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Published: October 25th 2007
In front of the Casa with Dutch girl Lotta
Painted on the house is: Casa Hogar Los Gorriones (House Home The Sparrows) and beneath that: "Mira como te tengo gravada en la palma da mis manos." (Look how I hold you in the palm of my hands.)All of the following info is unofficial! :p
Casa Hogar Los Gorriones is run by a Belgian/French couple who founded it in 2002.
The Casa houses around 25 kids divided into three groups: Lupes (the disabled), Pequeños (aged 3-5), and the Grandes (aged 5-12). The Casa is designed to be more like a household and less like an institution, that is why its small. The point is for it to be like a large foster family. Many kids at 'my' Casa are not wanted by other Casas because they have special needs, having come from broken homes full of violence and alcoholism, in addition to the disabled kids.
Each group of the kids have two or three employed señoritas who look after them. The volunteers support the señoritas in their work, usually entertaining the kids and helping the kids' with their daily chores, such as washing their clothes. The señoritas usually work 12-hour shifts, 7am to 7pm or 7pm to 7am for a minimum wage. Most of them have families at home, so I really respect the work they do and why they sometimes might not be the most friendly people to be around. My own interaction with
With Christopher
Christopher is aged 1.5 and he came from another Casa Hogar because our Casa specializes with kids with special needs. At first sight, Christopher looks very healthy and alert, however, she still cannot walk without assistance so he is to spend a year or two at the Casa so that we can figure out if he has a disability or not. As much as he smiles, he is also very cranky. them has mostly been positive.
A typical work day for a volunteer depends with which group you're working with for the day. Unless you request to work with a specific group, you are rotated around the Lupes, Pequeños, and Grandes, every day you work with a different group. Currently, volunteers work one shift (morning or afternoon) of 5 to 7 hours a day, with one day off a week. You may be given more, depending on your needs and the number of volunteers currently at the Casa.
All the kids wake up at 6am (typical working time for the region, since the sun is already up at 5.30am as I witnessed this morning, getting up for my morning shift) so at least two volunteers a day start work at 6am (there is a breakfast break from 8am-9am) and at least two volunteers finish at 8pm when the kids go to bed. Usually there are two volunteers per group, but only one comes in at 6am (the other comes in at 7am) and only one leaves at 8pm (one leaves at 7pm).
Volunteers are provided lunch at the Casa and most take advantage of this benefit, although the
The Lupes out on a Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday we usually sit outside the Casa to see a little bit of the street. I am feeding Nilda and the other senoritas are tending to the other kids. To the left are Sheyla and her mom, who visits every Sunday. To my right is senorita Demetria who is the sweetest soul you will ever meet - always in a good mood, she never shows anger, irritation, or fatigue, even when she has every reason to. sight of rice day after day can make anyone lose their appetite. Often times there is a side of potatos as well. Chicken is the most often cooked meat, although it is not available every day. Cow meat is a luxury - once every two weeks. There is always salad, although very little of it - usually lettuce, tomatoes, and/or onion.
A typical volunteer day with the
Lupes goes something like this:
Morning shift:
6am - the kids wake up, change diapers, dress the kids
7am - feed the kids breakfast (most need to be spoonfed)
8am - volunteer has breakfast
9am - the señoritas do therapy with the kids to keep their muscles active, the kids hate this
10am - take the kids out to the Casa's playground, play with them, sing, keep them occupied
11am - change diapers and tend to other unforseen events
12am - feed the kids lunch, brush their teeth
1pm - volunteer has lunch
Afternoon shift:
2pm - kids are waking from their after-lunch nap, change diapers, etc., at times therapy takes place at this time as well
3pm - take the kids out
Noemi the model :)
Noemi posing at the playground. She is also a Pequeña because she has memory problems, but she does go to school. And she loves being photographed! to the patio and hang out with them
4pm - feed the kids an in-between meal
5pm - take the kids back inside, dress them in their pajamas
6pm - feed the kids dinner, brush their teeth
7pm - put the kids to bed
7.30pm - volunteer goes home
A typical volunteer day with the
Pequeños goes something like this:
Morning shift:
6am - the kids wake up, make sure no one has wet their bed, dress the kids
7am - the kids have breakfast (most need to be heavily encouraged or threatened that the food will be taken away), get them to brush their teeth
8am - volunteer has breakfast
9am - play with the kids, find activities to keep them occupied
10am - play with the kids
11am - play with the kids and tend to other unforseen events
12am - feed the kids lunch, get them to brush their teeth
1pm - volunteer has lunch
Afternoon shift:
2pm - some kids take naps even though that makes it so much harder for the señorita doing the night shift since the kids are not tired
With (momentarily) photo-shy Brenda and Daisy.
