taught me to teach without speaking. I demonstrate slowly and correct my student's form. My students' inexperience meant that they learned all of the basics, dribbling, shooting, and passing from me, which is a great feeling. My students lack of physical abilities allowed me to be a personal trainer! I had my students doing pushups, squats, and sit ups. The students are learning, enjoying, getting active, and most importantly, learning life long physical fitness skills.

One day that was a metaphor for my coaching experience is my third day when a 10 year old child missed 25 shots in a row because he could not hit the rim. We did not let limitations stop us. I gave the child the ball one more time, picked him up, lifted him to the rim, and watched him slam home the basket to loud cheers!

The experience is what you make it, and I made mine about training kids in healthy physical activities and reaching individual children.

-Tristan

Puma. Condor. Snake.

My alarm goes off at 5:30am. First thing on my mind: Need... More... Sleep...
At 6am we leave to take a bus to the train station at Ollantaytambo. We get off at Km. 104 to start our Incan Trail adventure. We were told that we would be hiking for about 3 hours until we reached our first destination. What we didn't know was the ridiculous amount of stairs made out of rocks waiting for us. Considering it is the rainy season we got really lucky with the weather. The sun came out for us and then the rain sprinkled down on us when it got too hot. The hike was a personal challenge for me because of my asthma. I felt like I was dying after each step I took. Lucky for me, I was able to have a great group of people with me to encourage me and make sure I was okay. After about 3 hours of hiking, we finally reached out first destination point, Chachabamba. It was such a relief  to finally reach this location. My fear of heights definitely got to me cause we were literally on the edge of the mountain; one wrong step and it would be the end of my life. The view made it all worth it. We hiked for another 1.5 hours to see Inti Punku where we got to have our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. The view was one of those "you just have to be there" moments. Although I was exhausted, seeing the view made the excruciating hike worth it in the end.

"Surprise followed surprise until there came the realization that we were in the midst of as wonderful ruins as any ever found in Peru."
- Hiram Bingham ("discoverer" of Machu Picchu)


By: Angela Wu

Not Photoshopped

Breathtaking. Awe-inspiring. Indelible. Although accurate, none can
adequately describe our group´s visit to Machu Picchu.

We began the day with a 4:45 a.m. wake-up call. the excitement of
witnessing the sun peaking through the morning clouds atop the ancient
Inca village coupled with groggy eyes made the day's first few hours
interesting. But when we reached the village around 6:15 a.m. the
early alarm seemed well worth the struggle.

We had crossed our fingers and toes for good weather, and our prayers
were answered. Despite the jungle´s rainy season, we experienced a
clear view with only a few clouds. Other visitors shared our desire
for the early-morning views, but we were able to snap many, many
photos without distraction.

Our tour guide provided a true local history. While he mentioned the
American Hiram Bingham ¨discovered´´ Macchu Picchu, he was quick to
note the ancient village had not been lost among the locals. We
meandered through the ancient temples, living quarters, and open areas
just as the Inca´s may have done. Our guide aptly noted that the more
compactly the ancient stones were laid indicated the level of
superiority and adoration the Inca´s placed on that particular room.
For example, the stone for a temple was laid the most densely, and a
local´s quarter was given looser construction. Nonetheless, to witness
these ancient ruins was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and one which
we´ll always remember.

-Ruth

Daisy's Entry

The forth day in Cusco seems like pretty long since all of us are tired from the tight schedule and heavy workload. However, with time goes by, I'm totally in love with this old city.

The most encouraging thing is about my after-school program.

I'm getting along with the 20 kids in my classroom really well, way much better that my expectation. Although I can only use my broken Spanish and all the body language to interact with them, I really enjoy every morning in the after-school program. I've never been so needed by children before. But here in Cusco, all those innocent children regard me as their older sister or mum. They keep hugging me and holding my hand all the time. And I do really hope that I can do better to deserve their trust. I'm trying to remember all of their complicated spanish names and trying to use my knowledge to teach them useful things. My growth here is not only about the language, but also about what I learned from my group mates, my students and the experience of getting through difficult situations. In general, every day in Cusco for me is challenging, growing and hopeful.

