El Bichito: Meet Maria Alida

By Anna, an intern at El Bichito.

What an incredible feeling to watch a young girl take such a positive step in her life.  Maria Alida began her prep classes for University admission this week in Cajamarca.  Anna, Sandro, Alida's mother and I, all took her in to meet the professor and embark on a life-changing path.  Many of the young women her age and from her small rural town, Pullyucana, have already had children by this time.  In a lot of ways they have lost their chance at a University education.  Maria Alida is a dedicated, hardworking, and fun-loving young 17 year old girl who was working at her Uncle's restaurant in Pullyucana to try and raise money for school.  This will be her last year in secondary, or high school, and then she plans to seek a degree in civil engineering.  With the help of Eagle Condor, and their mentorship program, she receives money to take these classes and to commute to Cajamarca every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for this bright young girl.

I have always had a passion for international development and serving those less fortunate in different parts of the world.  I have done construction projects, school lessons, and donated numerous amounts of school and medical supplies.  Though these are extremely beneficial, I am convinced that what I saw with Alida this week is the most successful and best way to truly fight poverty.  Giving someone an education is giving them a life.  The professor talked to Alida about his expectations.  He told her it would be difficult, and she would be the youngest girl in the class.  He too, was passionate about seeing her succeed.  He expressed his love for educating young Cajamarquinos and told Alida that hopefully with her education, she can go back to her hometown and help others find the same success.  She may be just one girl, but if this proves lucrative, Eagle Condor wants to provide more scholarships for the children that come to El Bichito.  If one or two kids a year has a chance at an education, think of the impact they will have on the youth in Pullyucana.  Kids will be inspired to learn and strive for good grades, because they will have a foreseeable tool to get to college.  Alida is an example to all of the persistence it takes to fulfill your dreams.  Thanks to Eagle Condor, she is now one step closer.

Watching Alida's mother as she beamed with pride, might have been the most touching part of my week.  Her mother is a stalwart farmer who has made so many sacrifices for her kids to live close enough to go to school.  Even her mother isn't entirely literate, and has spent her life farming and raising her kids.  She is a beautiful and warm woman, and I was so touched by how grateful she was for Alida's opportunity.  Their family is poor and rural, but now Alida has a chance to improve her circumstances.  If there is one thing I do this whole 4 months, I hope it can be to support and encourage Alida and her family through this process.  Then, I will feel that I have truly made a difference.

El Bichito: Brushing teeth

From Anna, an intern at El Bichito: 

January 28- February 1
During the week of January 28 to February 1, we focused on teeth brushing as our chosen healthy habit. Last week, we noticed that some of the kids' teeth are visibly decaying and have holes in them, and many of the children complain about their teeth hurting from eating too much candy, so we decided it was important to take this week to focus on dental hygiene. We started off the week by telling the kids we had "regalitos" for them if they stayed for a class after lunch, and they were all very excited to receive their very own toothbrushes! We constructed toothbrush holders out of old egg cartons and wrote each child's name on a toothbrush, and then we gave them the opportunity to brush their teeth after lunch each day. We taught the kids about the importance of brushing teeth, why we need our teeth, and how to best take care of them, but really, we probably didn't need to teach them much; they were so excited to have their own toothbrushes and the opportunity to brush! Almost every one of the kids brushed their teeth after lunch without us prompting them, and a few of the kids begged us to let them brush their teeth twice! 

We kept up with the toothbrushing activities as the week continued. We did an art activity with the kids that involved them coloring pictures of themselves brushing their teeth (and used pipe cleaners as the toothbrushes), and we played a relay-race type game, where the kids had to throw frisbees (candy) into the mouths (circle of rope) and then sweep them away with giant "toothbrushes" (brooms).  We hope that we can keep encouraging the kids to brush their teeth so that it becomes a habit after we leave El Bichito, but the way things are going as of now, it seems as if they love the privilege of owning a toothbrush, and as long as they have access to one, they'll keep on brushing! 

El Bichito: Nutrition

From Anna, an intern at El Bichito:

January 21-26
This week, our health education classes focused on nutrition. During the first few weeks, we spent some time asking the children about their eating habits: how often they ate fruit/vegetables/meat/protein, what their favorite foods are, if they had enough access to food at home, etc. After assessing their access to healthy food and their knowledge, we developed a curriculum that focused on a different aspect of nutrition each day. We discussed the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, what a balanced meal consists of, and sources of various vitamins/minerals. One of our main goals we hoped to achieve was to get the kids to choose fruit over candy when given the option. So to promote fruit as a good option for a dessert, we posted a sign that said "postre hoy," and bought the kids fresh mangos, grapes, bananas, and apples. They went crazy over this little treat! It's mango season down here right now, so we were able to buy enough mangos for all of the kids for 2 soles (less than $1) for a day. We hope to be able to buy the kids fresh fruit a few times a week because they usually only get one serving (if that) of fruit a day at home. 

To go along with our health classes, we devised a different game/activity that reinforced what we were teaching for each day in the week. On Monday, we had the kids do an art activity where they drew pictures of their favorite fruits and candies and then what they would look like if they ate only fruit or only candy. On Tuesday, the kids did another art activity, where they made their favorite "balanced plate" of food out of construction paper. We played fruit bingo on Wednesday, and on Thursday, the kids did a vitamins/minerals word search. On Friday, we played mata moscas using our newfound knowledge about vitamins and minerals! 

Anna and I think that all of our lessons and activities were worth it; on Friday, we ran into one of our kids, Elmer, on his way home from the nearby market. He was so excited to tell us that instead of buying candy with the money his mom gave him, he bought two apples! We really hope that these kids continue to respond well to our health classes and activities so that they can make healthy choices whenever they have the opportunity to! 

El Bichito: Reading is contagious!

From Anna, an intern at El Bichito:

The kids have fallen in love with the little library we started.  I truly feel that reading is contagious and it is so nice to be reminded how much good a book can do in a child's life.  A book can help them to dream, think outside themselves, and learn about the world.  I spent a good hour reading with two of the girls named Ana Maria and Luz Elena.  We read a book written half in English and half in Spanish.  They read the Spanish and I read the English.  After I finished reading my part in English, they would both giggle loudly and I loved watching their eyes light up as I spoke English.  To them its like a secret code they want to unscramble.

The English classes this week were so successful.  We recruited a teenage girl from the village to come, as well as the young adult boys Jose Miguel, Segundo, and their friend Rafeal.  We hold the younger children class right before the adult class.  The young kids love learning about the colors, their birthdays, and numbers.  On friday this week we focused conjugating verbs with 'ies' endings in the third person.  I put them into two teams, and the older more advanced students had to conjugate the verb, come up with a sentence, read it out loud, and explain to the other students the concept they followed.  Whoever completed it the fastest won!  They older more advanced students loved being little English professors to the other students, and it really helped them to have to teach something they have recently learned.  I am hopeful we will continue to get more and more people interested in learning this week.  Can't wait to keep this going!