This time I will just add a link to another blog that I wrote a little while ago. Reuse is the word at the moment, isn't it :)?
My life as a volunteer at La Casa de Panchita (click here)
I must emphasise once more that please make your donations before Christmas and help us to continue our work! You can find links at the end of the other blog. Thank you so much for your help!
I wish you all a very peaceful time before Christmas!
Love <3
sunnuntai 7. joulukuuta 2014
perjantai 26. syyskuuta 2014
A lazy blogger ...
I promised my friends I will write into my blog once a month. Well, it's been 2 months since my last writing, so I guess I am not very good at keeping my promises... So sorry about that!
Time seems to be flying here in Lima, but I guess that is the same pretty much everywhere when you are having fun! To be honest life isn't always just pure fun, but I have enjoyed my time in Lima. Yes, it is still grey and most of the time cold and it drizzles almost every night, although someone told me that spring will start September 23rd. Maybe it did, I just haven't noticed much of a difference. But I would be lying if I didn't tell you that September 12th and 13th sun was shining for two whole days :D!!! (Yes, I did check from my calendar, because I wrote it down).
So what has happened since I last wrote... I have a schedule now at work. Sunday mornings I am with children who come to La Casa de Panchita from Pamplona Alta (poorer areas in Lima). These are (mostly) girls who have been identified as child domestic workers or in danger of very likely becoming one. Usually there are about 25 girls attending. In the morning we try to have some fun with them, go to the park and play games, then coming back to La Casa de Panchita where we have different workshops. Sometimes we are talking about domestic work and risks, or we could be talking about their families and how they feel in different situations etc. but always we are drawing, painting, cutting paper and gluing, doing things with our hands. These mornings are lots of fun. I have also noticed that most of these lovely girls are really, really great at drawing! There are many talents to be found here.
After having lunch with the girls they go on with their activities and I continue to teach English basics. Depending on who is attending the group we are trying to learn different things greetings to numbers to verbs and so on. I must say that this class is also my Spanish class since my great students are teaching me plenty! We try to have fun and not make learning so serious. After English class I have a privilege to spend couple of hours with some amazing ladies learning about Internet and computers. There is this one lady who comes every Sunday and first thing she wants to do is check her horoscope and next she goes to search new cooking recipes. Last Sunday she wanted to know what we cook in Finland. Lucky for Internet we did find recipes of Finnish food in Spanish :), since I am not much of a cook nor is my Spanish good enough to explain any cooking!
Monday through Friday mornings I go to my Spanish classes. On Mondays after my class I go to one of the schools in Pamplona Alta. It feels really great now because I can find my way all the way to the school with two different combis (small busses) and I even know when to get off!!! Most of the time I know how much the fare is but during last month the guys on combis charge me different amounts every time so I actually have no clue how much I should be paying. At least I know how much I shouldn't be paying :).
At the school we have a morning group that is there until 12.30 and the next one arrives around 1 pm. We help the children with their homework and every week we have different excercises for them about math or Spanish. I am not so great helping with the Spanish grammar but I do like the math :)! I did take me while to remember all what they are doing at school when you are around 10 (also they teach things differently here). But last Monday I was teaching decimal calculations to these poor kids! Poor kids because it was ME who was teaching them with my still-bad Spanish. I guess I'll see soon if they learned anything, when next Monday we do the exercises!!!!
On Tuesdays usually I go to help my wonderful colleague Adalid in risk workshops that are held in different schools again in the same area Pamplona Alta. There are 6 or 7 different workshops (not quite sure but eventually I know!). The workshops are about risks. During the series of workshops we first talk about what is a risk and what kind of risks there are and how to handle if e.g. someone asks you to do something you don't want to. In the following workshops we move on to discussing more about what is a child domestic work, when is work a work (helping your mother or working everyday for a neighbour). The idea is to make children realise that they might actually be working and perhaps give them tools how to see things differently. These workshops are held in normal classes so we don't know which, if any, of the children work. When making surveys with the children who do work, they quite often don't think what they do is work. They think they are helping out a relative or a neighbour, but if a 10-year-old child is taking care of a 1 year old baby every day more than 8 hours a day when the mother is going to work, that can be called work and not just helping!
To continue with my schedule, on Wednesdays I am at the office. At La Casa de Panchita there is a employment agency, where I have been helping once in a while. There is quite often different types of excels to fill etc. and I try to help with what ever I can. Or one Wednesday I went with other volunteers to share leaflets in areas where we thought we could find adult domestic workers. We told them about La Casa de Panchita and our services and where we are. It was very interesting to see their facial expressions changing from absolute disbelief to smile and warmth :) Especially at one point we were just to blonde gringos starting to talk to these wonderful ladies! (Luckily the other gringo speaks so much better Spanish than I do ;). Or another Wednesday I went with other volunteers to help local Cancer organisation to raise funds on the streets of Lima. And again I met wonderful people on the streets, some of them who wanted to share their stories.
