El Bichito: New interns, Xela & Chelise

September 13

By Xela & Chelise Rowley

Our first week at El Bichito was definitely one for the books. We have had so many great and interesting experiences already. Not knowing the language has been quite the challenge but we are trying to catch on as quickly as possible. We love the kids, they are all one of a kind. We are working on getting to know each child personally. We're having a little trouble remembering all of their names but we're getting better as the days pass. Liz and Miguel have been stupendous. We love them and would be completely lost without them! Feliciana and Melchora have been wonderful as well. They make fun of us all the time for saying words wrong but they do it lovingly. They are really great gals. Peru is swell and we are liking it a lot. The culture is so interesting but at the same time, so easy to fall in love with!"

El Bichito: Chica night

June 20

By Tavia 

This week went really well. The girls really enjoyed the chica night. We as interns tried to make the girls feel like princesses and make them feel really important because they are. It was a success! They loved it! I attached a few pictures from it. As for English classes I feel like the students at the elementary school are learning English really well. They are improving so much since the first time that I came. In total the students have learned three English helper songs. They have learned, "the abcs", "head, shoulders, knees, and toes", and "the months of the year." The students love the songs because they get to interact especially with the "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" song. I was thinking if the elementary school has a CD player it might be cool to burn those songs on a CD so that the teacher can play them in class whenever she wants. It might be kind of nice since the students love them so much. I don't know just a thought?

El Bichito: Feliz Dia de la Tierra (Happy Earth Day)

April 26
By Alicia Platt

Tuesday was Earth Day in the US, so I took the chance to explain the occasion to the kids at El Bichito! I taught them that this holiday is about celebrating nature, taking care of the environment, remembering to clean up garbage, and do our recycling, etc. I chose five words in English to learn (sun-sol, Earth-Tierra, forest-bosque, river-rio, and lake-lago), and got great participation as we tried to learn them. Then, whoever participated in English got to color a nature page I printed out, and as you can see, they did so beautifully!

I'm trying to get the kids here to appreciate nature and think about taking care of their environment more, as simply throwing garbage wherever is a huge problem here in Peru and El Bichito. To help with this I've also put a garbage can in the main room of El Bichito and hope to see them using it more and more in the weeks to come!

El Bichito: Noche de las Chicas

March 11
By Alicia Platt

Friday night we had Noche de las Chicas! Fist we reviewed what 'CHICA' stands for--Confianza, Hermosa, Inteligente, Cariñosa, Atletica (confident, beautiful, intelligent, loving, athletic). We then talked about respect and how each of them deserved respect and also owed it to others. Afterwards, we enjoyed a movie and fruit salad together. They loved Pocahontas, though we did have to cover our eyes during the kissing parts...Overall it was great to get together and have some fun with just the girls!

El Bichito: All you need is “lo-vay”

February 16
By Alicia Platt

Friday was Día de San Valentín/Día de Amor y Amistad! They don’t celebrate it much here, but we did! We watched a short Charlie Brown clip in Spanish, learned Valentine’s Day words in English (thus, loh-vay), and made tarjetas de San Valentín (Valentines). There aren’t a lot of kids who come to El Bichito right now, as their school is out for their summer until March (and they don’t live close or need homework help), but the 8 or 10 who stayed made some great Valentines for their parents or grandparents.

El Bichito: February 10th update from Alicia

February 10
By Alicia Platt

Things are marching on here at El Bichito. I'm still trying to figure out a daily routine and am trying to plan better.  Even though there weren't many participants, we did have a math competition one day, which was fun, and a nutrition lesson that went really well. We also continue to lend books to kids every day, and I've been incorporating English into the FAMA or other lessons that we do, which they seem to like. Furthermore, English lessons with the college students have continued approximately 3 times a week (depending on the rain...) and I've enjoyed teaching those. My greatest feat this last week, however, was probably organizing the supply room!

El Bichito: A busy ending

January 21

By Sunny Hicken

We made toothbrush holders out of plastic beverage bottles—a big one for el Bichito and smaller ones that each child could give to their family as a Christmas present. They finger-knitted a strap to hang it by, and we provided toothbrushes. (You can see some of them hanging from the pole in front of the white board.) We learned a fun song about brushing teeth—you can watch it here:

Christmas party! Eliana, a previous intern, came to help, and Melchora and Feliciana all helped put on a grand “chocolatada” with treats and games. We played musical chairs, a custom bingo game with everyone’s names on it, and danced to music.

