First of all, (it's Jess here) in case anyone was worried, I am feeling much better. After four days of being sick I decided to take my cirpoflaxin and it's working already... You don't want anymore details, I promise.
Today, Mike and I had quite an adventure, and it isn't a stretch to say there is not a less travelled path for tourists in Peru. We were hoping that after visiting with Sister Olivia, we would have arrangements to go to Zapallal with her, to visit the orpahanage. However, she gave us all the info we needed to get there, but wasn't coming along.
So today, us two gringos bused through Lima in the early morning and then caught a 30km cab ride into Zapallal. Zapallal is a sprawling community of shanty towns, just off the PanAmerican highway. If you haven't seen a shanty town before, i am referring to communties where the poorest of the poor live, usually around the furtherest edges of a city, and almost always where the terrain is most miserable. The houses in a shanty are usually made of corrugated tin, the streets have starving dogs with all bones visible lingering around, and there is usually a dump nearby where families scavange for their next meal. Often times the houses have dirt floors, and certainly the roads that wind in and around the clusters of homes aren't paved so everything has a layer of dirt on its surface. Even though this forgotten town is close to the ocean, it is really dry, and all of the gound is of sand, not even slightly irrigable dirt, therefore sadly there is no chance of growing any food...
So we had the address of the orphanage from Sister Olivia, and after stopping and asking directions about 3 times, we parked, Mike exchanged some words in Spanish and somehow it was decided we had arrived at the orphanage. I was expecting some sort of painted sign, some sort of indication we were in the right place but there was none. I admit I was really scared, and I didn't want to get out of the taxi because there were some rough looking kids nearby and I had my camera with me... With no time to even process fear, we were out of the taxi and four or five kids came directly up to us, and no, they did not rob us. They kissed us.
We spent the day getting a tour of the orphange which has 250 niños with ages ranging from 8 months to 22ish. As we passed through the girls building, the boys building (all small buildings holding 40-50 niños) nearly every child we passed gave us each a small greeting and a kiss on the cheek. The most memorable greeting was as we were approaching young boys building, they were just coming from school and Mike and I were against a wall and they charged us with hugs and kisses, and lots of smiles for the cameras. (Hopefully pics from the digi cam will be up soon). I felt welcome, but surprised that I felt safer there than on the streets of downtown Lima. And I felt so much affection from kids who likely don't receive much themselves...
The tour was give to us by a few different people, and of course most of it was in Spanish. I am sure that Maycol (my little scientisto politico, Mike) will post more details of the project soon. Some things I did pick up on, was that there is no help from the gobierno (gov't), and the orphanage is run by one peruvian man, who between shifts at the airport, comes to see the kids and organize construction of more buildings. His current project: building a hospital for Zapallao. Whoever thinks one person can't make a difference is ignorant. This one man has given 250 hope. There is also help from people of many other countries who bring clothes, and toys,etc.
As we were leaving we were invited to come back and we might spend a week or so there in January as we pass by on our way up the Venezuela y Cuba. It would be great to spend more time with the kids...
Momma: I gave the toys and stationary supplies to Miguel (the man in charge) and he was very greatful and recorded every item in a book where he documents all the donations. Giving those toys directly to the kids would have been chaos, and maybe even caused a fight, so the best thing to do was to let them distribute your gifts.
Tomorrow we are off to the mountains. ¡ Hace mucho frio ¡ Write soon, lots of love,
Jessie
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