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Published: August 15th 2005
My first full day in Ayacucho so far has consisted of an orientation of the CCS program and a tour of the locations that they serve in town. We went to a boy’s home, a soup kitchen, Santa Elena health clinic, a school, and a prison.
The boy’s home is a place were boys from the age of 5-18 live. They are mostly boys whose family can not afford to take care of them. They have a very nice place to live and go to school. It is very clean and they seem really happy. The boys got all excited when we showed up. I think that they really enjoy the time they get to spend with volunteers playing and working on their English.
The soup kitchen is in a extremely poor neighborhood. They provide breakfast and lunch for the children and elderly of their community. Ayacucho is broken up into a bunch of small districts. There is only a small fee for the meals based on the family income, generally 5 Sol’s a month, that is approximately $3.50 USD.
I think I found a school in a very poor neighborhood to donate all the school supplies to
that I brought down. This school is made from mud bricks and has a plaster like coating on the inside walls. The play ground is nothing more then a giant dust bowl. Very Sad. They defiantly are in need of more supplies and books. I will make arrangements to take them the supplies early this week.
We did not go into the prison just to the gates. The prison has 1,000 inmates, 9 of which are women. Most of the inmates are there on drug trafficking charges and the average sentence is 25 years. Drug running is very lucrative for these people and must be worth the risk. The women are allowed conjugal visits and are allowed to keep their children with them in the prison till the child is three years old. At that point the children go to live with family or an orphanage.
I’ll have more information about the health clinic after my first day there to marrow. Their ER is a far cry from the one at Holy Family. It literally is one room and that is it. The OB/GYN department is also only one room with a table in the corner. I’m very
excited to see how they run and what they are actually able to do. I’ll have more information tomorrow.
Last night before our evening meal a young gal named Laurie from Chicago and I went for a walk to the central plaza. Laurie will also be working with me at the Santa Elena Health Clinic. The plaza is Spanish Colonial in style. The center of town was full of Peruvians taking their evening strolls. When the sun goes down behind the mountains it gets dark fast.
This afternoon we have a city tour to orientate us with the lay out of the town. The food has been fabulous so far and the fruits are incredible! You know how I like to eat!
Ciao for now, Machelle
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Senora Silva
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Sue's photos Ayacucho
Great shots Sue of the ninos and locals. What a wonderful experience for tou Take care!!!