So I have officially been south of the Equator for one week, and am starting to get comfortable being here. It seems just as one situation begins to be routine, another new one appears and i have a whole new set of guidelines, jargon, and people to meet. It makes for a truely amazing experience.
Today I met with the the coordinators of "Sonrisas de Esperanza" or "Smiles of Hope" the organization I will be teaching English for, and visited the site where I will be teaching English. I have had a few definitions of what "poor" is, but I gained a new perspective into what it can mean. The only thing I have ever seen that even came close to matching the poverty in the San Juan de Miraflores district of Peru is in Bosnia. But for some reason that pales in comparasion to what I encountered today.
I do not pity the people living in the Cerrobola district because they don't seem to pity themselves and it would seem contrite to do so. The only thing I can do is respect them as one would to any other person, and teach English the best I can.
I start my first class on Tuesday June 3rd, and will teach two 1 1/2 classes for kids ranging from 8-16. I also will be giving classes on basic sanitation to adults and how to properly clean their food and make sure the water they do have is safe to drink. As I have said before, I'm not here to move mountains, just hopefully start a network with caring individuals and have an impact in a few lives that would not have periviously had the opportunity to learn a foreign language.
More to come...
Tomas
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About Me
- Tomas
- Lima, Peru
- I am a recent graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) with a double major in Spanish and Communication Studies. I am currently traveling to Lima, Peru to be a volunteer at "Sonrisas de Esperanza" (Smiles of Hope) which is a non-profit agency. I will be teaching English and giving nutritional workshops while there. This blog will serve as an update site for activities I am involved with as well as a site to reflect on issues and feelings.
1 comment:
I know what you mean about the poor -- and I didn't take pictures of a lot of such things. One thing that I wished I'd done more of was notice those things -- particular examples of them -- and noted them in simple language. Like, I saw an X being used for Y (which is something you'd never see somewhere as affluent as Fargo).
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