A week in the life of…

Greetings family and friends! I`m embarrassed that it`s been so long since I posted a blog. It started to get to the point of, “oh man, it`s been so long since I`ve blogged, what am I going to write about now?”. If you didn`t already know, my volunteer position has changed from teaching at Fe y Alegría last year, to working at the parish in Andhuaylillas this year. So, inspired by a current JVC photo contest, I´ve decided to give you snapshots (pun intended) of the typical goings on for me. Enjoy…

Yogi, the silly dog who guards our house and shows off for the tourists...he´s awesome

Me and Nelson (friend who works at the parish)

Comedor 

The bulk of my time is dedicated to the running of the comedor. The comedor is an afterschool cafeteria that serves lunch to about 330 kids from Andahuaylillas and the surrounding communities. Most of their families either can`t afford to feed their kids a balanced lunch, are unable to be home to cook them lunch, have many children, or the children live in distant communities and wouldn´t be home for lunch until late in the afternoon – or a combination of these factors. With the support of entrance fees to the “Sistine Chapel of the Americas” the church in Andahuaylillas, the parish is able to provide a healthy meal with the families paying only 5 soles (about $2) per month per child. If this is difficult for families, they are also able to give in food (potatoes or meat are the most common) or a day working in the kitchen.

Kids eating in the comedor

 

Gabriel...I love this picture because it´s totally him!

Along with Susan, I am in charge of maintaining the food storage and dispense, as well as the general running of the comedor every afternoon along with four helpers. We also work closely with the three señoras – Julia, Ceríla and Estela – who cook the food. Never a dull moment, our work seems to be different every day. With over 300 children, the comedor is somewhat controlled chaos! But I really enjoy working there with the kids. They`re fun and it´s a great way to get to know so many people here in Anda. Lately we´ve been working on English: hello, goodbye, thank you, banana, etc. Working in the dispensa means a lot of lifting so I`m pretty sure I have awesome biceps now. And the señors are so fun to work with; there`s a lot of dancing and joking in the kitchen.

Señora Julia serving food

Señoras Ceríla and Estela chopping up the cow we bought in the dispensa

Ludoteca 

Another area where I work is in the ludoteca, or game room. The main function of the ludoteca is to host children after school. There are various areas where they can play and explore: art, board games, toys, dress up, blocks and Legos, reading, and an area with mattresses to jump and roll around on. Because we´re in the comedor in the afternoon, Susan and I don´t really participate in the after school part of the ludoteca. But, we do host local preschools on a somewhat regular basis, and the first grade class of the local public elementary school every Tuesday and Thursday. I love the time we share in the ludoteca

Kids from escuelita reading and painting in the Ludoteca

The class lining up to walk back to school

Coro 

A small, but fun project I´m working on is the children and youth choir for the church. We practice every Thursday and Saturday, and sing at the Saturday night mass. This is along with Brian and Alfredo (who is in charge of rural Christian education for the church). I think the choir might be my favorite part of the week. We´re a small group so far – we´ve only been together for about a month and a half – but all the kids are great and fun to sing with.

Singing at mass

English and the Church 

As I mentioned earlier, the church here has a fairly large number of tourists coming through every day. Three times a week I have English class with the workers who receive tourists, which is a great way to get to know them. Additionally, if I have time, I am in the store to translate and can give tours of the church in English and Spanglish! I say this because I learned how to give the tour in English, but a few groups have wanted it in Spanish and I don´t know all of the words for various things in the church. But every group has given me a tip for the parish which has been awesome!

English class with Ivan

Made and Blanca in the church store

Comunidad 

Of course, a big part of life in JVC is intentional community. Our community has weekly spirituality and community times to share together. Honestly, a lot of our community time is spent in preparing and eating food! I´ve included some fun pics from the past month or so from community.

Making pizza

Susan, Brian, Sam, Mateo and Jean - our French community mate who has been with us swince December and leave in a week :(

Me, Sister Lisa - who´s been living in Anda for 3 months and leaves Tuesday :(, Mateo, Brian, Marta (Mateo´s friend) and Susan at the Tipon ruins