Sierra’s 4th grade class in the United States had done a book drive, and books arrived just before we left. We skyped each other and got to say “Thank You!”

Along with the book drive, we received some donated funds that we used to build a bookcase and reading bench. Now el Bichito has it’s own reading corner to curl up in.

And Alida’s graduation! Congratulations Alida! Brent got to act as her “padrino” and attend the festivities. She received the dress as a gift from Eliana and looked beautiful! Alida is a hard worker and has been recognized for her studies at the local school.

El Bichito: Local volunteers

December 2
By Sunny Hicken

Something that has been great at El Bichito this last month or so is the help we have been getting from the local people. Some days I’ll have a mom come in to help with an activity, and other days we’ve had volunteers come help in other ways.  Here is a neighbor, Rosana helping with reading.

Gloria is a teacher we met who came to play math games with the kids. A woman who used to be a teacher has been coming on Tuesdays and teaching jewelry making and sneaking in some other lessons as well. One week she left a book and asked all the kids the read it.

 The next week, she brought her kids, and they put on a puppet show about the story, and she gave out small prizes to kids who could answer questions about it. It was awesome. We had a great group of kids all paying attention!

Another ongoing activity the kids enjoy here is jumping rope. Some kids come asking for a jump rope (“Una soga, por favor!”) before they even eat, but we tell them they have to eat and do homework first. Then when we get out the jumpropes, I ask them if they want me to say the rhyme in Spanish or English when they jump, and now several of them can say it in English themselves. It goes like this:

Tell me how many fish
Are there in the ocean:
1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

This way they practice counting in English. When they stop jumping, we ask what number it was in the other language. Here is the rhyme in Spanish:

Dime cuantos peces
Hay en el océano
1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

(To give crédito where crédito is due, I learned this rhyme from a bilingual song tape—yes, I got it a long time ago, it’s a cassette tape—called “Lyric Language” by Family Circus. It’s still around, I think.)

El Bichito: Finger knitting

October 28
By Sunny Hicken

We continue to be as busy as can be here at El Bichito. Everybody’s minds and fingers have been busy as after each child completed homework, they could choose a ball of yarn and learn to finger knit. It was hard at first, but the kids caught on and started helping each other out. These kids love crafts. Our jewelry volunteer, Senora Tely, came again this Tuesday and brought all the materials for the kids to make bracelets. Later in the week we started making Math Machines—we’ll show some pictures of those next week as we finish them up.

We were able to have a few more house visits this week. I love getting to know these families better. Ana Maria and her brother Junior live just down the street, and Rodrigo and Nelida’s houses are close as well. I love having not only the kids now call my name when we walk through town, but the moms as well.

El Bichito: Crafting and computers

October 21
By Sunny Hicken

This week a woman who lives down in Baños del Inca volunteered to come teach a jewelry class. She brought all the materials and had a separate set of beads for the boys and girls to all make necklaces. I’ve never seen so many kids here and have it be so quiet! They were all working hard and absolutely loved it. She promised to come back this week again and bring materials for bracelets—but only for those who’ve done homework! (She used to be a teacher, and it shows. Hooray for teachers!)

We’ve taken some of the empty toilet paper rolls and boxes from juice and such and the kids have created a marble run, taped to the wall with masking tape. They bring marbles from home, but I hope to find some marbles in the market to give out as prizes because the kids love playing with it. And I would like to see them create more, as it involves so many great planning and engineering skills.

My husband was able to get one of the old laptops here running (after taking two of them into a shop and ordering parts and buy a new cord, etc.) It won’t charge, but if we leave it plugged in, the kids can use it. A contest is going on in El Bichito as we are using it with a typing game and Kai is keeping track of scores and teaching them how to type. We found that even the older kids typed with just two fingers, and we know that will hold them back. My husband works with a dentist, Dr. J. Tim Modic in Maryland (http://www.mechanicsvillefamilydentist.com/), who is donating three laptops which Eagle-Condor will be bringing down in November. Then we’ll really have our computer lab up and running! (As you can see, we even have a mom here learning to type!)

