GIVING A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO KIDS

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco
July 21st 2007

Published: September 14th 2007

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MRJ SthAmericanAdventures

VOLUNTEER KIDS

This day was this little boy´s second....once his mother left he proceeded to cry for quite a while. I became his comforter and tried to occupy him....this worked for a while but then he would just start crying again randomly

When arriving in Cusco and after spending months seeing a lot of poverty I decided that I wanted to do some kind of volunteer work and with kids. Through my spanish school they set me up with an organisation in Cusco that helps undernourished kids. My job was to play with the kids, take care of them and also to help them eat.....the last one I found the most important after a few visits there. I am not sure who runs this day care centre but there was only one Peruvian lady for each group of kids, sometimes that was up to 12 kids, and then they relied on volunteers to help them out. The kids are dropped off in the morning around 9am and they spend the day there while their parents go to work....it is very difficult for the parents to be able to work and look after the kids at the same time, many of the parents would also have younger kids to care for as well. There was three different groups, 1-2yr olds, 2-3yr olds and then 4-5yr olds. I usually stayed with the 2-3yr olds and sometimes with the younger group, but my main group were

VOLUNTEER KIDS

Play time for the kids....all these toys were donated by another volunteer, otherwise they don´t have a lot

at the age where they had no concept of sharing and there was lots of scratching, biting and hitting when toys were taken. The kids would have breakfast in the morning, play time and then lunch and time to sleep after that in time for their parents to pick them up at 3pm. Most of the kids had colds and constant running noses, many had sores on their faces and a lot also had dry and cracked red skin on their cheeks...my theory here is that it is damaged from the cold. A lot of the kids wore the same clothes each day and most of their clothes were quite dirty as well. A lot of the kids were tiny, people are smaller in Peru so that is to be expected, but a lot of them seemed under weight or alternatively had bloated stomachs. To start with the kids were a little unsure of a new person in their mists but it didn´t take long before they were quite happy to have me around.

Feeding time was interesting....some kids ate fast and all of their food and others need a lot of promting. I don´t blame them really as

VOLUNTEER KIDS

This little girl was tiny but had a lot of personality and definately wasn´t afraid to use her small weight to get what she wanted......one of the cheeky ones!

the food was terrible and if I was a kid I wouldn´t eat it either. Breakfast was this foul smelling soup made from quinoa (a grain), some potatoes and powdered milk......I really had trouble at this time of the day and was glad when it was over. After breakfast it was play time and this is when the kids just went ballistic.....there seemed to be no discipline at all and they were just left to their own devices. For example the door to the toilet was usually never shut so they would go in there and find it funny to put the toilet water on the floor....I couldn´t work out why the staff wouldn't avoid problems by shutting doors to the toilet or places they didn't want the kids to go. The first day there was not many toys out for the kids and I was ashamed to say that my nephew has more toys than all these kids put together....over the time I was there toys were brought by volunteers so the kids had more to entertain them. It seemed also that most days the volunteers were left to do the supervising while the staff were up in the

VOLUNTEER KIDS

Serious concentration...or possibly just being ready to fight anyone that takes his toys like most of the kids did.

kitchen having tea and bread.....I couldn´t believe the way the place was run and the fact that they would leave kids solely in the hands of untrained people. There seemed to be a lack of care towards the kids and I wondered what the hell went on when there was no volunteers. It was not uncommon to be left with 12-15 kids all by yourself, not being able to speak the language properly and all of them just running amok. One day I was left with this young girl who on her first day there was distraught after her mother left....she was screaming and her body was going rigid she was so wound up. All I could do was stop her from climbing over the seat which is used as a guard to the outside area, which if she got over she would of hurt herself falling down. She wouldn't let me comfort her and she was looking at me as if I was the devil, it was terrible. There was not one member of staff to be found and the kid was hysterical and I know it wasn´t helped by being left with a stranger who is a white

VOLUNTEER KIDS

The little girl on the right was probably the most developed of the kids and also probably the oldest...she could speak with you and was a lot more grown up. The tiny girl on the left was also not afraid to stand up for herself

girl....I ended up being extremely distraught myself because there was nothing I could do to calm her down and it was such a horrible experience for the poor girl. The other thing that bothered me was that many of the kids would be wearing dirty nappies for a long time and again the staff didn´t seem too bothered....even after us telling them that they needed to be changed. One day a very small young kid wet his pants in my room and left a puddle of wee under the table where all the other kids were playing....obvioulsy not too hygienic. I told the staff member in my room and her reaction was to nod and say yes........20 minutes later the kid is still sitting there wet and the puddle of wee still there whilst the other kids drop their toys right near it. So I had to take action and find something myself to clean it up and practically hand the kid to the lady and tell her to change him. He was then put into a pair of overalls that were way too big for him, it didn´t seem that he had any spare clothes to wear, but I

