A Difficult Day

Today we went with the PPA social worker to visit one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Peru. Most of the children at the PPA come from neighborhoods like these. There are over 1 million Peruvians living in extreme poverty in areas just outside the main city.
The conditions are horrible and most people have no running water, plumbing, or electricity.


Our group was able to go with the social worker to do some home visits. A 11 year old boy named Alex (the boy on the right) also went with us because he needed to show the social worker where he lived, as there are no addresses in these areas. Alex was a very nice, polite boy and he sat next to me in the van. He has a brother who continues to live with his grandmother at home. This is typical because in most cases all children from a family cannot go to the PPA to live. There simply isn´t room. Sometimes the parents must chose which child goes to the PPA to have a better life. Kind of like "Sophie's Choice."

I cannot accurately explain how many of these homes there were in the hills. Literally thousands.


What struck me most about visiting the neighborhood was how gracious and happy the people were to have us in their homes. They are very kind to the social worker because they are thankful that their children can go live at the PPA and have better conditions in which to live. It felt very strange to be going around taking pictures of these homes, but the social worker explained that us taking pictures made the people feel honored.


Alex´s grandmother was very kind and was happy when I offered to take her picture. She showed us Alex´s home, which is basically a shack on a hill. This is a picture of the social worker viewing the home (the blue building). The social worker explained that she will then write this information in her report to justify why Alex is at the PPA.

We went to 2 different homes and walked around the neighborhood. It was difficult for me to understand how the social worker decides who goes to the PPA and who doesn´t, because there are thousands and thousands of shacks and hovels where people live and children who need help.
It was so upsetting to see the extreme poverty and these many neighborhoods are why Peru is still considered a third world country.

We visited the equivalent of a "soup kitchen" where volunteers from the neighborhood serve 70 meals a day. The volunteers also have very little money, but want to help. The meals are not free and cost 1 sole (about 30 cents I think) per person, which is a lot for these people. The meal is basically a soup and each family must bring their own container or it is put in a plastic bag for them to take home. It was definitely one of the saddest things I have ever seen in my life. A group of us gave the volunteer 100 soles, which is not a lot but will feed 100 families. They were very grateful for the donation.

In the afternoon we went back to the PPA and I again worked with the 3 year olds. My favorite part of the day was when a little boy asked me to push him on the swings "a la luna" which means "to the moon."

Getting to Know the Children

This morning we had breakfast and headed over to the PPA. I was assigned to 7 two year olds, who were incredibly cute. I then helped with art and music, led by a group of psychology interns. At lunch I tried Coca Tea for the 1st time.
It is made from the coca leaf here in Peru, which is supposed to be very good for you and tastes somewhat like green tea.


In the afternoon, a special celebration was held for the head of the Ministry of Women, who was visiting the PPA. The children had a parade and there were a lot of press people taking photos.
The children played games of soccer and put on a kind of a "show" for the Minister (who is a woman).




All of the children dressed up in costumes. Apparently, little girls all over the world enjoy dressing up as princesses, fairies, and even Snow White.



I continue to be humbled by the kindness of the people who care for the children here. They appear to treat each child with kindness, caring, and respect, and have a type of genuine compassion that I have never seen in our foster care system in the U.S.

1st Day Volunteering

The PPA Campus

Today was our first day at the PPA. We first met with the Director and main staff, who welcomed us and explained their program. There are currently about 180 children at the PPA, ages 0 to 17. There are currently fewer children at the PPA because it is the summer here, and many kids go home to live with their parents during the summer break. Children are placed at the PPA by their biological parents or social workers, who have to apply and have the children accepted by the PPA. The application process includes a psychological evaluation and medical exam, so the children at the PPA do not have many identified disabilities. Those children go to other facilities in Lima.

We had a tour of the campus, and I was surprised at how nice the facility is. It is huge and the buildings for the children are very spacious and clean. The children were very excited to see us, especially the 4 and 5 year old girls, who all ran up to us and wanted to introduce themselves (and wear my sunglasses).
The Main Building


We had lunch together as a team and then I worked with the 3 year olds in the afternoon (35 of them!) I was amazed by how well behaved the children are, and how well they listen and respect their caregivers. I was assigned to work with Albertina, a woman who has been working with the 3 yr olds at the PPA for the past 12 years. The children are all adorable and the main Spanish phrase I needed to know was "empujeme" which means "push me" on the swings. I am looking forward to going back tomorrow to be with the children again, but I am exhausted from my afternoon with the kids.

