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.

Kindness over Winning (Julia)

In the Aldea, it is rare to see acts of kindess solely for the purpose of trying to make another kid happy, so when we do see these actions it is a very rewarding feeling. We try our best to be good examples and to teach the kids about self-worth, but you never know who is listening and who is not. One person who was obviously paying attention was Ruben. The other day I was watching the kids play soccer and Ruben was the goalie (and doing pretty good I might add) until Miguel came up and wanted to play. Miguel has something wrong with his leg so it is hard for him to move around fast, which is why it was a shock for me at first that Ruben gave up his important spot to him. After that, Miguel missed a couple but then one ball came straight for him and he blocked it! It was cute to see Ruben give up his spot in the first place, but to see the team's reaction was even better. All the kids cheered for him while Ruben gave him a big pat on the back and turned his cap around to make him look "cool". I loved this moment and wished I had a camera with me, but I didn't get a picture. This is one of the happiest times I've felt at the Aldea because I love to see that the kids are actually realizing the importance of kindness and that winning isn't always the best.

Fabricio: Getting Better Little by Little (Julia)

Fabricio: Getting Better Little by Little

This week I’ve been getting to know the baby Fabricio better. I love to hold this baby and give him as much love as possible. His muscles aren’t strong enough to sit up straight, or even hold his head up yet and he can’t see very well, but he does react when someone’s in front of him so we think that he can at least see light or shapes. At the beginning, I never knew who Fabricio was even though I’d heard his name a lot until one day Katie brought him over to our house to take care of. We now like to babysit him in the mornings, along with the other babies, and I think that ever since we’ve been taking him out of his house and helping him to exercises, he’s been getting significantly better.

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.

Lucho: A ball of fun (Julia)

January 31, Julia

This week was my first week at the Aldea and loved meeting all the new kids that will be a part of my life for the next 3 months. They are all so loving and want to play with us all the time. One Little boy that I had a lot of fun playing with last week was Lucho, a smily, chubby, 3 year-old. He is at the age that I love the most because everything amuses him and we can do the same thing over and over again without losing any entertainment. One day Lucho gave me a little wooden disk with yellow on one side that he wanted me to put on the bush, where it would fall to the ground immediately and laughed every time. We went through the same routine (adding in letting it fall from our heads) for 45 minutes straight. The funny part about it was that I didn't feel like it was getting old either and I could've gone longer but we had to go eat lunch. I love these kids and they make me feel so happy each day!

If you would like to learn more about sponsoring a child like Lucho, click here.