Dear

First of all i have to apologise for the length of time it has taken me to contact you. it has been a pretty hectic 6 months. ( i know that is no excuse.) Second of all i have to thank you again for all your help in the fundraising process.

Well so much has happened in the past 6 months but i will try and sum it up. When i first arrived to the orphanage the first thing that caught my eye was the amazing view of the volcano Misti. Although the streets are slightly rough and very dirty, Peru is still a beautiful country. On my second week here i was lucky enough to be taken to the hot-springs of a nearby volcano where we were allowed to swim. 

The ‘Aldea infantil’ which translates to ‘the children’s village’ is exactly that. From the outside it looks like a normal small village with 9 houses, a park, a small community centre and even a volleyball/ basketball court. Only 6 of the houses have children in them, 1 is for the directors, 1 is used as the store house and wash room and the other is mine a Jodie’s. The community canter is generally used for party’s or meetings which involve the whole Aldea. There is also a T.V room where the older children can go and relax after they have finished all their homework and any chores. Each house has 8-11 kids age ranging from 1 year old to 16 years old. As the kids have school in the morning, i help out in the houses. i have been cooking from scratch for a family of 11, which is challenging at times, however when completed, very rewarding. After the cooking is done we move on to the washing, yes again for a house of 11, however as me and Jodie soon realised, we do not have the luxury of washing machines. No. All washing is done by hand, which again is a hard task but one in which i have come to enjoy. We usually finish all the house chores at around 12pm which leaves us an hour and 30 minutes before lunch. in this time we take all of the younger children who don’t have school and play with them before lunch. i have now set up a nursery in the living room of our house where we have a variety of toys and stimulation activities for the younger children. After lunch we have a few hours in which we are free to do what we want, however free time here is a luxury and in our break we usually have a number of different distractions ranging from teaching English to the house tias, to helping the handy man with some lifting or moving and if no one needs our help 9 times out of 10 our house will need a good clean. At 3 o’clock we hold English classes for all those who want to lean; we have a different age group each day. The first hour of the lesson is English and after we do arts and crafts and games and sports. Weekends we have off however as i have said before, free time is rare and so on a Saturday we usually find ourselves painting the older girls nails or straightening hair. i have also on a number of occasions, been dragged into a game of football or volley however when picking teams i am always last as everyone knows im not the best at sport.

What we do in our time off

When we first arrived in Arequipa we thought that there was nothing to do, no cinema, no bowling, no shops, nothing. However after being here 6 months i have now realised that you do not need all these things in order to have fun! For example at Halloween we held a party for the whole Aldea, now i must admit it was not like any of the party’s i would attend in Scotland however it was the most fun i have had in a while and yet another memory of this year i will never forget.

Even though the children do provide a lot of entertainment, sometimes you do need to get out of the aldea and have some time to yourself. i have seen some wonderful  places here, for example, i have been horse riding in Characato ( a beautiful traditional village in one of the more quieter areas of Arequipa). i Have been go karting ( which was rather scary considering the lack of health and safety in Peru). i have even visited the famous Colca Canyon. Also when i have free afternoons i sometimes take the older kids swimming and the younger ones to the park. i have even experienced 5 earthquakes and been involved in 3 car accidents ( not me driving ) but don’t worry i am still in one piece.

The first few months and how i feel now

You are probably thinking from the first part of this letter, that i seemed to have settled in well, and now i suppose i have however in the first few months it was a completely different story. I’m not going to lie, in the first month i was on the phone to my parents regularly in tears wanting to come home. i hated the shower that was solar powered, which meant hot water was only available midday. The regular power cuts which lasted days as thief’s would steal the cable and sell the material. The fact that when you wanted a drink of water it had to be boiled first, meaning your thirst was never quenched. Whenever i asked for a taxi the price would automatically double due to the fact i am white. The personal alarm clock of children playing on our roof at 7am on a Sunday morning. The language barrier! No matter how may times you would say to the children “no entiendo” they would still keep repeating what they were saying, or say it louder in hope it would help. Looking back now, all these things did seem very annoying, however i have now come to accept them, and in a way it would seem weird without them. Now my language is so much better and i have become wise to the scams. Even cold showers don’t bother me much anymore, however that may be due to the fact that its summer here at the moment and so a cold shower is quite welcoming, ( we will see how i feel about that in winter!) i am a great believer in positive thinking and i truly believe that this is what got me through my darkest points here. i don’t look back on these times and wish they never happened, i am quite glad i felt like that because it makes me even stronger when i look at how i feel now and how i have progressed. Sometimes you need to hit that lowest point of being sad to finally get back up on your feet again. Without this there would be no accomplishment, no testing of our limitations.

How i have changed

My life has changed a great deal since I’ve been here, I’ve changed. My priority’s have shifted & somehow the UK top 40 or the latest fashion style’s just don’t seem that important anymore. They are trivial things in comparison to what is important out here. The children. The children who are so much apart of my every day life & yes sometimes you get frustrated when your trying to teach them & they wont listen, having knocks at your door at all hours of the day because they have forgot the time of their English class or they want you to play football, however in all honesty i wouldn’t have it any other way, i love my life here. Sometimes i sit here & think to myself what my life is going to be like when i return to the UK. Sometimes i even wonder if that’s the life i want. All the hustle & bustle. This year has given me a new found appreciation for life. When i return i am going to live and love each and every day. Not only my appreciation for life has grown but i appreciate everything so much more now, my house, money, and most of all my parents.

i really don’t think anyone could contemplate what it feels like to be out here. Even me, who knew i was coming to Peru & prepared for it a year in advance was totally taken aback by how demanding it is. People say ohh i know how you must feel. Wrong…because even i couldn’t imagine it. Before i came i couldn’t see myself changing that much. i thought i had done all the growing up i had to do. However in such a short space of time i have already found out so much more about myself! i doubt in my whole life i will ever experience anything like this again. Or have so many challenges in so short a time but i am thankful. Thankful for it all. The hard times & the good. As it has led me to where i am now & I’m in a very happy place.

Although i know i still have many many lessons to learn. I’m not done yet. i have met people here that i feel i will always remember & have a connection with. Some of the nicest people in the whole world with the biggest hearts i have ever seen. People who are free from all the grief that comes with living in a technologically developed country…people who’s idea of a perfect day isn’t a shopping spree in topshop but simply sitting on a hill & watching the sunset. i have learnt to appreciate these perfect days & everything else i have to be thankful for.

i am really looking forward to the rest of my time here as i know it can only get better. i hope in some small way i am making a difference with my time here & when the day comes to say goodbye it will quite literally break my heart to leave the country & people i have so come to love.

Well i hope i have managed to give you an insight into my life here in Peru. i would just like to say again thank you or all of your support in the fundraising process, i really am grateful for this opportunity. Once again i am so sorry for not being in touch sooner.