In their uniforms, returning from school. Brenda and Daisy are both 5 and attend the same school. They are 'grande' althought they are the littlest of the Grandes. 3pm - play with the kids
4pm - the kids have an in-between meal
5pm - play with the kids
6pm - the kids have dinner, get them to brush their teeth
7pm - get the kids into pajamas and put them to bed
8pm - volunteer goes home
A typical volunteer day with the
Grandes goes something like this:
A single shift:
6am - the kids wake up, help the kids dress for school
6.30am - the kids have breakfast, get them to brush their teeth
7am - the kids should be ready for school, some leave for school at 7am, some at 7.30am, since they go to different schools
7.30am - volunteer has breakfast
Since the kids are in school, the volunteer is free until the kids come back from school. 1pm - two girls are picked up from the nearby school
2pm - most kids come back from school, before they can have lunch they must wash their school clothes (yes, every day!)
3pm - the kids finish lunch and do homework
4pm - once homework is finished (depends on the kid)
Feeding Diego.
Diego is the calmest of all the Lupes. The only difficulty in working with him is that he doesn't seem to show any positive emotion, ex. he never smiles, which day after day can be hard. Otherwise he is a joy to work with. Diego has had a really rough childhood; his progress is slow, but visible. the kids can play
5pm - play with the kids
6pm - the kids have dinner, get them to brush their teeth
7pm - get the kids into pajamas and put them to bed
8pm - volunteer goes home, exhausted!
The largest group are the Grandes and they are truly a handful. Most of the time they don't want to do their homework or wash their clothes and at 7.30pm it is so difficult to get them all the be quiet and sleep. I also think that the kids are given too much freedom - there are many rules but rather than enforce them through (minor) punishment, the kids are hassled to do their duties. For example, one of the boys never wants to wash his clothes, so as I volunteer my job is run after him until he washes them so that he can eat and then do homework. In that sense I feel that they are given too much attention and I feel that they take advantage of that. But I also understand that they are in a very different life situation from kids coming from relatively stable homes. So a
With Sheyla
Sheyla just recently had an operation so she has difficulty in walking alone, but she is the most able of the Lupes - she feeds herself, brushes her own teeth, and even lets us know when she has to go to the bathroom. It is lovely to see her thriving. lot of it is a balancing act, I presume.
Friday nights the Grandes get to watch a movie because there is no school on Saturday.
Saturdays and Sundays are special days because there is no homework so kids get to go to the pool, to the city to see movies, and go to parties. The Lupes also participate in some of the activities like going to the pool or going to special parties just for them. Some kids get visited by their parents on the weekends (mostly the Lupes), while others visit their parents and siblings - one girl gets picked up by her older brother on Saturday to visit their father in prison. There is also a Casa Hogar for teenagers in the mountains, which cooperates with my Casa, and this week one of the volunteers went there to help out. Hopefully, I will get to go in the future.
Generally, the kids are fun, but when there are a lot of them all they want to do is play and it's been a good challenge learning to handle them all at once.
I enjoy working with the Lupes a lot. Changing diapers is hardly
Nilda being her adorable self
Behind me is the volunteer house - the volunteers sleep on the ground floor and a local family live on the upper floor. glamurous, but they do not have extraordinary requests. They are happy to be carried, talked to, sung to, and fed. There is a most adorable girl called Nilda, who has cerebral paralysis, and she just loves to smile so just watching her makes a person happy. However, she does get very cranky when she wants to be carried and she is not. I get on really well with the señoritas of the Lupes, which is a great help.
A final random observation before I end this blog entry...
Many of the kids have international names, such as Daisy and Emerson. I find this very strange since most of the kids were named by their parents. After asking around I have been told that many kids in Peru have foreign names, mostly American. Another tangible US influence.
This is all for this entry,
Toodles dahlings!
Spanish Phrase of the Entry:
pequeño =
little
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Cara
non-member comment
Look at you!
Hey there! Look at you! Not a scrap of makeup and you look simply gorgeous!! That's a great camera too, takes a good clear shot :P So glad you're doing this blog, it's really interesting, and i get to show my boyfriend so he can finally know who you are :P I hope you are having the time of your life!