Mathilda's Peruvian Gap Year Adventures

Wednesday 16^th April

This week has been a very short but busy and special week as CIS’ Team Peru came to visit the centre and help us out for 3 days. Among these 15 amazing students, was my brother who I was so happy to see after 2 months (that felt like 2 years).

 They arrived on Sunday and we had lunch all together at Sweethearts, probably the safest restaurant here in Urubamba. It reminded me of my first night here as Sonya took me there as well. Marina and I were glad to have her back as school felt a bit empty without our Volunteer Coordinator (also known as our older sister). We then went to the Hogar, so that everyone could meet each other. Team Peru seemed happy to see everything, but also exhausted from their long trip, so after having some cake we came home to have some rest.

On Monday, school started again, although since this week it was Semana Santa, some children were missing, which was a shame. Nevertheless, the week started like usual, with songs in the morning and the Peruvian anthem. I think it’s great that the kids do this at school, as it makes them patriotic and proud to be Peruvian. I then helped with several activities, and in some classrooms. Marina and I also worked on the mural with some kids and on our own, and it is slowly but surely progressing. I am determined to finish it next week! Since Mondays are short days, in the afternoon we all decided to go to Ollantaytambo together, so that Team Peru could see a bit of the Sacred Valley. Some of us hiked up some ruins that I hadn’t been to and was so glad to visit. From up there the view of the town is so nice and it’s a short but lovely hike. Not everyone came as some of the kids were a bit ill, but the ones who did really enjoyed it.

Tuesday, I worked in physiotherapy for most of the day. Unfortunately, a few of the kids we usually work with haven’t been coming recently. This can be quite problematic, as some children really need to have therapy done every day. I have been working quite a lot with Gian-Marco who comes for speech therapy. We have just started working with him so it is a slow process but he enjoys coming in, which is great. He is a very autistic kid who comes at the centre and doesn’t want to speak at all. I started working on the vowels with him, but he doesn’t want to speak for now, so we practiced writing them. Slowly we will get there, it just requires a lot of patience. After lunch, there were a few workshops going on that Team Peru did. I worked with Ms Wykes and a few students as she thought us a very original way to make bracelets (using thread and plastic bottles filled with water). It basically turns into a game where two people exchange bottles that are hung up with strings. It is hard to explain in words, but I am sure we will be using this technique with kids in the future.

Lastly, today, I worked in physiotherapy again. I also helped Profe. Luisa preparing lunch and she made ‘pollo al horno’ with ‘camote, platano y chocle’ (chicken with sweet potato, corn and banana). After feeding Jose Alfredo, which was quite a challenge today, I had some food too and it was delicious. One of my favourite meals at the school. To say goodbye to Team Peru, since it was their last day at the centre, all the teachers and kids played a game of football with them. A more fun way to say goodbye than the usual ceremony we have.

As it is Semana Santa, tomorrow and Friday the centre is closed, so I will finally be going to Machu Picchu with Team Peru and then go to Puno and Lake Titicaca for a long weekend. Very excited to be exploring more of Peru!

Overall, it was great to have Team Peru here and I was so happy to see my brother, friends, teachers and meet new people from CIS. It did make me miss home a little, but I can’t believe I only have one more month left here. Finally, to add on to this perfect week I am incredibly happy to have confirmed by offer at University of the Arts London (Camberwell) where I will be starting my BA (Hons) in Illustration in September. :)