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.

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!

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.

A Tree Grows in El Bichito (Erin)

March 27 post from Erin, an intern at El Bichito.

The beginning of school marks a fresh start. We thought it would be nice to help the kids start the school year off right by setting goals. We also wanted to add some colorful decorations around El Bichito. We had the kids trace and cut out leaves for a tree that we had made for the wall. On each leaf we had the kids write one goal for the upcoming school year. Reuben wanted to read more, Luis wanted to get all A’s, and Alida wanted to prepare to go to college. We had tons of fun making the leaves and learning what the kids wanted to do this year. We left the tree up in the comedor as a reminder of their goals.

For more about El Bichito's goal tree, click here.

Hard at Work, Hard at Play (Erin)

Reuben started coming to El Bichito when school started, so I've only known him for a short time, but he's already captured my heart! He is fun-loving third-grader with a lot of spunk. Sometimes it takes the kids a while to warm up to us interns, but from day one Reuben told me all about his day at school and what he wanted to do. I am always impressed how quick he is to take out his homework and get it done. He's a very bright and dedicated student. As soon as his homework is done though, he is ready to play! Whenever he notices my camera is out, he is quick to pose and ask for a picture. We made a goal tree today (we had the kids cut out leaves and write goals for school on them and then taped them ot the tree on the wall) and Reuben wanted to show me every leaf he made and read me his goals. They included reading more books and doing well on his homework. He gets really involved whenever we have an activity and is a great sport!

Alesandro- My Little Monkey! (Erin)

Alesandro just started kindergarten this March. He is a bundle of fun and always has twice as much energy as all the interns put together! He and his sister Katherine come to El Bichito regularly and I have loved getting to see his personality shine. One of his favorite things to do with me is sit on my foot and wrap his arms around my leg. He will hold on tight as I wander around El Bichito talking to all of the other kids. He also loves to climb up into my arms and all over the tables-- He is a little monkey! Sometimes he also babbles in his own made-up (hilarious) language. One day while we were working on activities and he started doing his own version of beat boxing. We tried to capture it on video, but as soon as he noticed that we were watching he stopped. You never what to expect with Alesandro because he has so many different sides- sometimes he wants to curl up and have you read a book to him and other times he wants to be in the thick of things trying to do math flash cards and puzzles with the older kids. All his spunk adds a lot to the fun atmosphere of El Bichito!

Carnival at El Bichito (Erin)

Post from Erin at El Bichito:
Today in an effort to teach the kids the importance of having clean clothes we had a pre-Carnival water party. We started out by talking about where water comes from and what we can do with water. We tried to focus on the importance of having clean clothes, especially how it can help them get better jobs when they are older. We then asked the kids to show us how to properly wash clothes with a bucket of water and a bar of laundry soap. We washed the shirts we had asked them to bring yesterday.

After we hung the shirts up to dry, we played some water games. We had a water balloon toss and then a little water balloon fight. Of course, the interns were the main targets. We hope to make this a weekly tradition for the summer- to provide incentive we told them that next week if they bring a shirt to wash they will get an extra water balloon for the games!