Thursdays is back to school, another school this time, but again in Pamplona Alta. This school has been "famous" for having very difficult children in our group. I have heard stories about how they were when people from La Casa de Panchita started to work there! They are not anymore that bad, most of the time they are actually really sweat but there are some challenges, at least compared to other schools. Sometimes I really, really wish that one morning I could wake up and my Spanish would be at least much closer to perfect than it is now, so I could communicate better with these kids. These kids, like we all do, have good days and bad days and when it is THE bad day, it would be so much easier to handle to situation with better Spanish. Luckily I am not there alone. Again, my absolutely remarkable, amazing Peruvian colleague Adalid saves it all :)!!!
Sometimes on Tuesday and/or Thursday evenings I attend evening classes where there are a bit older students (not all) and we have different workshops with them.
Then it is my weekend, Friday and Saturday!!! Mostly on my timeoff I am just being lazy and doing nothing since after work week I must admit, I am pretty beat. But I do love what I am doing here. I have had some fun days with my great Finnish friend Heidi, who is also volunteering in Lima. I have had some odd evenings with wine and my landlady in our kitchen. I have also bought a membership card to a gym so I have been going there as well (to be honest only few times but I will go next week!). And last Friday we finally went out with the girls from work (after weeks of planning) and it was a lot of fun :D!!!
It has been 3 years since I quit my job as an IT consultant and I never thought I'd be doing this, but I love it :D!
Time seems to be flying here in Lima, but I guess that is the same pretty much everywhere when you are having fun! To be honest life isn't always just pure fun, but I have enjoyed my time in Lima. Yes, it is still grey and most of the time cold and it drizzles almost every night, although someone told me that spring will start September 23rd. Maybe it did, I just haven't noticed much of a difference. But I would be lying if I didn't tell you that September 12th and 13th sun was shining for two whole days :D!!! (Yes, I did check from my calendar, because I wrote it down).
So what has happened since I last wrote... I have a schedule now at work. Sunday mornings I am with children who come to La Casa de Panchita from Pamplona Alta (poorer areas in Lima). These are (mostly) girls who have been identified as child domestic workers or in danger of very likely becoming one. Usually there are about 25 girls attending. In the morning we try to have some fun with them, go to the park and play games, then coming back to La Casa de Panchita where we have different workshops. Sometimes we are talking about domestic work and risks, or we could be talking about their families and how they feel in different situations etc. but always we are drawing, painting, cutting paper and gluing, doing things with our hands. These mornings are lots of fun. I have also noticed that most of these lovely girls are really, really great at drawing! There are many talents to be found here.
After having lunch with the girls they go on with their activities and I continue to teach English basics. Depending on who is attending the group we are trying to learn different things greetings to numbers to verbs and so on. I must say that this class is also my Spanish class since my great students are teaching me plenty! We try to have fun and not make learning so serious. After English class I have a privilege to spend couple of hours with some amazing ladies learning about Internet and computers. There is this one lady who comes every Sunday and first thing she wants to do is check her horoscope and next she goes to search new cooking recipes. Last Sunday she wanted to know what we cook in Finland. Lucky for Internet we did find recipes of Finnish food in Spanish :), since I am not much of a cook nor is my Spanish good enough to explain any cooking!
Monday through Friday mornings I go to my Spanish classes. On Mondays after my class I go to one of the schools in Pamplona Alta. It feels really great now because I can find my way all the way to the school with two different combis (small busses) and I even know when to get off!!! Most of the time I know how much the fare is but during last month the guys on combis charge me different amounts every time so I actually have no clue how much I should be paying. At least I know how much I shouldn't be paying :).
At the school we have a morning group that is there until 12.30 and the next one arrives around 1 pm. We help the children with their homework and every week we have different excercises for them about math or Spanish. I am not so great helping with the Spanish grammar but I do like the math :)! I did take me while to remember all what they are doing at school when you are around 10 (also they teach things differently here). But last Monday I was teaching decimal calculations to these poor kids! Poor kids because it was ME who was teaching them with my still-bad Spanish. I guess I'll see soon if they learned anything, when next Monday we do the exercises!!!!