Only one day left for  Machu Picchu, get so excited right now!

My class with 20 amazing children.

They worked really hard on their math problem.

Two cute kids in my class.

Daisy

Pintando Y Grabando II

Another Great Interview From Tristan. The last 2 seconds are very much worth the tilt of your head!

Clinica

Today was our first half-day of volunteering, with just our morning service commitment in the children's clinic.  The day started off great with scrambled eggs, something we only get twice a week. Ryan joined us today, making our clinic group a crew of four (Adrian, Angie, myself, & now Ryan).  The student group from Lafayette College is doing manual labor at the clinic, which resembles our group work in the afternoon.  This makes Ryan's impact in the clinic that more important since there is a need for more support with the disabled children.  Their special needs almost require one on one interaction to benefit them & there simply are not enough volunteers to stimulate the kids.
    My role in triage is interesting, because I am providing both clinical support with patients & performing administrative duties throughout the day.  I get to work with the kids in the inpatient ward at the end of my day & that really brings a smile to my face.  There definitely is a need in the clinic for support in triage & one on one work with the kids.  It definitely is a blessing to be able to do both.  I feel it's really important to be working side by side with my Peruvian counterparts & I get that every day there. I never feel that I'm doing their work for them or that they take a back seat while I do the work. They are equal partners in a group effort to make the lives of needy children better.
    Something that gets asked a lot is "Are we making a difference?", I definitely believe that we are.  The kids really need individual attention & the minimal amount of automation in triage (at least by U.S. standards) requires a lot of walking to & from offices, records storage, & patient rooms.  Having electronic patient records would be able to speed things up a bit & free up the huge space being used to store paper records.  The storage room is open to the environment & the paper is subject to moisture & insects that eventually will destroy the patient records.  A switch to Electronic Patient Records (EPR) could free up the storage room for diagnostic equipment or more patient rooms.
    If I had to choose one thing that could make a lasting impact here in the Hogar Clinica de San Juan, it would be to implement EPR.  That would take a long time & more computer infrastructure than what currently exists in the clinic.  Having the opportunity to make a difference here, even if it's just for two weeks, has been really rewarding.  I definitely look forward to another break trip in the future with UMD's Alternative Break program & their affiliation with UBelong.

-Will

Pintando Y Grabando

A great interview from Tristan

Pintando y Coloreando

sometimes just let it happen

I decided to help out at a clinic in the disabled children section, even thought I feared I would not be able to find ways to contribute. And so far I learned that you don't have to overthink it. Just be there to entertain them, talk with them (spanish at work!), play with them, especially when they are left alone.

I got to realize how lucky I was as a child but I also got to address what we could call the "disabled taboo". When you come across someone with a visible disability, even with the best intentions of the world, it is often awkward. We should just behave normally, and say hi if there is eye contact!

I assume many people feel the same way, and the problem I had so far is that this need of a special reaction made me look at these persons in a different way (as they behave according to there disabilities), and I was even unconsciously assuming they had different feelings or thoughts than most people's. And this made me think the reaction is justified somehow, and it is pretty much a vicious circle.

Nevertheless, I got to meet a teenager, Manuel, with both mental and physical disabilities, and he broke this circle as he made me realized that it is not the case at all. However, it is indeed harder to find a way to express their feelings. Appearances can be really deceptive and i got one more confirmation today as Manuel actually spoke to me in English. He also happens to like poetry (he writes some in English and Spanish), and plays the guitar!

