Monday 24 November 2014

Bidding farewell to Peru


COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Construction
WRITTEN BY: Stephanie Rainbow

Hola,

Today marks the end of our adventures in Peru. This last week has flown by as we have experienced the end of our time teaching and finally completed the concrete paths around the school, which will serve to keep it from being washed away in the coming rainy season. Yesterday we spent a final lunch out as a group and visited the chocolate museum in the city centre.

It will be very strange to leave the homes and families we have grown used to, catching the bus everyday to Enako and taking the taxi ride to the school of Pumamarca. Some of the distinct features we've encountered have been the bizarre weather, the constant soundtrack of fighting dogs, the lovely planes that pass over our house at 6am every morning and the awesome hill that we have to climb to get home each day.

This week we returned to the families whose houses we visited a couple of weeks before and gave them much needed supplies. The house I visited belonged to Francisco, one of the boys at the school and his younger sister Maria, who's mother ran off and left them in the care of their uncle and aunt. The family previously had no proper table and ate off the place where the food was cooked, so we used the money fundraised in Australia to buy them a table, chairs, some new pots and pans and new blankets for their beds. It was great to be able to really make a difference in the lives of people who have never experienced the prosperous lifestyle that we do, and I pray that Francisco and Maria will be able to finish school so they can have a better future.

Our last day at Pumamarca began with the almost ritual preparation of the fruit salad, before we joined the kids in a series of games such as sack races, tug-of-war and this weird game where the kids ran back and forth filling a small bottle with water and then tipping it into a smaller bucket in the hopes to win by filling it to the top. The kids had lots of fun and it was very enjoyable to beat the boys repeatedly at tug-of-war. The kids were constantly taking my camera off my hands, so I'm sure I have many interesting pictures and videos now!

After the games the kids proceeded to soak each other and the girls in our group where given new hairdos. The day then proceeded into the sad but heart-warming farewells where we were each given flowers and a card by the kids as well as some speeches (which I didn't fully understand but were still very cute!). We were then given more hugs than I quite honestly think I've had in my lifetime with every kid in the school, plus the teachers and the principal. It is hard to think that we may never see these awesome kids again and I hope that one day I can return here to visit.

Tomorrow we will all part ways and head off to different parts of the country, which is sad but everyone is very much looking forward to coming back to the comforts of home. It's been a truly incredible experience, and one I will cherish forever.

Adios, see you soon Australia!

Stephanie Rainbow

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