Wednesday, March 9, 2011

My first week of volunteering with MySmallHelp Peru in Ollantaytambo  





I arrived in Ollanta the weekend of a baptism. A very important baptism - it was not only a double baptism for two sisters but two MySmallHelp workers were the godmothers for each of the girls. Not only that but the elder of the sisters, 18 year old Lurdes Juno Mamani, is also the primary reason that MSH are in this little town. She’s an extraordinary disabled young lady who’s given me much pleasure this week with my various visits to her house and with her out in nearby towns.

One of the most traditional Peruvian customs at the baptism is for the child who is being baptised to have their hair cut by guests, godparents, parents etc. and in cutting the hair you donate some money to their education. The child is sat in front of a dish with petals on it and by the end of the ceremony the dish is full of hair and money too. The child, in this case Yolanda, was given sweets to keep her entertained whilst we were all pulling and chopping at her hair. Don't worry, she gets taken to the hairdresser afterwards!

There’s lots to do here. I have to admit that my image of volunteering was all hands-on, getting muddy, clearing things up, doing jobs that perhaps others weren’t keen on doing etc. I hadn’t even considered the fact that there’s an awful lot of admin to do behind the scenes - especially at the early stages of starting up an NGO, and especially somewhere like Peru. Thankfully since I’ve been here MSH have got their registered charity status here in Peru - after lots of bureaucracy. Great news.

So this last week I’ve been practicing my Spanish with Lurdes, writing quite a few emails on behalf of MSH, compiling spreadsheets, going to meetings with partnership NGOs in the area (mainly Awamaki), visiting guinea pig projects, putting up posters and generally rather enjoying myself. 


This morning me and the other four volunteers made toys for physical therapy use by disabled children in the area. Jonathan made a wooden boat, Christian a little car and Karl, Matt and I made ‘putting the square shape in the square hole etc.’ toys. There’s more to do - blowing bubble mixes to make, play dough too, rattles and no doubt we’ll have more ideas this afternoon.
We are all living in the volunteer house in Ollanta together. Similar to a hostel but it’s lovely to call somewhere home for a while and be able to buy ingredients with a more long term dinner plan than pasta and sauce - I’ve been travelling already for over 5 months in South America.

It’s been an important past week too because the schools all went back on Monday 7th - so we had to organise some of the children we support getting places at the school, purchasing new stationary for them and organising transport for them to the school. It’s about a 20 minute walk, so not far by Peruvian standards, but the Headmaster’s requested the children don’t walk so that they are more punctual, cleaner when they arrive etc. In rainy season the dirt road isn’t ideal!

This coming weekend we have some international dentists coming to a nearby health centre for three days - hence we’ve been promoting that with posters and word-of-mouth. The better Spanish speakers amongst us will also be translating for the dentists too - very important when you’ve got a terrified child in the dentist’s chair.
So there’s always something to keep me entertained and it’s a lovely spot to be for a month. Ollanta’s got ruins either side of the river, a charming central plaza and bustling market. When it’s not raining, it’s beautiful!
Right, I’m off to supervise two girls we support with their homework….

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