Wednesday, January 16, 2013

el bichito.

so i guess it's about time i explain what exactly i'm doing here in peru!
for the next few months, i am a public health intern for an organization called eagle condor humanitarian
i am working with one other (incredible!) intern from the university of utah, anna... yeah, the peruvians are as confused by this as you might be. 
for the record, i go by anita, and she goes by ana maria. it helps... a little!

 we spend our days working in puyllucana, a rural community outside cajamarca, in a center called el bichito.
this center offers at-risk youth an opportunity for a hot lunch, supplementary education, and a safe place to spend time. 

so far, our days have consisted of the following:
1. take ridiculously crowded bus (humans! animales! crops! oh my!) through the city and up the winding dirt roads to el bichito.
2. pick rocks out of the lentils (!), cook lunch with feliciana (we love her!) and co. 
3. serve the children lunch, eat with them, laugh a lot.
4. lessons, juegos (games), activities, observation. right now, we are focusing on archiving files of all of the children's information (educational, familial, health-related, etc). we are also teaching lessons on hand washing all week!
5. say goodbye to the niños, return by bus to cajamarca, collapse from exhaustion. 

okay, the last little bit might be a tiiiny bit dramatic, but we are pretty wiped out after our six-hour days with the kids!
that being said, i can't even begin to explain the influence these children have already had on me. 
they are continually teaching me a new gratitude, perspective, and manner of achieving happiness. 
also, they are so, so darling. 
on top of that, the view from el bichito is incredible, and the rice and lentils are actually dang good.

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anna and i are so excited for our upcoming work and are optimistic for the impact we can have on these children's lives. 
i am equally excited for the impact they will have on my life. 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Why do you pick the rocks out? Remember that rocks are a great source of protein, at least that's what I thought I heard Dr C. say...

Denise said...

This is so cool! My husband and I have talked about doing something like this.

LeaMarie said...

I LOVE rice and lentils! And I LOVE kids! And I LOVE South American kids! And I LOVE you and what a great and caring and talented person you are! Thanks for sharing these pictures and this blog Anna!

LeaMarie