Meeting the Group & City Tour

This morning, the 9 of us met as a group for the first time. Our group consists of people of all different backgrounds. 6 are retirees. The other 3 of us are in our 30's/40's. We have a dentist, 2 pharmacists, a retired teacher, retired health care workers, and a couple who are retired retail shop owners. Everyone seems to bring their own style and personality to the group.

In my group, no one speaks Spanish, making me the best Spanish speaker with my kindergarten comprehension level (which is kinda scary). I am going to try to absorb as much of the language as I can while I'm here.


I will be starting work at the PPA tomorrow. I have been assigned to work with the infants (children under 2) in the morning and the 3 year olds in the afternoon. I am really looking forward to working with these age groups. Other work projects include supervising sibling visitations and helping with kids' physical therapy. I will tell you more about these assignments later this week.


Today we also went on a city tour of Lima and visited St. Francis' Church, which was beautiful. There are many colorful, extremely beautiful buildings in downtown Lima. .

Cell Phone Withdrawal

Hi, my name is Lainie and I´m a cellphoneaholic.

I am going through serious cell phone withdrawal currently, which includes 1. looking around for my cell phone when I hear musical tones, 2. hearing musical tones that do not actually exist, and 3. having extreme bouts of jealousy toward all those actually talking on cell phones.

I´m told that the symptoms should last only a week, at which time I will be required to attend regular cellphoneaholic meetings to share my story of how I made it through this ordeal.

First Day in Peru

I had a wonderful first day here in Peru. I met a lady from my group at breakfast, and we signed up for a museum tour for the afternoon. We went to two different museums here in Lima, one public and one private. We had a great tour guide and there were only 5 of us in the group, so we were able to learn a lot. The museums held all kinds of interesting artifacts that outlined the history of Peru and its various regions. Each group throughout history told their stories through artwork, mainly in the form of water jugs. The jugs were crafted in numerous shapes and sizes of everything ranging from animals to explicit sexual acts (which I of course found hilarious and photographed extensively= I can forward those to any of you who are interested later).

Random Peru facts:
1). There are very few cats in Peru because people here think they are unsanitary and generally gross (sorry all of you cat lovers out there).

2). Peru is a Democratic country and the right to vote is taken very seriously. If you don´t vote in an election (which is held every 5 yrs) you are fined by the government.

I have now seen some more affluent areas of Lima and it is very beautiful. There are many small parks in the center of the many Roundabout intersections (for those of you who have been to NJ you know all about roundabouts).

I am already impressed with the kindness of the people of this country. Everyone we have met is very happy that we are here to volunteer at the PPA. I am craving a salad because we can¨t drink the water or eat lettuce or fresh vegetables. I hope I don´t get scurvy or whatever you get from not eating fresh vegetables for 3 weeks.

The Adventure Begins

Well, I'm here! I'm staying at the Hotel Torreblanca, which is very funky and cute. There was hot water and cable and everything! The trip here was uneventful and I had no problems finding my way around the airports. A very nice man who spoke only Spanish picked me up at the airport in Lima. I managed to find out a little bit about the neighborhoods and economy of Lima as we drove. Thank goodness for high school Spanish! He told me that the economy in Lima is not doing well and that there are not enough jobs for the millions of people who reside in the city. We passed many extremely impoverished areas as we made our way to the hotel. My hotel is in one of the nicer neighborhoods called Miraflores.

I don't meet up with my volunteer group until tomorrow evening, when we'll have dinner together. For today I'm just going to take it easy and maybe figure out something to do tomorrow in Lima. It is summer here, by the way, and incredibly hot. Today it is 88 degrees today with 80 percent humidity. I can tell already that my hair is going to look fabulous on this trip (ha ha). Hopefully I won't scare the children at the orphange. We begin our work there on Monday and I'm looking forward to learning more about the culture and children of this area.