Meet Our New Interns: Katy

Katy Andrews
I am a senior studying Exercise & Wellness at Brigham Young University. I was born and raised in California, but I love exploring new places. I am a runner and so enjoy being outside, but also like to bake bread (my all-time favorite food). I like to meet new people because everyone is so unique with a different story. I try to uplift people I meet rather than bring them down. I look forward to working with the kids in Peru and hope to influence them positively, and in return I bet they too will brighten my life.

Meet Our New Interns: Janel

My name is Janel Glidden. I am a junior at BYU still searching for a major.
I grew up in a small town in southwest Missouri. I transferred to BYU from Missouri State University - WP where I played volleyball for the Grizzlies. I would say I am caring, competitive, easy going, considerate, and friendly.
I love working with children and have always held a calling in the Nursery or Primary in my church. Being in a student ward, I have missed working with children!
I was not raised by my biological parents and have been so blessed to be taken in and loved. Because my life has been so blessed by those that give, I pray to be able to help by giving what every child deserves; love.

*Check back in the coming weeks for posts from Janel when she arrives at the Aldea!

Flashback Friday

Checking back through old posts, I found these from Joy when she helped with the blog. She inspired me to do my own today while we are in-between interns at La Aldea and El Bichito.

Last summer, I kissed my new fiancé good-bye and headed off on an adventure I will never forget. When thinking about my internship, I often think of Miguel who needed extra help in reading. I remember sitting with him while he slowly sounded out the words and wishing I could help him more. He seemed happy and encouraged that I was willing to sit with him and help with his homework. His tia was very loving to the children in her house, but often did not have the time to help each child with their homework in addition to making their dinner and getting them ready for bed. I am so grateful that interns are still going to the Aldea and helping kids like Miguel. We are excited that the interns leaving this summer will be helping raise money for tutors that will help the kids in the afternoons! This will be a great blessing to the kids and their educational futures!

We have interns arriving on site by the end of next week, so check back soon for more updates on the efforts at La Aldea and El Bichito!

Sponsoring a child at La Aldea and El Bichito info!

More thoughts from Erin

At the end of her internship, Erin shared with us some of what she learned from many of the children at El Bichito:

I LOVE the kids here with my whole heart. Even though they certainly know how to be stinkers I still find myself smiling and enjoying there presence every minute. I have learned so much from each kid and their situations.

Alida, Hector, Manuel, Luis, Aurora, and Wilson have taught me about looking out for family. Whenever Wilson bumps his head at least one of his siblings is close at hand to pick him up. They always make sure their siblings are included and have the right number of stickers. They even make sure they are all together before they leave El Bichito for the day. Their example has rededicated me to serving my siblings.

Katherine has taught me the beauty of silent service. She is always helping us clean or helping her little brother Alessandro, but is much more quite than most of the kids here. Her service has not gone unnoticed by me and I am grateful for the lesson I learned about not seeking recognition for the things I do. Alessandro has shown me how to appreciate the little things in life. He is so excited just to walk outside and say hello.

Flor Margarita and Mirian have reminded me to be a good example. Mirian always wants to do what Flor, her older sister, is doing. I have noticed she will even adopt the same attitude has Flor. Her behavior has reminded me that we are always being watched and it is important that we are always doing the best we can.

Luzmila, Magali, and Dalila have taught me that we all need someone who understands us. I could go on and on (and I've probably already indulged myself too much already!). What it all comes down to is that these kids and my experience here have changed my life forever. I've done things I never thought I would or could-- take cold showers for 3 months and learn to function in a completely different country. I even taught myself enough Spanish to be able to help the kids. That was definitely my biggest motivation to learn the language-- and the reason most of what I know in Spanish revolves around homework and school!


Thanks to all of our wonderful and charitable interns! You can learn more about starting an internship with Eagle Condor here.

Jon Schmidt Benefit Concert

(Click the image to make it larger)

Come support Eagle Condor's efforts with micro-loans in South America this Friday by attending the Jon Schmidt Benefit Concert!
You can still buy tickets!
Tickets will be $18 or $10 for students.