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| This picture is from Pamplona Alta. |
On Tuesdays usually I go to help my wonderful colleague Adalid in risk workshops that are held in different schools again in the same area Pamplona Alta. There are 6 or 7 different workshops (not quite sure but eventually I know!). The workshops are about risks. During the series of workshops we first talk about what is a risk and what kind of risks there are and how to handle if e.g. someone asks you to do something you don't want to. In the following workshops we move on to discussing more about what is a child domestic work, when is work a work (helping your mother or working everyday for a neighbour). The idea is to make children realise that they might actually be working and perhaps give them tools how to see things differently. These workshops are held in normal classes so we don't know which, if any, of the children work. When making surveys with the children who do work, they quite often don't think what they do is work. They think they are helping out a relative or a neighbour, but if a 10-year-old child is taking care of a 1 year old baby every day more than 8 hours a day when the mother is going to work, that can be called work and not just helping!
To continue with my schedule, on Wednesdays I am at the office. At La Casa de Panchita there is a employment agency, where I have been helping once in a while. There is quite often different types of excels to fill etc. and I try to help with what ever I can. Or one Wednesday I went with other volunteers to share leaflets in areas where we thought we could find adult domestic workers. We told them about La Casa de Panchita and our services and where we are. It was very interesting to see their facial expressions changing from absolute disbelief to smile and warmth :) Especially at one point we were just to blonde gringos starting to talk to these wonderful ladies! (Luckily the other gringo speaks so much better Spanish than I do ;). Or another Wednesday I went with other volunteers to help local Cancer organisation to raise funds on the streets of Lima. And again I met wonderful people on the streets, some of them who wanted to share their stories.
Thursdays is back to school, another school this time, but again in Pamplona Alta. This school has been "famous" for having very difficult children in our group. I have heard stories about how they were when people from La Casa de Panchita started to work there! They are not anymore that bad, most of the time they are actually really sweat but there are some challenges, at least compared to other schools. Sometimes I really, really wish that one morning I could wake up and my Spanish would be at least much closer to perfect than it is now, so I could communicate better with these kids. These kids, like we all do, have good days and bad days and when it is THE bad day, it would be so much easier to handle to situation with better Spanish. Luckily I am not there alone. Again, my absolutely remarkable, amazing Peruvian colleague Adalid saves it all :)!!!
Sometimes on Tuesday and/or Thursday evenings I attend evening classes where there are a bit older students (not all) and we have different workshops with them.
Then it is my weekend, Friday and Saturday!!! Mostly on my timeoff I am just being lazy and doing nothing since after work week I must admit, I am pretty beat. But I do love what I am doing here. I have had some fun days with my great Finnish friend Heidi, who is also volunteering in Lima. I have had some odd evenings with wine and my landlady in our kitchen. I have also bought a membership card to a gym so I have been going there as well (to be honest only few times but I will go next week!). And last Friday we finally went out with the girls from work (after weeks of planning) and it was a lot of fun :D!!!
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| Party Girls at Barranco, Lima :)!!! |
sunnuntai 27. heinäkuuta 2014
Exploring South America and first month at work
All is well in Lima. It is winter so it's grey, humid (and humid and humid and really humid) and at the moment drizzling. But every once in a while when we see the sun, oh it feels so good :). I've been told that August is the worst. We are almost there so no worries, we'll get through! And to be honest it doesn't really differ that much our autumn months in Finland, except it's a lot warmer here (outside, not inside). Enough about the weather, I didn't come here for the weather, did I :)?
Since I last wrote I've been lucky to have been traveling a bit to Argentina and Uruguay for a week. I liked them both a lot. Buenos Aires, especially Palermo Viajo, seems really European with cute cafes and restaurants and small boutiques. Also went to see San Telmo and the market and of course found a really nice French-owned restaurant. Everywhere in Argentina the beef and red wine are amazing!!! It was a bit cooler in Buenos Aires, but the sun was there, aaaah! The sun followed us to Uruguay, Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento. Montevideo was a nice city with a really long beach (quite cold in the winter, I must say) but the sunset in Colonia was one of the most amazing once I've ever seen.
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| Buenos Aires, Argentina |
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| Montevideo, Uruguay |
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| Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay |
Sundays are important days at La Casa de Panchita, since Sunday is normally the only day off for domestic workers. We have kids coming from the poorer areas for a day of fun and there are many different workshops for adults (English, German, dance, drawing, singing, cooking to name a few). It is usually a fun day with lots of people around having a good time.
