The Duel! (Natalie)

February 28 post from Natalie:

Casa 3 vs. Casa 5 in futbol!!
I wanted to get the older boys more involved and do something with them so I challenged them to a battle in futbol, them against the volunteers. They laughed at first and didn't think I was serious, they were telling me we didn't stand a chance and all that trash talking. Once they realized I was being serious they got really excited and every time I saw them they would ask me when we were going to play.

We played on Monday and almost tied...they might be a little bit better than us...but it was a lot of fun and we did score a decent amount against them. They are really good! They all had a blast and loved getting a kick out of our lack of skills at different points in the game. Ever since then they have asked me to play everyday and I will proudly say I have improved enough to beat Jan Carlos and Ruben with it was so unfairly 2 against 1. They have also taken to pinning me down and soaking me for carnaval everyday and playing pranks on me, which translates into us being friends. They are hilarious! Seriously, they crack me up all the time, but definitely keep me on my toes and on the look out for gigantic bugs coming my way. I'm excited to get to know them better and continue playing against them, especially to continue winning!

Alfredo: A Little Ball of Fun (Julia)

February 20 post from Julia:

Alfredo, a 5 year-old little boy, always has everyone wrapped around his finger. This boy loves to show us all his love for us through hugs and kisses even when he gets embarrassed from us. Alfredo is very small and so easy to pick up and hug, which I love because every time i do, he laughs really hard but also lets me kiss him all I want. I don't know what life would be like without Alfredo always playing outside our house and constantly asking us to push him on the swing. He makes life so happy.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child like Alfredo, please click here.

Oh Happy Day! (Carrie)

February 20 post from Carrie:

Our little Flor was adopted

Last week Flor, the baby from House 10, was adopted by a really nice couple from Southern Peru. This sweet little girl was so excited to be starting a new life. Even at 3 years old she knew something big was happening and that she was going to her own new house. As we were waiting to say goodbye to her at the office, she literally ran circles around us and showered us with goodbye hugs. Flor will be missed by the volunteers for her warm smile and way of brightening your day by running to you with open arms. One thing that I was greatly impressed with was how smart she is and how talkative she can be. One time when we were watching her last week she told us lots of different stories in her half real words half mumbling stage she’s in so we couldn’t really understand her but that didn’t faze her! She kept right on going blabbing about this or that. This girl will be missed but we’re all so happy for the opportunities she will now have away from the Aldea. She can grow and become her own person. I know we’re all grateful for the interactions we got to have with her and the interactions we still get to have with the other children at the Aldea. It is through them that we are learning how to become better people and how to truly be happy with the way life is.

Kristelle is an English-learning Machine! (Kathryn)

Kristelle is on the right, her friend Alondra on the left

February 20 post from Kathryn:

Kristelle, 10 years old, is a beautiful, bright young girl with a strong desire to learn. She is constantly practicing her English and asking me how to say certain words. Her improvement is surpassing the other children, obviously due to her determination to studying the language. She is always quick to help the younger kids in their learning. During this past week, after dinner, Kristelle and I would round up some other kids and play a few games of Uno before bedtime. While playing, she not only helped me work on my pronunciations, but continued to keep a conversation going with me even though I am not the best at Spanish. She is patient and kind and loves a good joke. I have no doubt that she will be one of the better speaking students by the time I leave.

Healthy Teeth at El Bichito (Cynthia)

Cynthia: February 19

The interns at El Bichito (Cynthia, Erin and Jake) are doing some awesome things!

Check out the dental lesson they gave this past week!

We had an awesome time today learning about teeth and cavities and brushing and having beautiful smiles. We asked the kids why it was important to have clean teeth and got some great responses including “So you have clean teeth!”

We cut up some egg cartons and covered them in a flour paste so that the kids could practice brushing off the “plaque”, we made it a competition of who could get their “teeth” the cleanest.

We then had a little science experiment to demonstrate what happens to your enamel when it is exposed to acids. We painted a little egg and dropped it in a cup of vinegar. We are excited to show the kids that all the egg shell will have worn off by Monday! We passed out toothbrushes to all the kids who promised to brush their teeth every day. They were pretty happy.

