Educateperu

Mother's Day in Peru

Mother’s Day in Peru

This was last Sunday, the11th May. It’s taken very seriously here, which I find slightly bizarre, given that the usual treatment of women leaves a lot to be desired in most aspects of life, especially at home. There are laws supporting women’s rights, compulsory financial aid for children when the father leaves and so on. The reality is often a long way away from this. I read this week that approx 80% of “marriages” in Peru are informal, that is to say, with no form of legal documentation at all. However, on this day, a big fuss is made, the shop windows are full of things to buy for mothers, including adverts exhorting fathers and sons to take their mothers out for the day and choose a new piece of kitchen equipment, eg microwave, for a present.........no, I can’t imagine that sort of campaign catching on in England either!

After school finished at 1pm on Friday last (normally it’s 2pm, since we start at 7.45) we had a lovely afternoon outside, entertaining the mothers with games, dances, bits of poetry, singing, the 8yr olds miming to a song “I’ve never seen a giraffe that can knit”!!! Honestly this was the title and the tubby little girl who was the giraffe, was brilliant. She told me afterwards that she loves knitting.....she took her role very seriously and had been practising. To finish it all off, a little plate of chicken in a chilli sauce and rice at 6pm which was very welcome as it was dark and chilly by then. The organisation by the Head was impressive and it was her first experience too, so she did really well....except that we must have borrowed the loudest loudspeaker system in Pachacutec. My ears were still buzzing the next day! But what fun and laughter – and again, I felt proud and humbled that these people, in the face of all their adversities, can so manifestly enjoy themselves in such conditions. Everything you see in the photos was borrowed or hand-made by the parents. (If I can get the photos on here that is!!)

I am now translating the information for eachof the 25 children proposed so far for the godparenting scheme. If you have not yet received any information and would like to know more about being a godparent, please contact me by email jillcornejoinperu@hotmail.com . It will be one of the best uses of £10 a month you are ever likely to make. We have visited every household to verify that they are indeed the poorest of the poor that we have there.........and believe me, you don’t want to think about it when the wet sea mist is rolling in, it’s getting dark and all you can see is a plastic-sheeting house, bare boards for a bed and cartons for a mattress. The good news is that the MP for South Norfolk has extricated a promise of “fast-lane” treatment for the 34 pages of paperwork to register Educateperu with the Charity Commissioners. Since they have been much less than helpful, losing the paperwork the first time and then changing its format so that it all had to be done again- twice! - we are very grateful to him.

Teaching begins

A happy week as I started teaching in Pachacutec at our new school.........think “herding cats” as I realised that the game I had prepared, required the 5yr olds to be on single seats. They are on heavy “double” seats, so inspirationally (I thought) we all went outside to play the game in the sand. Then some bright spark started off a scare that they had seen an alacran – a big, poisonous, scorpion-like creature that I haven’t yet seen, apart from some possible holes in the sand around the area.

Well, lots of rushing around, play-screaming (no not by me, I managed to control myself, just!! - being older and bigger than the class, I thought I better had!) later, defeated but not down, in we went for some more inspirational stuff that we all enjoyed.

Home I went, worn out, white with the dust and hoarse from the unaccustomed 3hrs plus of singing.....lucky if you’ve never heard me, honestly! The day was excellent, with lots of questions from children, especially the 8yr olds who were more confident.

“Ronald”, alias Alonso (“I prefer Alonso miss, “ok, Alonso it is”). eg is England bigger than Lima?” “Yes, it is rather” “but is it near Lima” “no, it’s the other side of the world. When we find a map of the world I’ll show you” “So are all the people big like you?” “more or less....some of my pupils in England are bigger than me already” “really? “What do you eat to make you so big...we don’t leave any food on our plates here, because there’s people here who don’t eat all day miss” – “Yes I know”

But when you ask “have you eaten today?” they just smile and say “I think so”, which means “no”....a child offered me a fragment of a tiny sweet biscuit that he had brought in for his break. The rest of the biscuit was his breakfast and may be lunch too. I felt terrible but as I tried to offer it back to him, he looked so hurt that I ate it. I offered him a piece of my banana, he refused.

