Luis (Chris)

We had an wonderful time working with the children in Bichito! We finished the internship last Friday and we are in Chile now. I still wanted to send you some pictures of the Trujillo expedition with the Millers. Attached are some photos of the Miller and us painting the chairs for all the houses at the Aldea. I have a a lot more kids I want to write about when we get home. One kid I wanted to write about was Luis Wilder. Here`s a blog entry:


We`ve had a great time with the children these past few weeks. We've established a Career Day program with the kids every week. We have a professional come and talk to the kids one day out of the week. So far we`ve had a Miner and Tour Guide come and talk to them. One boy that has really cought our attention by being very persistent in doing homework is Luis Wilder. He is about 12 years old and is Maria Alida`s younger brother. He is very bright and had done the second most homework out of all the kids. He is a star at soccer and helps take care of his other brothers. He has the same situation as Maria Alida, where his parents work far away to sustain the family. We learned recently that the reason why they go so far away is that they used live far in the country but the schools were really bad. Their parents moved the whole family closer to Puylucana so that the kids could study, but they still have to travel long distances for work. Luis is part of a special family that deserves so much more. Its been so great to work with him and his siblings.

Enrique (Chris & Kimball)

This week has gone by fast! Nancy and Jared have been a great help and have a lot of great ideas. The kids have really been progressing with doing their homework. The first kid to complete with five stars was Enrique. Enrique is almost 13 years old and is very extroverted. He was one of the first kids who talked to us when we got to el Bichito. This past week he didn't come on Tuesday and we were worried about him. When he came on Wednesday he said that his stomach was hurting so we gave him some pills. He ended up feeling worse and we had Feliciana's husband take him home in his taxi. Yesterday we went by their home to check up on him. He leaves with his Aunts and his mother is gone most of the day. We found out that Enrique's father died in a car accident when Enrique was little. The family are mostly farmers and the uncles have unstable work in Cajamarca. We also found out that he has or had a heart murmur and he can't play sports. He's mother is afraid to go to the doctors because they are in the city. Hopefully we can figure out a way to get him there this next week. Also, the family was suprised when I told them that Enrique was one of the best students at El Bichito. We left a little origami fox for Enrique. He really likes origami and is really quick to pick it up. We hope he gets better so he can particpate in the activities we have planned for the next few weeks.

Maria (Chris)

We had a great time with Cameron and the group. Unfortunately I have a bad internet signal right now but i wanted to send you the pictures of Maria Álida. We made collages with the kids and we will have to send you a better email soon. Also, if you zoom in on Maria´s right eye I think she has a cataract or a stye. She´s new and if there´s anyway we can get someone to look at it it would be great. Like I wrote before she is the oldest of 6 and she watches her siblings while her mom´s gone away for long periods of time.

Thanks so much,

Chris

Meet Kevin (Chris and Kimball at El Bichito)

We have had a crazy 1st week! At first it took some time for the kids to warm up to us, but now we think they are getting used to the program. The first activity we did only 7 kids stayed but by the end of the week 30 participated. The first day we went around telling them why we had come and how long we were staying. One of the first kids that warmed up to us was Kevin. Kevin is a great kid. He has a great spirit about him. He's 12 years old and he is in 6th grade. He is really bright and takes a lot of initiative in the activities. We found out from Feliciana that his father abandoned him and his mother works far away. He lives with his grandparents and comes to center every day after school. For one of the activities we had the kids draw what they wanted to be when they grew up and Kevin drew himself as the Presidente de la Republica, or the President of the Republic of Peru. It was so awesome to see the kids imagining what they wanted to be. Some wanted to be singers, other policemen. I know that Kevin has great potential and we are excited to help many more like him.

Homework with the kids (Chris and Kimball at El Bichito)

Hello Team,

I just wanted to email letting you know we are alive and well. Thanks for helping us get all set up. Obispo Rebasas is awesome! He is one of the nicest men I've ever met. He helped us get set up with la hermana Ruby in Banos he also helped us get our bags that TACA had lost and he also took us to the supermarket el Quinde to get some things.

Today we went to el Bichito and met Feliciana and her sister. We helped with lunch and also introduced ourselves to the kids. We let them know why we are here and asked if any would like to stay after to get homework help. I wasn't expecting much the first day but 7 kids stayed afterwards for help. There were so many, we couldn't help them each individually but Kimball with her awesome tutor math SAT skills combined with my Spanish, we were able to figure it out. Also I helped four kids, Kevin, Rocio, Rosemary, and Mavali with reading. Hermano Rebasas says we should focus a lot more on reading with the kids.

Tomorrow we plan to get with some of the same kids to do a drawing game (and continue with homework). Also, the best experience we had so far was with Feliciana's son, Alvieri, who is only 6. He is soooo motivated to study. We helped him for like an hour and half doing all his homework after the other kids left. By the end he was really understanding his math homework. He loves to draw and is little bit of a perfectionist, he would erase any crayon pencil outside the lines! It was really great to feel we helped him in so little time. We have pics but we´ll send you a more detailed email next week for the blog.

Thanks so much,

Chris and Kimball