I felt especially bad about not going to "work" because that was my Canadian roommate's first day volunteering, and she was selected to work at the same place as me. She spoke very little Spanish, so I could only imagine how overwhelming it would be for her to be the only volunteer there on her first day. When she came home that evening though, I was relieved to hear that it went well for her and she had a good time.
The following day, my roommate was feeling sick with stomach issues. She decided to still go to work though. I still wasn't feeling extremely well, and was not looking forward to making my sick body partake in the lesson that I had planned for that day: jump roping. (Side note: I was a member of a competitive jump-roping team through my elementary school for several years when I was going up.)
The after-school center itself had a bag full of jump ropes and I brought a few extras that I scrounged up. As an adult (i.e. a partially out-of-shape adult), I have found it difficult to jump rope for more than a few minutes before getting tired. And now I had to do it at well over 10,000 feet elevation with a bunch of kids staring at me! Amazingly, I did not get very tired. The kids were super excited to play outside and learn from me, so I think that helped fuel my energy level.
In preparation for the lesson, I jotted down a list of tricks that I wanted to teach them, along with what I felt was a good Spanish translation for the name of each trick. The kids did a good job of listening to me and paying attention. I would demonstrate a trick and then give them a few minutes to try practicing it. Most of them however still had to master just jumping in general, and the tricks were too difficult for them, but they sure tried their best.
My list of tricks.
More tripping than jumping going on.
One of the older boys stood out as the star student. I was amazed at how well he was able to do most of the tricks, how hard he was trying to "get" them, and overall how "into" the whole lesson he was. If I could have spent more time with him, I am certain that he could have become a competitive jumper.
The boy in the camouflage pants was the star student of the lesson.
While I gave the lesson, my roommate stayed inside helping one or two children with their homework. She still was not feeling well. We caught the bus together after class, which unfortunately was very crowded. She was near the back of the bus, and I was standing with a mass of people in the middle of the bus. Halfway through the ride, she yelled to me that she did not feel good and was getting off. I rushed to the back and she began to faint and fall to the ground. Suddenly, all of the people on the bus, who typically mind their own business, became very concerned and gasped. I tried to get her off of the bus. The driver started to continue on, but thankfully everyone in the back of the bus yelled "stop" in Spanish. I was grateful for their concern and help in the situation.Somehow, my roommate ended up on the sidewalk with me. I was unfamiliar with the part of town that we were in. We were in front of a row of shops, namely a bakery and toy store. I had us sit down in front of them to rest. I asked if she had anything to eat or drink, then gave her some water and some coconut water powder to mix in it. I had learned to always carry a snack with me, so I also gave her a bread roll and some chocolate that I had in my purse. She was so embarrassed and felt so bad for dragging me into this ordeal, but I kept reassuring her that I was happy to help and I brought some humor to the situation.
As if on cue, we attracted a dog to us just like we had done over the weekend. This dog was very cute and sweetly put out his hand to beg for a piece of bread. Eventually, my roommate gave in and shared the snack with him. He didn't leave us until he realized that we had nothing else to offer him.
Pretty, pretty please?
We stayed there for at least 30-40 minutes before attempting to catch another bus home. Finally we were on our way again and my roommate made it through the remainder of the journey. However, she still not feel well that night or the following day, and ended up being admitted to a clinic for several days. They diagnosed her with some sort of bacterial infection, and even after returning to the homestay it took a few more days for her to regain her appetite and strength. Her parents became very concerned and so she ended up having to return home early. Thus, this one day was the only day we got to volunteer together.
What this also meant was that I had to complete the remainder of my time at the after-school center with no other volunteers. As I have mentioned before, when volunteering you need expect the unexpected. I was reminded of this on pretty much a daily basis.
Since I already had bonded with the younger children on the one side of the room, it was decided that I would stay working with them. I was happy about this because I found it much easier to communicate with them and they were fun to play with. As usual, I helped them with homework and assisted with drawing or games. (And I continued to be perplexed at how difficult some of their homework was.)
At the end of class on Wednesday, the principal and instructors were preparing gifts that would be given to the mothers of the children during the Mother's Day celebration on Thursday. I wasn't asked, but I figured I should help. (When volunteering, just like any job, you need to know what to take initiative and help out.) They were wrapping the gifts and only had one roll of large clear tape. Thus, my task was to assist with cutting the tape into small pieces, and then yet smaller pieces. I have never appreciated or longed for a roll of scotch tape more in my life.
It was also around this time that I noticed a woman in the center that I had not seen before. On the first day, I assumed she was just observing. But when she was there a second and third day, I realized that she was actually a third instructor. No one formally introduced us, hence my confusion. I'm not sure that I ever even caught was her name was. But as time went one, she stood out as the instructor that most made me feel welcomed and appreciated. (More on that in a later post.)
Thursday was the long-delayed Mother's Day celebration which I have described in an earlier post. It was nice to be able to relax at work that day and be entertained and impressed by the children's performances.
A dancing performance. The woman in black standing on the right was the surprise third instructor.
A boys and girls dance. So cute!
Everyone danced at the end!
On Friday, it was my turn to lead another lesson. I chose to combine two of my favorite things: art and language! This idea partially came out of necessity, because worksheets and photo copiers are pretty much non-existent in the volunteering world. So, I came up with the idea of the kids creating a worksheet themselves. Following my lead, they would draw an item, and then write the Quechua and English names for that item. In preparation for this lesson, I enlisted the help of my host mother and her housekeeper to teach me some Quechua words.
With materials that I got from the volunteer's supply cabinet at my school, I used colored paper as my blackboard, a Sharpie as my chalk, and handed each of the kids a sheet of American-style notebook paper. I drew an item and then waited to see if any of the kids new how to say that word in Quechua or English. A few of them knew all of the Quechua words, and even corrected what I had been taught by the housekeeper. (It is possible that the housekeeper spoke a different dialect than the children.) The kids did not know the English words, but had fun guessing with a few English words they did know.
Both the younger and older kids really loved this lesson. It was the most engaged that I had seen them yet. This really made me feel good, and I was happy that both they and I were learning something new. A few of the kids even stayed late after class to finish copying down all of the information.
Chaqui has a question mark after it because the kids said that this word was not correct. As I explained, this may have just been due to there being different dialects of Quechua, but I was quite embarrassed!
Numbers. Once again, some of the Quechua words that I was taught by the housekeeper were not "correct" so one of the other instructors re-wrote those words. (Hence why some of the "q" have a line through them and some don't.)
I was feeling very good by the end of week 2 of volunteering. I was getting to know the kids better, as were they with me. I also began to feel appreciated by the staff, including the principal who was extremely delighted by the art and language lesson. However, the hectic schedule of school in the morning, volunteering in the evening, homework, and lots of walking in between was definitely wearing me out. I greatly appreciated having weekends off, even though those were fully busy with sight-seeing and exploring.
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