Zoo in Porcon (Nancy)

Enrique in Porcon (Mike and Natalie)

Enrique came to La Granja Porcón for a few days to learn how to weave fabric out of wool. One day while we were down at El Bichito, he told us he was interested in learning in the artesanía (craft) shop, and so we arranged it for him to come up. He arrived on Tuesday, July 27^th, and worked and played in Porcón until the morning of Saturday, the 31^st of July. He weaved on the loom in the mornings and early afternoons, and then had the rest of the day to relax. Elena, the woman in charge of the artesanía, said that he was a fast learner. He picked it up very quickly, and had almost finished making an entire handbag by the time he left on Saturday. He had the chance to go to the zoo, go to the trout farm, go on hikes, and participate in our English Club classes at the local school. He became friends with the kids in our classes and had a great time with them. One of his favorite things to do (as with all 12-year-old boys) was stand by the river and try to skip rocks across it. He had a great time, and didn’t want to leave on Saturday when the time came. He said that he may want to work as an artisan some day, but he’s still not sure yet. This was a good experience for Enrique.

Enrique (Nancy and Jared)

We have an intern in Por Con! His name is Enrique, he's 15ish, and he is there this week to learn artenesia trades...weaving, painting, etc. Yesterday Jared and I took him to Por Con and dropped him off to the Murrows. They'll bring him back on Saturday. We were getting frustrated because none of the kids were interested, but then we had a Parent's Day last week and the Murrows announced the Por Con Internship and Enrique told us after that he wanted to go. We all went to dinner together last night, and we had alpaca steaks! It was the best thing I've eaten in Peru so far.

Hopefully we will get Alida to the other doctor this friday and see how much an operation would cost.

We were all thinking that it would be cool to take some of the kids on a field trip to Por Con. The two ladies who work at El Bichito, Malchura and Feliciana, told us that it would be 280 soles to rent a bus for the day, and they would organize it.

A few weeks ago some students from the University came and donated crates-full of fruit, eggs, and potatoes. They have been coming over now and then to help us with the kids, and yesterday, we had movie day. They brought a DVD player, projector, big speakers, and we played a movie for the kids on the wall. I can't remember what it was called, but it had guinea pigs in it. Ivan is the one who has helped the most, but he always brings friends with him. It's great to have help.

Take care,

Nancy and Jared

After School Program (Mike and Natalie)

We have been here for three-and-a-half weeks, and things are going smoothly. In the school here in Porcon, we have been able to help the English professor in her classes. We have also established an after-school English club and about 20 kids show up for that each time. We've already picked a very capable student from the club to make sure it continues after we leave. He accepted and he will work with the professor to keep that club going after we are gone. We were hoping to get some teenagers from El Bichito to come to Porcon and work for a little while, but they all wanted to learn mechanical-oriented trades. We talked to Don Alejandro, Pedro, and Jacinto about what jobs they could do in Porcon and they were excited to have them work in the sawmill, as that would have been the best match for their interests. Unfortunately, though, the kids decided in the end that they were not interested in that. But we are going to give Pedro's and Jacinto's phone numbers to Feliciana so that in the future if there is a child who is interested in working in Porcon, she can set that up. We will also let Pedro and Jacinto know that she will likely call them in the future.

The Jenson's are leaving in one week, and the Huber's two weeks after that. We have all been making arrangements for local people to volunteer at El Bichito so that the after-school program continues after we all leave. We all decided it would be best for us to move down to Cajamarca and work in El Bichito after the Hubers leave. That way we will be able to keep it going until we leave and make sure that the people here are very familiar with the after-school program. Yesterday we had about 6 students from the University come and donate fruit and other food and they said that they will continue to be involved. Also, Natalie and I have met a man named Juan who works in Porcon and lives in Cajamarca. When he found out what it is we do, he said he would love to volunteer often at El Bichito. He used to work in another orphanage here, and he said he wants to get back into doing that and helping the kids. We are going to show him where El Bichito is so that he can stop by on weekdays to help out. So things are going well, and one of our main focuses right now is arranging things so that the programs we have started keep going after we are gone.

Thanks,

-Mike and Natalie

Porcon (Miguel & Natalie)

Things are starting to come together for us here in La Gramja Porcon. At first it was quite a struggle getting our classes and other efforts going. But now we are working with the English professor at the local school and helping her out. She is great and is very appreciative of the help. Yesterday was a national holiday, Teacher´s Day, and Monday the kids put on a program for their teachers and they included us in that. Starting tomorrow, we will have an English club that will go for about an hour each day after school on the days there are English classes. That will be an opportunity for the kids to ask questions in a more relaxed setting and get some extra help. Every Wednesday and Friday there are no English classes at the school, so starting today we will come down to Cajamarca on those days to help at El Bichito. We are here in Cajamarca right now and have broughy hygiene kits and toys. The toys will become part of the toy cache kids can draw from when they have completed 5 homework assignments. Every day at 5, we have classes for the adults in Porcon. Those are going well, though not as well as we had hoped. The most we have ever had attend is 3 students, even though everyone has been informed. But we do have two students who come consistently and are doing well. We have started making arrangements to have at least one teenager from El Bichito come up here and work for a couple of weeks in the near future. We will give you an update on that as it develops. We are now in more frequent contact with the other interns, coordinating our efforts with them.