In conclusion, being with kids and teenagers makes it easy to open up and it is hopefull to see how easy connexions are made through their disabilities. The hospital is doing a great job by taking care of them and stimulating them, but the service can't deal with all the children at the same time. So i feel really good about playing with them, taking them outside. I learn a lot about myself and the interaction between human beings, but the greatest award is to see smiles on their faces :)

By: Adrien Depaillat

an update from Kun

It is about 9:00 am in Cuzco, Peru. I find myself sitting in a classroom
full of energetic kids. The first period is math. After yesterday's
brief initial contact, today was our first full day together. I was both
anxious and excited. Anxious because my Spanish is very limited. Excited
because I was imagining all the cool math tricks I can teach them. In
reality, I was struggling to follow what was going on in the class,
desperately trying to hold on to the few Spanish words I know and filling in
the rest with a high level of speculation. Figure 1 was taken after the
teacher asked a question and the class would circle up in front of the
white board, eager to give the solution. This is the picture of hope.
Surrounded by poverty, dealt a bad hand by life, these kids will overcome
things that are unimaginable to me because of the basic human drive to know
(a.k.a. curiosity). Their enthusiasm reminded me the reason why I wanted
to be an engineer. I saw my younger self in them. The first period ended
with me feeling a strong desire to learn more Spanish so I can communicate
with them more effectively.

After recess, we started the second period. The teacher was running
late, and another volunteer and I had the opportunity to lead the class.
Because of my cultural background (Chinese), the kids wanted to know how to
write simple words in Chinese. Keep in mind this communication was done
under their limited English, our limited Spanish, and a lot of drawing and
hand gesturing. This experience left me hopeful that maybe we can still
understand each other despite the language barrier. The class continued
when the teacher finally arrived with a visual memory exercise, a dance
lesson, and a lot of questions about where we are from. We ended our
morning eager to return tomorrow.

We had our lunch back at the hostel. After lunch, we went to Los Hijos del Rey
to paint their buildings. In preparation for this event, we bought the
materials the day before. We spit into two groups; one group was
responsible for scraping off the old paint, and another group was
responsible for painting the new layer. We were there for two and a half
hours. A picture is worth a thousand words, so we will let the readers
decide how we did.

By: Kun Lin

It begins...

We officially arrived yesterday in Cusco, excited and anxious to begin our volunteer experience in the community. We started the trip with a quick tour, volunteer orientation and a warm meal of soup, chicken, rice and bananas with chocolate. It was amazing to get a quick glimpse of the city, with its many cathedrals, and nooks and crannies full of wonder. We were exhausted from our two-day journey to Cusco, and fell into bed asleep at the end of the night. So what brought the 11 of us here? Here's a little background about our immersion:

Our Alternative Winter Break experience focuses on childhood development and poverty in Cusco, Peru. We will provide support to educational institutions that assist underprivileged children in the indigenous Quechua community. Beyond the well-preserved Inca walls, a large percentage of the children in the city are forced into labor or left behind as their parents travel into the lowlands seeking employment. Abuse, illiteracy and neglect are common, and early childhood malnutrition affects over a quarter of the children in Cusco, most of who arrive from poverty-stricken Quechua communities. 

Our Issue
Our service projects are caregiving and educational in nature. We will serve local initiatives targeted at providing disadvantaged children emotional and social support. Three of us will work at a center dedicated to the nutritional rehabilitation of malnourished children. Most of the children are 3 to 5 years old and come from poor families living in the outskirts of Cusco. Another five volunteers will serve in after school care centers. The centers have classrooms where the children receive preparatory education for grade school. We will work with teachers to help create more interactive and student-centered learning environments. We hope to bring enthusiasm to class activities, and engage the children to help them learn and stay motivated. Lastly, three of our teammates will volunteer at a local sports center and assist in entertaining and organizing athletic activities for the local children.

Our goal will also be to communicate with the children in a way that broadens their view about different people and places. Infrastructure problems, insufficient number of qualified teachers, overcrowded classes and shortage of educational materials continue to negatively impact the quality of children’s education in the city of Cusco. Our involvement will help support resource-poor kindergartens and an elementary school for children from local Quechua communities plagued by chronic poverty.

As a group, we will also unite to work in a construction project at a local elementary school. We will be connecting with a local community members to repair and restore vital areas of the building. We we also be painting classrooms and fixing the deteriorating bathrooms in the school.

So, today we will begin our service-learning experience. Stay tuned for more!

- Ana and Lily