



By Marlo Grabner
Today Leander and the 4 in-house volunteers (Dan, Marlo, Xian, and Cecily) visited the community school in Paucarbamba, where future volunteers will now be giving weekly English lessons to some very enthusiastic 3rd and 4th graders. We met with the teacher in charge, Sr. Carlos, to discuss lesson plans and goals and he was very appreciative of our eagerness to work with the children.
It looks like the new English program is going to be a wonderful way to connect with the community while helping students gain the critical language skills needed to succeed in the modern world. During a rousing game of “Vaca, Vaca, Torro” (“Cow, Cow, Bull” in English), it was easy to see and hear how excited the children were about the new program and their new guest teachers. Though today we had our fair share of fun and games, all of us were very impressed by how attentive and eager to learn the kids were when it came to going over some basic English words and phrases. Working at this school is bound to be a great experience for both the volunteers and the students, and we´re all looking forward to next week´s first lesson!
Some said it couldn´t be done. Moving thousands of 20 kilo (44 lb approximately) adobe bricks from the inicial Cuylandia site at Paucarbamba to the new and final site at Ankapachar appeared daunting until Casa Hogar del Sol´s volunteers got on the job. The task at hand culminated today thanks to eleven international volunteers from Loki hostel, long term American volunteers Dan and Marlo, Cusqueño Hubert and his baby blue ´Kia de Korea´ truck, and local volunteers Sandro, Christian, Nerida, and others. All left the worksite smiling despite being covered in dust. Of course, Leander and Carlos served as our trusted captains for the project as well.
The crew transported and stacked over 750 bricks today which will be laid by volunteers and workers in the upcoming days to create the outer wall of Cuylandia. The 2 meter (6 foot) wall will protect the beloved Cuys from the elements, predators, potential bandits, and the nearby road. Christian, Marlo, and Dan have been spending extra time at the site this week relocating bricks via wheelbarrows and their rapidly growing biceps. Water to form additional adobes on site is proving to be elusive thanks to a pesky neighbor turning off the pipes during the day time but the crew is sharp and finding other sources of the resource.
Stay posted for updates on the wall.