I still haven’t got the hang of the code of politeness which even the poorest people observe........that to offer you something- and it may well be all that they have – is a requisite of politeness here, but to accept something back somehow implies admitting that you are hungry, which they don’t do.

Yippee! and thank you all so much....

On Monday March 31st our new little school in Pachacutec opened. Although the building wasn't quite ready, despite the workmen doing everything at the double, the children still started their first school day. Some children in this area have never been to school, others for a month or 2 then lack of money meant they had to leave. Our school is virtually free and I can tell you, the queue of parents who were still hoping for a place for their child, was a very happy sight. The Allisons, Jhonathans, Joses, Luceros, Williams (???) (no Lenins nor Bush, not even a Blair or a Ladydi....as yet!)etc were very animated indeed, although I have to confess one little boy was trying to climb out of the window whilst sobbing for his mum. They looked very smart as the parents had pulled out all the stops to buy the basic uniform of grey trousers, skirt and white blouse/shirt. It's a matter of pride and making them feel (parents and children) that they are the same as everyone else....uniform is a big deal here in Peru and a symbol of progress.

Next Monday is the official opening and blessing of the classrooms, so no workmen, no saws, no paintpots, but the Regional Mayor, the Director of Education for Ventanilla, the padre, Carlos, myself and the parents - and the press I hope. Quite a bizarre collection of bodies in the middle of this lunar landscape, but I'll put more photos in next time. Thanks for all your comments and encouragement....what we are doing in Educateperu is working - look at these faces and be proud of your contribution - I am!

Want to be a volunteer in PERU?

When the website is up and running (april) there will be some formal info. on how to volunteer to help the children in the new school of Saxlingham St Mary’s in Peru. You would be advised to have some Spanish, to make the most of your time there.............it can’t be a tourist “drop-in” kind of a thing! Our school is for 4 – 8 yr olds this year, but there is also a bigger secondary school with whom I have links, should you prefer older children. Write to me at jillcornejoinperu@hotmail.com for more info in the meanwhile.

I am just organising the Godparenting scheme for the children, to provide them with extra classes that are not normally available, eg p.e, art, music etc. However, we are in need of an extra teacher....................is there a group of you out there who could share the cost of an English teacher, about $700 for 3 months? This will enable the regular teachers to have some training and for a system of sharing teachers to be organised. The working conditions are not easy and in a new school it takes time to set up everything, it cannot all take place on day one! We have pulled out all the stops to open the school this year....against all the odds, but as a result of this, there are some loose ends that need tying up...and this is one of them!

Educateperu News thurs 20th march

I am finally back in my beloved Peru and went straight out to the Pachacutec site of the new school Saxlingham St Mary´s (in case there is anyone left in the world who still hasn´t heard of it!)on Tuesday. We have managed to put up 4 concrete block classrooms, incorporating flush toilets and a small office, instead of 2 of the 4 having to be in wood. It has been tremendously expensive to start this small school, due to the rise in the cost of building materials since last year´s earthquake and the hostile environment….the foundations are of hand-mixed concrete, some 3m deep! I was so pleased about this, because it has always offended me that poor people are not supposed to mind eternally having 2^nd best, broken offerings that richer “others” have cast aside. Theirs is a very hard life indeed in the deep sand of Pachacutec, but better than where they have arrived from, as it is sea level, not as cold as up in the mountains and holds the slight possibility of work and creativity.

Work continues on the nearly-there Saxlingham St Mary´s

Sadly, whilst leaving there at the end of the day, a sudden fire started up in the densely populated housing lower down the hill from the school. We stopped to see if we could help, but the voluntary firemen had been sent for and the local guard was doing it´s best with donated water and sand. Imagine, the temperature that day was over 30degs….and people were throwing water on the fire from bottles. At least 3 families lost their cardboard and wood homes – a very good reason to be grateful for concrete structures.