WAAW! CUSCO REVISITED - Cusco, Peru Sep-Oct 2017

WAAW! CUSCO REVISITED 

 Cusco, Peru September-October 2017

The very lively older girls

Our volunteer experience the first time around in Cusco at Aldea Yanapay was not the best--our Spanish was weak, the kids at the school program were not well disciplined and then there was that whole God complex with the founder, Papa Yuri. But we were more than willing to try out another place.

Boundless hugs

While the founder of Fair Services, a Belgium named John, was not exactly welcoming, his staff more than compensated. We were especially excited about helping him with a new program to encourage young girls to stay in school and guide them toward following a successful career path. But the program was delayed in getting started and so we ended up spending two weeks volunteering at WAAW, their after school program.

Las madres bailan

And we were so glad we did. Not only was it an incredibly well-run program, thanks to locals Gabriella and Eliana, but we met great volunteers--soon to become friends--in the process.

Musical chairs with Charlie, et al

The good news is that our Spanish had progressed to the point where we could at least communicate with the kids. We also were tasked with teaching English on two consecutive Thursdays to very willing students. One of the more humorous incidents: we were trying to teach them the phrase "nice to meet you" and they would quickly respond with "Machu Picchu." Apparently, it sounded the same to them.

Another nice aspect of the program was that they served dinner to the youth each day. That meant the volunteers spent part of their time peeling vegetables, making smoothies, and learning to cook in bulk, according to preset recipes. More bonding time!

The gift of learning English

A highlight for us was one Sunday when the families were invited to join the youth at the school for an afternoon celebration. The mothers performed indigenous dances with their beautiful costumes and the fathers played a rousing game of musical chairs. Our parting gift was English books for each of the students.

We brought the cake, they the spirit

Eileen also got to celebrate her 61st birthday with an enthusiastic group of students during the day. Then, that evening, she was serenaded in Spanish by the guitarist at a bar, surrounded by fellow volunteers and Spanish school students, drinking pisco tea--a celebration for the ages.