More parting thoughts from Cynthia

Cynthia shared with us some parting thoughts as she ended her internship at El Bichito:

People say that "all good things must come to an end". In some ways, I suppose this is true. The best of days inevitably come to a close, that tasty dessert always has a last bite, and internships in Peru have an expiration date. But I think there are always exceptions. I might be leaving El Bichito, but there are still people willing to help these kids, they will still always be in my heart and that good thing never has to end.

We have had a good last week here at El Bichito and in Cajamarca. We taught every morning at the elementary school and have now taught at least one English and Computer skills class to each grade. Each class was different and knew different things about English and computers so we adjusted accordingly. To most classes we taught English greetings, animals and numbers or colors. For Computer classes, we have taught the parts of a computer, how to take care of them, how to turn them on and sign in and to some classes we taught them how to open and save a word document. The teachers seem very happy to have us come, some stay and learn with the kids and others just leave and let us teach for the block. All of the kids are very excited to be learning both English and computer skills and we try to make each class fun. I think it would valuable for the next group of interns to come up with an actual curriculum with learning goals to be accomplished. That way the kids can learn something that they can use in the future, even if it is simple.

Our after school program at El Bichito is going very well. We have a couple new kids stay every week, and we have already seen changes in some of the kids. Hector is leading the way with the most stickers and he deserves every one. He comes in after school, eats his lunch and gets right to work. No matter how long it takes him, he always sticks with it. It is especially rewarding to see Hector work so hard at his homework because the first week of school he was constantly distracted and needed to be reminded to keep going every 5 minutes. There are other kids with similar stories and it just makes me so happy to see them work! We have also had some great activities this past week. We taught about not littering and took the time to clean up the street and field behind El Bichito. The kids loved the competition of picking up the most trash and of course everyone loved the treats they received. Hopefully they will remember the lesson behind out little clean up day. I also taught a short lesson about self- worth. I got the idea from the interns working at the Aldea who had asked each of their kids why they are unique. I took the same idea and had our kids write why they are special. I made sure each kid had something to write and when they were done the decorated their page and we posted them on the wall.

Many thanks to everyone who made this trip possible!

-Cynthia

Some of Erin's Thoughts on Peru

Alesandro and Erin

From Erin, who served at the El Bichito:

The Peruvian people have showed me how to be open and welcoming and what it means to be generous. I will always remember the kindness of all of the people here- in the Banos ward and in my work with Eagle Condor. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet these people.

Living here and interacting with the kids has allowed me to open my heart in a way I didn't know was possible. A part of my heart will always belong to the kids here at El Bichito. They deserve everything good in this world and I am so grateful to be a part of this organization that gives them more than they would have on their own.

Keep checking back for more final thoughts from our interns!

Some Final Thoughts from Cynthia

Cynthia and Milagros

As our interns get ready to leave Peru, they left us with some final thoughts about their experience:

Cynthia (El Bichito)

I think the thing I have appreciated most about my work here in Peru is the opportunity it has given me to grow. Some days were hard, really hard. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough, or like my words weren’t going to make an impact, the language barrier got in the way and I found myself frustrated by little things. But once I was able to work through those little things and remind myself that everything would work out, I could step back and see how far I had come. My Spanish still isn’t perfect, I am still not the most patient person in the world, I still don’t understand why life is the way it is sometimes, but I am definitely better than when I started. I am a better person and I know the important things. Like God loves all of his children, that the kind words and actions we share with others really make a difference and that change for the better is possible, in all aspects of life.

I don’t know what life holds for me or for these wonderful children I am leaving, but I do have hope. I have hope for my future and my ability to continue to love these kids from afar. I have hope for these kids who have changed my life, and have the potential to change the world they live in. I have hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all will be made right.

Trash Day at El Bichito (Liz)

April 10 update from Liz, one of our interns at El Bichito:

Today here at El Bichito we thought it would be nice if we could teach the kids the importance of helping out in the community. Here in Peru you don't find a lot of garbage cans, so sometimes there can be a lot of garbage on the ground. We (the interns) thought it would be fun if we got the kids to do a garbage clean up day to help clean up the community here in Puylucana.

