Advertisement
Published: November 30th 2005
The cooker at Los Gorriones
They desperately need funding for a kitchen. Hello everyone,
Hope all is well with all of you.
I´m only going to give you a very brief update on the orphanage today as my afternoon was (I feel) the most incredible I´ve spent here so far.
Arrived at the orphanage fairly sharpish. Kids were in the process of being washed and dressed. Breakfast today was like stewed apples - smelled delicious. I managed to feed Jorge (my boy!) who is usually a pretty fussy eater, and also one other new wee boy whos name I haven´t quite come to grips with yet!!
After breakfast I folded some nappies and, I think I may have been promoted!! I was allowed to change Jorge´s nappy!! They take the wet nappies off, squirt the tender parts with some luke warm water in a bottle, dry it off (with the dirty nappy!!) and then add some talc. The new nappy is then put on. It felt a bit strange wrapping a baby in a dish towel for a nappy, but there you go!! No nappy pins used. Instead it is secured with a plastic outer lining which is tied to hold the nappy in place. Jorge seemed pretty happy
with the whole process and I got a "muy bien" from the Senora in charge, so I must have done a reasonable job!!
After breakfast we took Fernando, Rosa and Rosario out for a walk. They were actually allowed to sleep before lunch today. Jorge slept curled up in my lap which was nice. Had to waken them all for food, and I fed Jorge again. It was the usual - soup followed by apple dessert. Have discovered that Jorge is a boy who prefers dessert to the main course (typical!!) and also likes to keep an eye on everything else going on around him whilst he eats. As a result the entire process takes twice as long as with all the other kids, but we got there and had plenty of fun in the process!! After lunch it was time for Vicki and I to head back to base.
I had a nice surprise at lunch - a lovely "Thinking of You" card from Betty Taylor in Church. Very much appreciated and I´m sure you´ll understand why as you read about the rest of my afternoon!! It was a lovely thought, and it´s great to know that
all my friends are being so supportive via cards, letters, e-mails and even funny comments in the blog!!
Mum - again, can you please pass on my thanks to Betty. It really meant a lot.
My afternoon was absolutely incredible. Have been trying to find a cause which I can donate to and encourage all my friends at home to support too. I found it today. Marisol told us about an orphanage run by a Belgian couple which relies totally on donations. Some of the children living there are special needs children - mentally and physically disabled.
As soon as we entered, Vicki was literally accosted by two children who had been in the special school where she volunteered for her first six weeks here. She had absolutely no idea that they lived in an orphanage.
The orphanage is called Los Gorriones. Please, please, please check out the following website
www.losgorriones.net
I hope that a look at the website and the attached photos will inspire you somewhat. They need everything - cash to develop and volunteers to help.
The orphanage has been established by a Belgian couple Gil and Chantal. They have been
Fridge Freezer
They do have one, but would benefit from more freezer space!! running for roughly one year. At present they have 28 children in a rented and adapted accomodation which should only take 20. A number of these are special needs. Two special children to mention are Ruth Karina and Lube.
Ruth Karina has actually been adopted by Gil and Chantal. She is blind, cannot speak and has no control over the right side of her body. Scars on her body show that she has also been subject to physical violence before coming to Gil and Chantal. Doctors attribute her condition to cerebral palsy. She certainly has extensive brain damage. Gil is exceptionally proud of his daughter and I was moved to tears when introduced to her.
Lube was sitting outside in her wheelchair enjoying the sun. She has a wicked sense of humour. I showed her some of the photos I had taken on my digital camera and she thought they were hillarious.
I didn´t feel it was appropriate to take photos of these very special kids. I hope my words in this blog are sufficient and even remotely adequate to describe them.
There is one room dedicated to the special needs children. Therapists are employed who
come and work with the children for 1-2 hours per day. There are a number of other regular employees and volunteers.
The bedrooms for the other children are fairly cramped, but brightly decorated and strewn with toys - a real home as it looks much more "lived in" than the girls orphanage. Children currently sleep two to a bed - one at each end, as there are currently more kids than available space.