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| Sunday at work |
I have also been able to attend workshops with the incredible ladies that come to La Casa de Panchita. There is an employment agency who helps women to find a good job. Employment agency is also the place to come if they have problems with their employers. Before you can apply jobs through the agency you need to go through three-day training where different topics are discussed, for example employee's and employers rights, empowerment of women, how to build more self-esteem and also more concrete issues like recycling and what to do if an emergency happens. And one day is spent in the kitchen to learn different types of cooking. I must say that the scent that comes from the kitchen on those days is really tempting!! (I might have ask if I can join this class, since my cooking and cooking skills are absolutely non-existent at the moment!!!)
This all happens in Spanish, of course, so I might have missed some important things that happens in all these projects, but I think I have covered the basics :). My days are a non-stop Spanish comprehension class all day through :). I am getting there with my Spanish.... Well, of course not as quickly as I would like to (in my mind I should be fluent by now, I've been here 1,5 months already!!!) but I am trying to be patient. I scream of excitement when I can make a sentence that someone actually understands. What a feeling that is :D. The same feeling comes when you have a conversation with someone and you can actually have a (short, but still a) conversation!!! (meaning understanding correctly what they say and give an answer that is actually an answer to THAT question and so on.... It is pretty cool ;) and something you don't realise when you know a language!) I must say huge thanks to all my fellow volunteers, everyone at La Casa de Panchita, the children and the ladies and random people in Lima for being so understanding with my poor Spanish. I promise you all, I will get there, I will be able to make proper sentences that makes sense both in present and past tense and have a more than one sentence conversation with you - one of these days :D. Bear with me!!! Everyone here has been really patient with my crappy Spanish. Even when I just put words after another (normally in wrong conjugation, of course), they nod and try to understand me and guess what I am saying. It is really sweet and I really thank everyone for that <3!!
This month we also celebrated the 25th anniversary of La Casa de Panchita! The official day, July 16th, we had official celebrations with representatives from ministries, partners, embassies and so on. On Sunday, July 20th there were celebrations with kids and ladies, friend's of La Casa de Panchita, volunteers and everyone was invited. There was a lot going on with games, singing, comics and of course the cake! It was a fun and exhausting day :).
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| La Casa de Panchita 25 years! |
So what next? Tomorrow, July 28th, is the Independence Day of Perú so there will be lots of celebrations around the city. Schools are on holidays for two weeks so we won't be going to schools. I will attend an NGO conference in Trujillo and then back to normal routine with work. I will also have a visitor from Germany to explore Lima with :).
Enjoy your summer in Europe!!!!!! Hasta luego!
tiistai 17. kesäkuuta 2014
Soy Soile!
Me llamo Soile. Soy de Finlandia, es decir soy finlandesa :). Soy una voluntaria. This is what I started with at Peruwayna last week, my first Spanish lessons in Peru. It was lot of fun with my great teacher Marilyn and 2 girls from UK. We learned how to introduce ourselves, ask where to go when we are lost and lots of other important things :)!! I must say this week I can already make some sentences - great start, I'd say :D! Well, I am far, far, far from fluent but day by day I am getting there, creo que si!
Last week there were many firsts: my first ceviche, my first visit to Centro de Lima, my first pisco sour (local drink), my first glass of Peruvian white wine (I think!) to name a few. I have enjoyed lovely food, met really nice people and started to enjoy this, a bit grey city (well, it is winter!!!). Weekend surprised us all and we saw the sun :)!!!
So first two weeks I am a student, next week I will be a tourist and then volunteer work starts at Casa de Panchita!
Last week there were many firsts: my first ceviche, my first visit to Centro de Lima, my first pisco sour (local drink), my first glass of Peruvian white wine (I think!) to name a few. I have enjoyed lovely food, met really nice people and started to enjoy this, a bit grey city (well, it is winter!!!). Weekend surprised us all and we saw the sun :)!!!
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| Centro de Lima con mis chicas |
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| Pisco Sour @ Hotel Bolivia |
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| Ceviche á la Punto Azul, Miraflores |
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| Trying very hard to study @ Parque Kennedy, Miraflores |
So first two weeks I am a student, next week I will be a tourist and then volunteer work starts at Casa de Panchita!
sunnuntai 8. kesäkuuta 2014
Alkuhämmennystä ja -ihmettelyä
Täällä siis viimeinkin ollaan - Perun Limassa. Onhan tätä jo kauan odotettukin, mutta kuten aina, viimeiset hetket lensivät kuin siivillä ja tälläkin kertaa osa järjestelyistä jäi kuin jäikin viime tippaan. Mutta deadline on ainakin allekirjoittaneelle yksi parhaimmista motiiveista asioiden loppuunsaattamisessa eli kaikki tuli tehtyä enemmän tai vähemmän kunnolla :).