Erin and Cynthia also blog about their service at El Bichito here.

Man of the Aldea (Natalie)

February 20 post from Natalie:

Ruben is great. That sums him up pretty well. I got to spend some time with him this week and the more time I spent with him the more I was impressed. He is such a good kid. He listens to us and is so nice and respectful. He is so cute in the pool when he shyly comes up to me and asks me to teach him how to swim and to help him. He is learning fast and likes to swim to me then gives a huge grin when he makes it all the way to me. He loves playing football americano and taking pictures on my camera. He doesn't like getting his picture taken, but he sure loves being the one taking them. He ignores it, but he is a lady’s man. All the girls his age have a huge crush on him but he pretends not to notice. He hangs out with the older boys and acts reserved, but he likes to play and have fun just like the younger kids. Ruben is an amazing young man who is going to have a bright future ahead of him!

Jonathan's Laugh (Kathryn)

February 20 post from Kathryn:

Jonathan is a smart, comical boy about 11 years old. He loves to be the center of attention and sure is good at keeping us all entertained. His laugh is probably my favorite thing about him. He is excited about every activity we do and fills the room with laughter and energy. This week I taught him some hand clapping games and he became determined to get them down as fast as he could. We were constantly playing, getting faster and faster as we did so; Jonathan laughing the whole time. Now the other kids have joined in, following Jonathan's example and playing together. It's great to have someone who is quick to laugh with me and encourage the other kids to try new games.

Floating (Carrie)

February 14 update from Carrie:

The Aldea has a new pool to swim in!

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to help paint a pool belonging to a resturant down the street from the Aldea. They said that if the Aldea painted the pool they could use it to swim with the kids. So every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we get to go swimming with the kids that are 9 and older. Last Wednesday when we went swimming, Jose Antonio was able to start learning how to swim. When we first got in the pool, Jose wasn't afraid to jump right in but he was wary of the deeper end. He spent the first few attempts going in the deep end clinging to my shoulders or to the side of the pool. After a while though he began to get a little braver and we tried teaching him the basics of swimming. Starting with floating and then working up towards being able to keep his head above the water while treading water. Jose eventually got to the point where he would swim short distances from the wall to one of the volunteers or to this giant log the Tios put in the pool. We plan on helping Jose more in swimming along with the other kids who also don't know how to swim.

Check out more posts about water fun at the Aldea!

Some are tall, some are small (Cynthia)

February 12 update from Cynthia:

We have all had the wonderful opportunity to get to know the kids here at El Bichito. Some are tall, some are small, some love to read and others love to play with puzzles. And one of them wants to be a Policeman when he grows up. Rodrigo OcasCueva is an eight year old with a lot of energy and plenty of spunk. Rodrigo lives here in Pulyucana with his new baby sister and his tiny dog Chita. Jake likes to tease Rodrigo by calling his dog a “cuy” or a guinea pig because it is so little. Rodrigo likes to draw pictures and is our math flashcard champion. He also enjoys playing soccer, volleyball and has discovered how cool the game “Guess Who” is. We have loved talking to Rodrigo because he makes us laugh all the time. He is not afraid to talk to us “gringos” and is quite the leader among other 8 year olds here at El Bichito. Like most of the kids here, he loves having his picture taken and likes to make funny faces. He can be pretty mischievous and we have to keep an eye on him or he will bend the rules a little at whatever game he is playing. Rodrigo is always down for a new game and we are all happy that he is one of our frequent friends here at El Bichito.

Water Galore (Natalie)

February 14 update from Natalie:

We started swimming this week in a pool a little down the road from the Aldea. The kids LOVED it! Not that many of them know how to swim though so it’s a good thing the pool only gets about 4 feet deep. I taught a few of them how to swim, and they were actually doing pretty good for a first lesson. Victor liked to show off his new skills but Ruben was embarrassed and didn’t want people to watch him practice at the beginning but by the end was doing great and was showing off too. It was really cute. We put a huge log in the pool and all the kids tried to stand up on it but because there were about 10 kids on it at a time it was really wobbly which made it way funny. At first they could hardly get on the log but by the end most of them could stand up and even stay up for a few seconds. The kids have decided that every day we don't go to the pool we're going to have a water fight. Victor and Jose taunt me all day saying their going to soak me, it's a nice little rivalry.

