El Bichito: Globos de bacteria

We are so excited to have interns on the ground once again for the year 2013. The following is a post from Anna, a new intern at El Bichito:

January 23
We have been focusing on hand washing as a healthy habit in El Bichito this week, so we have taught lessons on the subject and have devised games involving hand washing. Some of the kids drew signs about "lavando las manos para proteger su salud," and they enjoyed playing various games.

The kids' favorite game, however, involved a cultural event that is currently happening in Cajamarca-- Carnival. Carnival occurs every spring, and it mostly involves enormous water fights. The kids had been begging us to let them play carnival for days, so we decided to incorporate a water fight into our hand washing lesson. We told them that the water balloons were "globos of bacteria," and every time that they were hit, they had to wash their hands to get a new balloon. The game worked for several minutes, but it quickly just turned into a full-out water war. The battle peaked as we ran into the middle of it with the kids' confiscated water guns yelling, "INFLUENZA!" and drenching them with water. They loved this... mostly because they had every excuse to soak me and Anna, the other intern. 

We had an excellent water fight, but we were even more pleased with the results; the next day, many of the kids washed their hands on their own before eating, and all of them did after we asked! We hope to keep instilling these types of healthy habits in the kids as we work with them in El Bichito. 

To learn more about becoming an intern, click here.

Semillas de Amor: El agua es vida

The following is a post from Ryan, an intern at Semillas de Amor:

June 19
Water is life here in Colombia.  Each drop is collected, saved, and then used for multiple purposes.  Even though rain falls in abundance, water always seems scarce.  Maybe living in conditions where no running water exists highlights water's importance to me but it is obvious that to most Colombians, water plays a significant part in their lives.

For the kids in Nueva Colombia, water means even more.  Washing dishes or clothes and cleaning the house can wait-- swimming is what takes precedence.  And these kids can swim anywhere-- the waterfall near their homes in Mamellar or the stream that feeds the falls.  Even though trash has invaded the stream and begun to pollute the water source, these kids know how to appreciate the water's refreshing nature on a hot day.  With school out for three weeks, the stream will become an even more important part of daily life than before.  After all, what's summer vacation without a trip to the pool?

La Aldea Infantil: Our own Carnival

Update from Lauren, an intern at La Aldea Infantil:

This week involved a lot of water. On both Wednesday and Thursday, we decided to do our own Carnival here at the Aldea. Wednesday's water day spontaneous, which made us decide to actually plan on doing one the next day. So, us interns filled up close to 4 big buckets of water balloons up and took them outside for the kids. The way this fight actually started was one of the kids who had previously stolen a balloon threw it at another kid and this started what was the biggest water balloon/water fight I have ever had. Just imagine close to 30 kids all under the age of 14 either trying to nail you with a balloon or running around with a bucket full of water, trying to dump it on your head. It was so much fun!!!

The water balloons did go relatively fast, but that didn't seem to stop the kids. They soon found other ways to carry water, whether it be in the buckets that had previously been holding water balloons, or running to their casa to get bowls and glasses they could easily fill with water and throw at people. By the end of our water fight, I'm sure that we all looked like drowned rats and there was so much water in my clothes that I could actually wring out the water. Who knew that something as simple as having a massive water fight could put such a big smile on so many kid's faces?

Learn more about La Aldea Infantil by viewing past posts or reading the La Aldea Infantil page. Learn more about becoming an intern on our website.

La Aldea Infantil: Pool Field Trip

Lauren, an intern at La Aldea Infantil, tells us about their recent field trip:

This week, the kids ended up going on a field-trip to a pool. While there, the people who are in charge put together a bunch of games and relay races for the kids to participate in before lunch and swimming.

These games included volleyball, futball and tug-of-war (in which the girls totally dominated). The relay races here trying to get as much water from one end of the line to the other through sponges. It was so much fun to watch them run around and just have fun.

After lunch, it was time for the pool. It didn't seem to matter to them, like I've come to realize that it does in America, if they don't have swimsuits. They just jump right in and start playing away. They can be in leggings or jeans, in the long run it doesn't matter to them at all.

Learn more about helping these orphans take field trips. Read more about La Aldea Infantil by viewing past posts and viewing the Aldea Infantil page.

Olympics at El Bichito! (Cynthia)

Can you believe it is already time for school to start?

To celebrate the last week of summer we planned a Mini Olympics for the kids here at El Bichito.

We divided the activities into outdoor and academic to try and ease out of summer and back into school.

The outdoor games were a blast and the kids enjoyed discus (Frisbee) and shotput (water balloon throw) in addition to a few fun relays and races. We had pretty small numbers because it is the last week of summer but the kids that came had fun and we certainly had a blast. We played a hopping tag game, a water balloon waddle relay and a tossing name game.

After we had exhausted ourselves outside and handed out suckers as prizes to everyone we moved inside to get their brains moving. The kids were broken into teams and raced to see who could finish a puzzle fastest. In their rush they started trying to force pieces together until we told them the puzzle still had to make a picture…

The kids also loved solving math problems on the whiteboard for their team (mostly because they think it’s fun to write with whiteboard markers). Thanks to some donations we were able to get some fun prizes and treats for all the kids to finish the day. Wish us all luck as we start school this week!

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!

Floating (Carrie)

February 14 update from Carrie:

The Aldea has a new pool to swim in!

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to help paint a pool belonging to a resturant down the street from the Aldea. They said that if the Aldea painted the pool they could use it to swim with the kids. So every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we get to go swimming with the kids that are 9 and older. Last Wednesday when we went swimming, Jose Antonio was able to start learning how to swim. When we first got in the pool, Jose wasn't afraid to jump right in but he was wary of the deeper end. He spent the first few attempts going in the deep end clinging to my shoulders or to the side of the pool. After a while though he began to get a little braver and we tried teaching him the basics of swimming. Starting with floating and then working up towards being able to keep his head above the water while treading water. Jose eventually got to the point where he would swim short distances from the wall to one of the volunteers or to this giant log the Tios put in the pool. We plan on helping Jose more in swimming along with the other kids who also don't know how to swim.