Kauas on pitkä matka! Tuli koettua elämäni pisin yhtämittainen lento Amsterdamista - Limaan 12,5 tuntia. Yllättävän hyvin meni matka, sillä lähtöä edeltäneenä yönä en nukkunut lainkaan, joten nukutti kyllä koko ajan, kuten on nukuttanut viimeisen vuorokauden ajan.
Valitettavasti sain tutustua jo kaupungin ikäväänkin puoleen :(. Matka Liman lentokentältä majapaikkaani ei sujunut ihan ongelmitta. Lentokentällä vastassa oli sovitusti turvalliseksi tunnettu taksikuski. Jouduimme kuitenkin ajelemaan ei-niin-turvallisen-alueen läpi ja yhdessä risteyksessä, kun odotimme kääntymistä vasemmalle, eräs mies yhtäkkiä iski auton ikkunan rikki ja yritti viedä laukkuni. Onneksi olin jo kuullut näistä tapahtumista ennakkoon, joten käsilaukku oli lattialla ja ovet lukossa. Sain myös pidettyä laukustani kiinni, joten varas jäi tällä kertaa ilman saalista ja häipyi takavasemmalle. Loppumatkan istuin lasinsirpaleiden keskellä, jotka eivät onneksi aiheuttaneet kuin pari pientä haavaa. Varmuuden vuoksi pidin kuitenkin kädessäni jättikokoista lasinsirpaletta ja vannoin mielessäni, että seuraavaa tyyppiä isken sillä, jos uskaltaa lähestyä! Ei ehkä ihan järkevä suhtautuminen asiaan, mutta onneksi tällaista tilannetta ei tullut ja matka perille sujui mainiosti.
Maailmalla sattuu ja tapahtuu, mutta ei saa antaa ikävien asioiden ottaa ylivaltaa. Myönnän, että ensimmäinen yö ja päivä meni hieman maailman pahuutta ihmetellessä. Tosin ihmettelyyn saattoi vaikuttaa myös aikaero ja matkaväsymys, mutta väsymyksestä toivuttuani alkaa taas maailma näyttää suht mukavalta paikalta :).
Tänään kävin tutustumassa sumuiseen rantaviivaan, mutta enpä muistanut ottaa kameraa mukaan, joten kuvia saatte jäädä vielä odottelemaan.
Ihanaista kesää sinne Suomeen <3
Kauas on pitkä matka! Tuli koettua elämäni pisin yhtämittainen lento Amsterdamista - Limaan 12,5 tuntia. Yllättävän hyvin meni matka, sillä lähtöä edeltäneenä yönä en nukkunut lainkaan, joten nukutti kyllä koko ajan, kuten on nukuttanut viimeisen vuorokauden ajan.
Valitettavasti sain tutustua jo kaupungin ikäväänkin puoleen :(. Matka Liman lentokentältä majapaikkaani ei sujunut ihan ongelmitta. Lentokentällä vastassa oli sovitusti turvalliseksi tunnettu taksikuski. Jouduimme kuitenkin ajelemaan ei-niin-turvallisen-alueen läpi ja yhdessä risteyksessä, kun odotimme kääntymistä vasemmalle, eräs mies yhtäkkiä iski auton ikkunan rikki ja yritti viedä laukkuni. Onneksi olin jo kuullut näistä tapahtumista ennakkoon, joten käsilaukku oli lattialla ja ovet lukossa. Sain myös pidettyä laukustani kiinni, joten varas jäi tällä kertaa ilman saalista ja häipyi takavasemmalle. Loppumatkan istuin lasinsirpaleiden keskellä, jotka eivät onneksi aiheuttaneet kuin pari pientä haavaa. Varmuuden vuoksi pidin kuitenkin kädessäni jättikokoista lasinsirpaletta ja vannoin mielessäni, että seuraavaa tyyppiä isken sillä, jos uskaltaa lähestyä! Ei ehkä ihan järkevä suhtautuminen asiaan, mutta onneksi tällaista tilannetta ei tullut ja matka perille sujui mainiosti.
Maailmalla sattuu ja tapahtuu, mutta ei saa antaa ikävien asioiden ottaa ylivaltaa. Myönnän, että ensimmäinen yö ja päivä meni hieman maailman pahuutta ihmetellessä. Tosin ihmettelyyn saattoi vaikuttaa myös aikaero ja matkaväsymys, mutta väsymyksestä toivuttuani alkaa taas maailma näyttää suht mukavalta paikalta :).
Tänään kävin tutustumassa sumuiseen rantaviivaan, mutta enpä muistanut ottaa kameraa mukaan, joten kuvia saatte jäädä vielä odottelemaan.
Ihanaista kesää sinne Suomeen <3
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