To sum it up we better not plan on ever being dry during February.

A New Friend (Julia)

February 7, Julia

This week was surprisingly full of new faces even though I had already been at the Aldea for a week. I ate my meals with a different house and it helped me get to know another house full of girls. One of those girls was Anniellie. Anniellie invited me to sit by her the first day for lunch and after that she always made sure to save a spot for me. She would even give up her stump for me to sit on if there were no other seats. I loved getting to know Anniellie better this week and I can't wait to grow stronger relationships with more kids.

Renzo's Improvment (Kathryn)

Kathryn: February 7

Renzo is an Aldea baby a little over a year old. He lives in a house with 7 other boys and has a great tolerance for their rough play. Though he is at the age for beginning to walk and talk, because of earlier difficulties he is behind. This last week I spent a few hours with him everyday just as the other interns have, and he is improving at an amazing rate. He is now walking with only the assistance of one adult hand. Laughter, I think, is his biggest improvement yet; and when he does smile it makes my day. He really is a very smart and happy baby and has all the potential in the world. I enjoy every minute I spend with him whether it is going for a walk or just passing a soccer ball back and forth. I am excited to see is continued improvement over the next few months.

A previous post about Renzo.

You Go Girl (Carrie)

Maria Luisa holding two of our calendar squares

February 7, from Carrie:

Independent and curious Maria Luisa provides us with a good laugh

Maria Luisa is a name well known by the volunteers and children at the Aldea not only because she is adorable but because she provides everyone with a good laugh and occasionally some attitude. Wednesday of last week we were painting some of the girls nails in front of house 3 when I noticed Maria Luisa outside one of the houses across the grass. I couldn’t seem to find anyone with her but Edita one of the girls in her house ran over to get her and return her to her house. While Edita was on her way over there one of the other kids began to yell “corre Maria Luisa” and that she did. She is very independent and seems to like her freedom. On another occasion this last week we had the opportunity to watch Maria Luisa in our house while her Tia was in a meeting. She spent the whole time investigating our house looking for fun toys, tearing off all the squares on our calendar( which we had previously attached to the backing with Velcro, so she didn’t break them just mixed them up), and occasionally dancing for us.

Child Highlights:

This week I had the opportunity to spend some time with Fabritzio one of the babies at the Aldea. He's 8 or 9 months old and he can't yet hold up his head by himself but the Aldea is working to change that and help him. I think I might try spending more time with him, mostly stimulating his hearing with music and walking around with him and just being with him. We gave him a haircut last week, with the Tia after dinner, and I got to feed him while listening to music which occasionally made him laugh.

I also had the opporunity to spend a lot of time with Jhonathan this week in house 5. He questioned me about where the different countries where, which we found on the map in his house. We also talked about what he likes to do and sang a little bit. It was fun!

The kids are hilarious! (Natalie)

Natalie and Jhonathan

February 6 update from Natalie:

The kids are hilarious! It amazes me how happy the kids are all the time. They are always smiling and laughing!! Jhonathan’s laugh cracks me up every time, he will be talking and then all of a sudden burst out in high pitched squeals. So funny! The older boys are starting a water balloon war between them and the interns. They don't stand a chance. A lot of the kids like playing hand games and try to see how fast they can do them, laughing the whole time. They've all learned different combinations though so its hard to do them right, basically hand are just flying everywhere. The kids are so fun!

Helping More Children Every Year!

If you subscribe to our monthly newsletters, you probably already know that we are working with more children every year. In addition to El Bichito (Little Bug) and the Aldea Infantil (a children's home up north by Trujillo) in Peru, we are also working with children in Iltaqui, Ecuador and Cartagena, Colombia.

We'll have photos and stories shortly, but here are just a few for now. We're excited to be able to help more children!

Oh, and if you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, you can email me at nmano@yahoo.com or go to our website http://www.southerncrosshumanitarian.org/ and go to the newsletter section and sign up. The newsletters are fun. They give news about what's going on at Southern Cross, who's helping out and how, spotlights on the children and lots more.