Check out more posts about water fun at the Aldea!

Water Galore (Natalie)

February 14 update from Natalie:

We started swimming this week in a pool a little down the road from the Aldea. The kids LOVED it! Not that many of them know how to swim though so it’s a good thing the pool only gets about 4 feet deep. I taught a few of them how to swim, and they were actually doing pretty good for a first lesson. Victor liked to show off his new skills but Ruben was embarrassed and didn’t want people to watch him practice at the beginning but by the end was doing great and was showing off too. It was really cute. We put a huge log in the pool and all the kids tried to stand up on it but because there were about 10 kids on it at a time it was really wobbly which made it way funny. At first they could hardly get on the log but by the end most of them could stand up and even stay up for a few seconds. The kids have decided that every day we don't go to the pool we're going to have a water fight. Victor and Jose taunt me all day saying their going to soak me, it's a nice little rivalry.

To sum it up we better not plan on ever being dry during February.

water fight! (Mitch at Aldea)

Dear Southern Cross,

Friday was definitely the highlight of the week, maybe even of our whole time here at the Aldea. The month of February is supposedly known as the month of water fighting. All month kids have been secretly filling water balloons and attacking their friends, enemies and every once in a while us. All the water that was thrown during this month does not even compare to the massive water fight that we had yesterday. It was supposed to start after lunch, but I was completely soaked from head to toe around ten in the morning. War had then begun. I decided to leave and buy some water balloons for us to fill up. We soon realized that water balloons really were not as effective as pitchers, buckets, and hoses. The portable swimming pools were filled with water as well, and I think that every kid in the Aldea had at some point taken a dip. many kids spent all day in the pools. We all ate lunch together and the water games continued until 5 or so at night. Then we all danced around a tree that had been prepared with toys and presents hanging from its branches. The kids were to each take a turn with the machete until the tree fell down. Well, there was no machete, so we tried with a large butcher knife but soon realized that if we continued like this, we might find ourselves still hacking at the tree in the morning. One of the older boys then brought an axe and within minutes, the tree had fallen, and kids were going crazy trying to get their hands on a toy! We then had rice pudding, cake and popcorn. What a fun day.
I ate in casa 1 this week. We had a fun time together. With the older girls, I often played checkers with them after lunch and dinner. Sometimes I won, many times I lost. I taught one of them how to play chess. I liked playing that over checkers--I always won :) One of the older girls is Evelyn. I got to know her a little better this week, but not as well as i would like to. She is 13 and very close to a girl named Elvia that lives in the same house. They are always together. She doesn't seem to open up to many others. She is always cheerful and is always smiling. One thing I like about her is that she is very respectful of others and is usually always happy to help out. She doesn't really get involved in too many physical activities, but would rather sit outside her house and talk or think. She seems like she would be a reader to me, someone that could devour book after book and be completely happy. I'm going to have to ask her about that and see if that is something she likes to do. Oh, and she doesn't like to lose at checkers either! If anyone could get away with cheating, it would be her! Because this week the oldest children of the Aldea left on a religious camp out, there was extra milk each day for us. So I bought some little bags so that we could make marcianos (popsicles). Each night after dinner and after checkers, we made some delicious milk marcianos. I averaged about 4 or 5 a day-Yummm.

The internet is up and running in the direction so all is good there. We are just still waiting for computer desks for the computers before they put them in the houses. The kids LOVE learning things on the computer. I taught quite a few new kids this week and had some repeat customers as well.

Here's Daniel - sponsored by Paramount School!

Here's a special profile on Daniel just for the Paramount School, in Meridian, Idaho who is sponsoring Daniel and Blanca. The 5th graders participate in "Wacky Wednesdays" once a month. On that day, the children at school bring $1 to do whatever wacky thing is going on that day (crazy hair, dress backwards, dress like twins, pj's, etc...) and the $1 goes to sponsor Blanca and Daniel. Thanks so much Paramount School 5th Graders! (Note: Daniel is one of our special needs kids who we are trying to help diagnose and treat.)

Daniel's situation is unique. He grew up in Brazil, learning Portuguese, and then not so long ago was brought to the Aldea. Supposedly, before he came, he was learning and speaking just like all the other boys. But when he arrived here at the Aldea and no one could understand him and he couldn't understand anyone else, something happened to his speaking ability. Now he doesn't speak any language at all and only makes sounds.

He is still going to the doctor to try and figure out what treatment is necessary and appropiate for his condition. Until now, the doctors still don't know how to help him. Apart from his speech impediment, he is quite like any other boy. He loves to play outside, especially on the swings. He also loves to paint and write. He can spend hours just with a notebook, pen and crayons.

From what I can see when I observe him interact with the other kids, is that he likes to do things that bother them. When asked to describe Daniel in one word, they all responded immediately with mischievious. They told me some pretty funny stories that I think would cause you to laugh too.

One day, Daniel came back to the house soaking wet. I believe he was sick at the time and the Tia didn't want him to get worse. After getting him into dry clothes, he was told not to go out and get wet again. So what did he do? As soon as an escape was possible, out he went only to return soaking wet again. This little game continued two more times until finally the Tia had to lock him in his room after changing him for the fourth time!

On a more recent occasion, this one is my favorite, Daniel managed to flood the house. The Tia left for a while and when she returned, he had turned on the faucets in the bathroom and the kitchen on full blast and it wasn't long till water spilled over onto the kitchen floor and from the bathroom into the living room. Sounds like something one of my friends would have done.