I have attached photos of the kitchen - or lack of!! This is an area where funds are needed to build a proper kitchen. All cooking is currently performed on a very old fashioned range. There were rabbits in cages, and hens in a coop - a source of food for the large family living there. The photos of the lady washing in the sink shows that there is no washing machine. They also have no van or car to take the children out on trips - something that is a dream for them at the moment.
The special needs kids will continue to have special needs, and this involves a wide range of equipment - wheelchairs and lifting equipment etc. More will be
Kids Play Area
They were having a great time!! required as these kids grow.
There were also two dogs, which the kids absolutely love, and I spotted two kittens. Have attached a photo of Marisol with one of the kittens. He was gorgeous - I got to cuddle him for a bit and he was purring sooooo loudly. It made me feel really at home, and I think it´s good for the kids to have pets too!!
There is also an amazing play area for the children. I have attached some photos. The little boy is one of the kids who attended Vicki´s school. They were all thrilled to see her again, and Vicki likewise!!
The doctor was visiting whilst we were there and diagnosed one of the little boys with pneumonia. This was all I established as we didn´t want to intrude. I don´t even know his name, but please remember him in your thoughts and prayers.
The orphanage was set up using Gil and Chantal´s savings, and now relies completely on donations and the help of volunteers. A lot of their funding is received from their friends in Belgium. I would really like to widen the international circle of support.
The very
More of the play area
Seesaw in the far left corner with swings and a chute. strong impression I have is that there is a lot of love in that place - much more so than in the orphanage where I currently work. Gil and Chantal have made these children their lives, and this is the ethos adopted by all of the other employees and volunteers. The children are all very well cared for and very happy.
It was an amazing contrast to the girls orphanage where I´m spending the remainder of my three weeks, and I must say a very positive contrast. I felt immediately at home there with the people. The kids are obviously given a lot of cuddles and physical attention, which is sadly lacking in the girls orphanage. They also have lots of fun!!
They have managed to successfully find homes for some of the children, but involvement doesn´t end there. Gil and Chantal will remain in contact with the family to ensure that the child is settling and is happy. Social workers will also be involved in the process. The main room is covered with photos of kids with their new families.
I chatted to Gil for a bit and he explained that their inspiration was Mother Theresa
Vicki´s pupil
Didn´t catch his mane. Maybe Vicki will update with a comment as she´s not with me at the moment. He was on the climbing frame having a ball!! - for me, there couldn´t be a better role model!!
CCS volunteers only assist there in the summer as the majority of children there are at school during the day. I only wish I could have gone there to work.
I´m not going to say anymore. I´ll leave you to check out the website for yourselves. All I will say is that it made a huge impression on both Vicki and myself. If you really want to help people in Peru, from all I´ve seen so far, this is the project I would recommend. It really moved me -this couple are doing an incredible job.
Mum - can you please make sure I get a couple of Saturdays (or actually as many as we can manage) booked for the Church tea room so I can start to do my bit as soon as I get home.
I have also spoken to CCS about donating to the Wawa Wasi programme. I have 105 pounds which was raised by my friends before I left. I plan to order some soft play toys which will be donated to the wider WW programme. This means that kids in other WWs (as well as the one I worked with) will benefit. Will organise this later in the week. Marisol reckons I can order the things on line and have them delivered to CCS to pass on. Hope that everyone who donated is comfortable with this use of the funds.
That´s all for today. I´ve got a lot of literature on Los Gorriones to read and plan to spend a fairly quiet and reflective night just gathering my thoughts about what I´ve seen. Apologies if the above is rambling and emotive - that´s exactly how I´m feeling at the moment and with me what you see is pretty much what you get!!
Please, please, please, please check out the website. It would mean a lot to me if nothing else.
Lesley x
Advertisement
Tot: 0.201s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 48; dbt: 0.1578s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Vicki
non-member comment
Pequeño
The lad with Downs Syndrome (climbing on the frame in Lesley´s photo) who lives at Home Loss Gorriones and goes to the Escuela Especial in Ayacucho (where I volunteered for 6 weeks) is called Jhonatan, although he is known as "Pequeño" (which means "small") at school because we had 2 Jhonatans in one class. Echo everything Lesley has said on her Blog about our visit to Los Gorriones. The place is simply brimming over with love and affection for the children.