El Bichito: Healthy eating & recycling

By Sunny Hicken
October 13

A while ago I brought out some carrots sticks to share with the kids, and they gave me pretty wary looks. But one kid tried it, and now when I bring out a bowl of carrot sticks, I get mobbed and I have to emphasize “Just take one!” I keep telling myself I need to take time to prepare more carrot sticks more often. After all, I can get a whole kilo of carrots for just one “sol” if I make it to the market in downtown Cajamarca. But there’s always so much to do and choices to make! At least the short supply keeps the demand high.

We have made a few things out of recycling, such as the beginnings of a marble run out of toilet paper rolls that we are taping onto the wall. Alex brought in a box and made himself a radio, that the kids all loved.

El Bichito: Meeting families of kids at El Bichito

By Sunny Hicken

October 13

Some of the things that have been going on around here. First of all, washing big pots! We love the ladies that come and cook for the children each day. They are great women, mothers, and a grandmother! (One just had a new grandson born last week! Her sons’ families live in her home, too.)

We are trying to have the children take us to their homes so we can meet their families (usually their mom and younger siblings) and learn more about them and their needs. Here are pictures of Milagros with her mother and little brother and of Alex with his mother and little sister. They are two of our most dedicated homework-doers! It was neat to see where they live and tell their moms how great their kids are when they are at El Bichito. They are two of our most dedicated homework-doers!

Here is a photo of Milagros and my daughter Sierra who love doing their homework together. It was neat to see where this child lives and to tell her mom how great she is doing at El Bichito. Milagros’ home is just down the street from us—we didn’t even realize that we pass her house every time we take a bus/van anywhere. Now we look every time to see if we can wave to her.

Alex’s house is up on the hill, a pretty hike from El Bichito. On the way, we saw other children we knew and promised to visit them soon. 

 We also saw Marco, sitting in the field behind his home. He is older, but is crippled from polio. He comes to the center for lunch often, but we had not seen him in a while. It was good to check up on him and let him know we missed him.

 I wish I had gotten a picture of him with his rose bushes, just out of the picture of him, but here is a picture of the rose he picked for me, that we have been enjoying having on the kitchen table in El Bichito the last few days.

We have great things planned for next week—I just hope we can get to half of them!

El Bichito: Soccer & manicures

October 7
By Sunny Hicken

It’s been fun to have Anna Gleave, intern earlier this year, back with us this week! The kids were thrilled to see her, and she has been heading up some classes and activities here at El Bichito. She and local college grad Mateo put on a boys’ afternoon and then a girls’ afternoon, where they led an activity particularly enjoyed by the children (soccer for the boys, manicures for the girls), talked to them about their good qualities and choices to make in life, made them fruit salad as a treat, and had a movie. The kids have loved the extra attention! It has also been great to have some extra hands around here, being able to focus on homework with one or two children while others participate in another activity outside and such.

El Bichito: Impromptu moving library

The latest from Sunny Hicken at El Bichito:

September 29

This last Friday was a field trip day for the whole school district, so lunch and activities at El Bichito were cancelled. Our youngest, Lily, is attending the Jardin de Ninos here in Puylucana, so she had a field trip as well. The young children had their mothers, and some of their fathers and siblings, along for the trip, and we all ended up together on a long bus ride. I had tucked three lightweight books into my backpack to entertain Lily on the bus, and little did I know what a hit they would be! By the end of the trip, we had a regular lending library going on inside the bus. Kids would come down the aisle, borrow one book, bring it back a little later, wait for a different book to be returned, and take that one back to their seat. Once they read all three books, they would start over again. I read to them some (when we were stopped for construction or just waiting—I get sick reading while in motion, and Peruvian mountain roads are certainly no exception), but they would take the book to their mothers or older siblings, or just look at it. The boy next to me who came along with his mom and little brother read through “Big Dog, Little Dog” several times, and each time he got through it a little faster. I got to know his mother, who helped make it clear to the other children that no, they could not take the books home but could only borrow them while on the bus. Her husband drives a moto for a living, and she has a hard time making ends meet, and we talked about El Bichito. Two of the books were also in English, and sometimes the kids or their mothers asked for me to read to them in English as well. Another brother and sister who were enthusiastic about reading the books recognized the name “el Bichito” inside the cover and said they used to come, and I invited them to come again. It was a fun experience to see how these children loved the books and how their mothers were also glad to see them reading them. It was definitely some positive outreach for El Bichito and for developing a culture of reading for fun and to our children.