A Good Day at the Orphanage

It was a good day to today...and you have to celebrate your successes. Being lonestar in this thing for now, I needed to make some adjustments. It is difficult working with these kids alone, and not knowing Spanish well enough to communicate with them, or their teachers/faculty in the school. Basically, I´m pretty worthless over there, unless the kids decide to let me in on all their little raindeer games, which usually doesn´t happen. So, I supervise- and break up fights mostly.

In order to feel like I have accomlished something, (possibly more for my own sanity than for the children) I set out on completeling some type of grand task during my time there. The kids have had a lot of exposure to international people through this program, and the first question they almost always ask is ¨What country?¨(are you from). Still, though, many of them cannot find Peru on the map without help. Natuarally I decided to focus on geography, and being the excellent artisan that I am ...right... I proposed to create a mural of the globe on one of the blank walls inside the orphanage. I figure that it will not only spice up the decoration, but the kids will learn country names and locations, capitals, oceans, and possibly flags along the way.

While this may not be the most important thing to teach them in life. It is something that I can contribute during my time there, and will hopefully continue to help them after I leave. I am really excited about being allowed to start it. It took a little convincing, these people don´t stray from the status quo to often, and convincing them in my battered Spanish was a chore...and I may have told them at some point that I was a professional painter...I´m not sure- I hope they are not dispointed!!

As I started work today, many of the children came over with a curoius eye, and allowed me to quiz them with the map I have as a guide. It was a win in my book and I look forward to working on it with the children the next couple of weeks!