VOLUNTEER KIDS

This little boy was the smallest of the group and was so skinny it was scary.....kids are smaller here but he was definately under weight. He would always eat all his food and be finished before the bigger kids. A real little sweetie!

did notice that she didn't put a nappy on him. Another hour later and the poor kid has wet himself again, this time right in the middle of the doorway where all the other kids are playing. I go through the same process of telling the staff member who is doing some kind of paperwork instead of supervising the kids, as I got the rest of the kids away from the wee on the floor. When I returned all she had done was tie the overalls around his waist and left him in the wet clothes. By this stage I had had enough of what seemed a huge lack of caring and told her in no uncertain terms that he needs a nappy on and that he can't wear the clothes he had on. So we got him in a nappy and took his pants off to dry in the sun.......not long after this I found the same little boy lying outside on the mat and I wondered what was going on. When I got to him I realised that he was sleeping and so exhausted.....I told the staff member who told me he couldn´t go to bed as he

VOLUNTEER KIDS

This is Eddy and the only kid who´s name I could remember....yes I know that´s terrible.....he was usually a big softy but would come out randomly and show his strength when fighting for toys with the other kids

had to eat lunch in 30 mins.....so I nursed him whilst holding onto his nappy because it was fastened with masking tape and tried to keep him warm until lunch was ready. I also found out at this time that they have a shortage of nappies and it is the reason why so many kids wear dirty nappies for way too long........they have to use the nappies sparingly. So now as I am sitting next to the heater looking after this little boy as all the other kids are now getting hungry and tired and the fighting, scratching and biting is intensifying.......there is not a lot I can do as firstly they don´t really listen to me and secondly I am trying to hold on to a kid as well as his nappy. Of course the staff member is no where to be found and I am literally left there with 12 3 year olds going nuts. This day brought tears to my eyes and I was so upset firstly that these kids are struggling to get even nappies and that the staff don´t seem to care, that I told the security guard to go and get the staff member

VOLUNTEER KIDS

Breakfast time in the younger kids room.....I was amazed at how well they could feed themselves for their age.

now as how was I supposed to look after all these kids. The afternoon after working I went straight to the markets and brought nappies, wet ones and toilet paper to blow the kids noses with........it would be enough for a couple of days at least.

Even though I spent a lot of the time being frustrated and annoyed at the staff members and wanting to tell them to go shove it to make a stand on the way they ran the place, the reality of it the only people going to be missing out was the kids. After a few days working there they got to know me more and when I arrived I was surrounded by kids yelling out hola and coming to give me hugs and kisses. The same thing happened when I left, I was given kisses by all the kids as this is what they see the adults do in their country when people are greated. They are just like any other kids who love attention and playing and so I also had many beautiful experiences with these kids. They were very affectionate and I think that at home with their parents being so

VOLUNTEER KIDS

Breakfast time usually meant most of the kids getting the foul smelling soup all over them

busy trying to just live that the quality time that is spent with the kids is more limited than in the western world. It seems that kids in these countries are left up to their own devices a lot of the time and left to play while the parents are working.....a lot of kids are dragged along while their parents are out on the street trying to make money. As a result I think many of the kids are very independant and able to do a lot for themselves....I was suprised at how well a lot of the younger kids could feed themselves and didn't know if that was normal for kids their age. Even though they were independant there were a lot of kids that were also craving attention and affection. So for me that meant lots of hugs and time playing with them and taking the time to give them some goodness. I guess my main concern when getting close to the kids was the fact that some of them were more than likely to have nits and I really didn´t want to get them as it would mean having to shave my head.......I didn´t get nits but

VOLUNTEER KIDS

One of the younger kids...again tiny but this little girl was full of hugs this day and was very affectionate

I did manage to get their cold.

So basically all I ended up doing while working was trying to stop any major injuries caused by nails, teeth or fists, break up fights, try to get them to understand the concept of sharing, take kids to the toilet, help with feeding, play games, wipe noses, give hugs, get hugs and try to keep the staff members honest. It was both a very rewarding experience and frustrating experience and a big eye opener........I was concerned that when I left I was the last volunteer remaining and wondered how they would run the centre with only the staff members. I guess the kids just keep running amok and as long as they don´t hurt themselves I guess that is a good day. It´s such a shame that there is no organised learning activities for the kids and no time taken to develop them other than letting themselves learn via the toys. I wonder where the kids will be in 5 or 10 years and if any of them will be lucky enough to get an education and possibly break out of the cycle of poverty.

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