El Bichito: Impromptu moving library

The latest from Sunny Hicken at El Bichito:

September 29

This last Friday was a field trip day for the whole school district, so lunch and activities at El Bichito were cancelled. Our youngest, Lily, is attending the Jardin de Ninos here in Puylucana, so she had a field trip as well. The young children had their mothers, and some of their fathers and siblings, along for the trip, and we all ended up together on a long bus ride. I had tucked three lightweight books into my backpack to entertain Lily on the bus, and little did I know what a hit they would be! By the end of the trip, we had a regular lending library going on inside the bus. Kids would come down the aisle, borrow one book, bring it back a little later, wait for a different book to be returned, and take that one back to their seat. Once they read all three books, they would start over again. I read to them some (when we were stopped for construction or just waiting—I get sick reading while in motion, and Peruvian mountain roads are certainly no exception), but they would take the book to their mothers or older siblings, or just look at it. The boy next to me who came along with his mom and little brother read through “Big Dog, Little Dog” several times, and each time he got through it a little faster. I got to know his mother, who helped make it clear to the other children that no, they could not take the books home but could only borrow them while on the bus. Her husband drives a moto for a living, and she has a hard time making ends meet, and we talked about El Bichito. Two of the books were also in English, and sometimes the kids or their mothers asked for me to read to them in English as well. Another brother and sister who were enthusiastic about reading the books recognized the name “el Bichito” inside the cover and said they used to come, and I invited them to come again. It was a fun experience to see how these children loved the books and how their mothers were also glad to see them reading them. It was definitely some positive outreach for El Bichito and for developing a culture of reading for fun and to our children.

El Bichito: Reading Harry Potter

By Anna Gleave

My first week at El Bichito, I noticed how bright and eager to learn Katherin was, so we decided to start a book together. I suggested we read Harry Potter, since I loved the series growing up, and she quickly agreed. I told her that as a reward, we would be able to watch the movie together after we finished the book. So we began reading together nearly every afternoon. I would read a few pages out loud to her, and then she would read a few; she also read on her own with her older sister on the days we couldn't read together. Once we were about half-way through the book, I caught her looking down at the page number, and the biggest grin creeped across her face. I asked her how many pages we'd read, and she said enthusiastically, "137!" I then asked her if she had ever read that many pages in a book before, and she shook her head no, still smiling. Well, you can imagine her excitement when we finished the entire book! She kept saying it was the most "bonito" book she had ever read! We watched the movie together that afternoon, and she got so excited every time she recognized a character or scene from the book. I promised her that if she kept reading the rest of the series, I would make sure future volunteers would watch the movies with her, and she agreed! She was so thrilled and excited about the series, and she was very proud of herself for accomplishing such a feat. The rest of the kids were also proud of her and made note of what a unique accomplishment this was! 

I see so much potential in Kathy and know she can do great things with her life if she has proper guidance and opportunities. She wants to be a doctor and is absolutely intelligent enough to become one; I hope that she can. 

P.S. Check out the article BYU Public Health did on our very own Anna Gleave. We are so proud of our interns!

El Bichito: Reading is contagious!

From Anna, an intern at El Bichito:

The kids have fallen in love with the little library we started.  I truly feel that reading is contagious and it is so nice to be reminded how much good a book can do in a child's life.  A book can help them to dream, think outside themselves, and learn about the world.  I spent a good hour reading with two of the girls named Ana Maria and Luz Elena.  We read a book written half in English and half in Spanish.  They read the Spanish and I read the English.  After I finished reading my part in English, they would both giggle loudly and I loved watching their eyes light up as I spoke English.  To them its like a secret code they want to unscramble.

The English classes this week were so successful.  We recruited a teenage girl from the village to come, as well as the young adult boys Jose Miguel, Segundo, and their friend Rafeal.  We hold the younger children class right before the adult class.  The young kids love learning about the colors, their birthdays, and numbers.  On friday this week we focused conjugating verbs with 'ies' endings in the third person.  I put them into two teams, and the older more advanced students had to conjugate the verb, come up with a sentence, read it out loud, and explain to the other students the concept they followed.  Whoever completed it the fastest won!  They older more advanced students loved being little English professors to the other students, and it really helped them to have to teach something they have recently learned.  I am hopeful we will continue to get more and more people interested in learning this week.  Can't wait to keep this going!