We made it into to a game to make it more fun for the children. Everyone split up into two teams. The team who picked up the most trash around El Bichito would be the winners. All the kids got plastic bags to use as gloves and then one big bag for the trash. We had a ten minute time limit and we had to stay close to El Bichito and pick up as much trash as we could. It was so fun watching all the kids running around looking for trash and working together to pick it up. Some one would be holding the bag and the other kids worked together to fill it.

We had about twenty kids participating, even little Gwilso (3) helped his team pick up trash. Each team picked up at least 3 big bags of trash. I was so proud of each of the kids for all that they did and for working so well together in their teams. After the kids all received a treat for all their hard work.

Homework at El Bichito (Cynthia)

Post from Cynthia, an intern at El Bichito:

It always makes me so happy when kids are excited to do their homework. While some of the older kids take some persuasion and prodding to admit they even have homework, our youngest kids are often those most willing and ready to work. This is the case with Mirian, a 7 year old here at El Bichito. Mirian comes to El Bichito with her older sister to eat a good meal and to receive tutoring on homework.

After we finish eating, Mirian sits down next to me and pulls out her notebooks and gets right to work. When she has a question she is not afraid to ask me or her older sister Margarita for help. Once homework is all done, Mirian's game of choice is usually "Rompe Cabezas" or puzzles. She will work patiently and quietly on a puzzle and is always so excited when she discovers where a piece fits.

Mirian was fairly shy for the first few weeks we knew her, but after working on countless puzzles together, this wonderful and sweet girl has opened up to me and I have a new friend here at El Bichito!

Flor Margarita

Post from Erin Collet, an intern at El Bichito:

Flor Margarita is one of the wonderful girls here at El Bichito. We saw her a few times over the summer, but I've had a chance to spend a lot more time with her since school started. She took awhile to warm up to all of us, but she's been great about getting her homework done and has stayed to play games and do activities a lot more recently. A few days ago I was helping her with her math homework. Usually math is my favorite kind of homework to help with because I know what to do and how to explain it. Unfortunately she was working on some pesky word problems. After a lot of difficulty figuring out what the problem said I was so excited when she finished the problem. Thinking that was it since it had been so hard and taken so long I gave her a high-five and a sticker. After I put a sticker on the homework chart she told me she still had more math problems- I couldn't believe it! We worked hard until she had to go and I was so proud of how she stuck to doing her work! I'm grateful for the lessons Flor Margarita has taught me about loving others, making others feel included, and working hard.

New Project for Interns (Cynthia)

April 5 update from Cynthia, an intern at El Bichito:

One of the best parts of working here in Peru is that we are always finding or creating new projects, which means that as interns we get to learn something new, get to know new people and challenge ourselves. One such opportunity came up as we offered our services to the local elementary school here in Pulyucana. None of us are certified teachers, but we all love to help and were willing to share what we do know. They were very excited by our offer and last week we became the four newest "profesores" at the elementary school! We take a grade every day and teach both English and Computer classes. The school had 3 computers donated a while back but no one knew how to set them up or really how to use them. We put them together, got them running and have started teaching the basics of how to use them. In English class we are teaching them simple greetings and fun ways to remember numbers or colors. It has been helpful to interact with the teachers and learn a bit more about the school system here. It is also fun to see our own kids from El Bichito in a different setting and we think they like that they are already friends with the newest teachers in their school. Although we only have a week left, we are excited for what we can teach them in that time and for the great connection we have now established at the school! We are excited that the next group of interns will be able to continue with these classes and help these kids even more!

I Found My Occupation (Julia)

March 27 post from Julia, an intern at La Aldea Infantil:

The funny thing about being here in Peru is that you end up doing things you never thought you would do at least in the states. I cut my friend's hair at college but that basically was the extent of my hair cutting experience. I'm not sure why I offered, but when Carrie and Izzy said they needed a hair cut, I offered my services and they actually turned out pretty well. The day after I cut Carrie's hair, she went to eat and the Tia asked if I could cut the other boys' hair so I said sure. The next few days no one really said anything about cutting their hair so I wasn't planning on doing it, but Victor David, one of the nicest boys at the Aldea, asked me personally if I would do it so I had to say yes. He had in mind what he wanted (a little rat tail in the back) and was very grateful when I was finished. I love this boy so much and I'm going to be so sad when I have to leave him.