October 13, 2004
It is hard to put into words the last month and a half of my time in Peru. There are so many changes, not only in terms of my daily life and living in a new place, but also adjusting to a new internship setting and work culture. Hopefully this report will give you a glimpse into my experience, some of which is quite unique, and some common to any new field placement!
The basics
I arrived in Arequipa, Peru on Sunday, August 29th with my husband, Dustin with plans to stay for one year. I am completing my second field placement at Hogar de Cristo and Dustin is teaching English at the Peruvian North American Cultural Center. Although my 480 hours will be completed well before my time here is through, I wanted to fully experience the culture and adaptation process necessary to live in a new place and decided to extend my time in a volunteer capacity. Dustin and Ilive in a room, provided by the Hogar, above the agency on a rooftop terrace. Although a much smaller
space than we are used to, we are quite happy with the accommodations (and it is nice not to have to pay rent!). There is also a volunteer from Germany who lives here at Hogar and is our neighbor.
During the week we eat most meals with the kids (or at least the same food), which can be both good and bad! The Asociación Hogar de Cristo was founded in 1994 to meet the growing needs of children who were working on the streets, but who are mostly living at home with their families. Currently it serves about 50 children each month, on average 35 each day ranging in age from four to eighteen. Hogar de Cristo focuses on both the physical and emotional needs of the children it serves. It provides three meals each day, basic hygiene and nutritional services, medical care, assistance with homework, and technical education courses (carpentry and sewing). Psychosocial and mental health needs are also addressed by on-site psychologists and social worker. The social worker also completes home and school visits to assess and then assist families with their needs. Outreach in the community is done weekly. Staff includes the director (psychologist), Rosa, social worker (Carmen), three educators (Isabel, Marite and Lucho), the nightly street worker (Violeta) and numerous volunteers. Guidance is also provided by the Board of Directors, in a much more direct way than I have witnessed in the States.
The day-to-day
My role at the Hogar, while still being clarified, is that of an asistente social, or social assistant (the name social worker is only recently being used in Peru). I work most closely with the staff social worker, Carmen. Most days I work approximately five hours, either in the morning in the afternoon. I help serve meals, assist with personal hygiene, do some homework support when needed, and have been observing home and school visits with Carmen. I also have started to conduct intakes of new children and their families. In addition, I am assisting with special projects. For example, currently I am coordinating a dental campaign for all of the kids. There are four volunteers from the local university who came and examined each child, and are now in the process of treating those who need dental treatment (all of them). I am organizing this campaign, getting parental permissions, keeping close track of the kids, maintaining paperwork, communicating with the dentists, etc. I plan on conducting observations for another month or so (it is hard to learn to navigate a new city, school system, etc!), and then will start doing some visits on my own. In addition to this "normal schedule, there are staff meetings, bimonthly psychosocial groups for the kids, monthly parent meetings, and special events. I eventually plan on leading at least one of each of the psychosocial groups and a parent meeting, as well as start groupwork with some of the younger kids on human rights and responsibilities. Right now I am still in the observation, learning, and building relationship phase, but I am excited to get a bit more advanced (and of course keep learning!)!
Joys and challenges
There are multiple benefits and challenges to completing an international internship. So far, the chance to work in a completely new culture, practice my verbal and written Spanish skills, and learn more about the social service system within a less developed nation has been invaluable. I also have been learning more about issues of child labor and the reality that these families face. There are various perspectives on child labor in Peru; some people feel as though it should be completely eliminated, others, like those at Hogar de Cristo, feel that it is an economic reality that many families would not survive without their children’s income, and instead try to make sure the children work in safe conditions and that their ability to attend school is not affected. There is so much for me to learn at the macrolevel here in terms of politics and policies, economics, culture, etc. This is exciting, but also very challenging. In addition, I am working with a very unique population, one that is very much at risk. Economic poverty is extreme and confronts me at work and on the streets (sometimes I see the kids I work with at Hogar selling candy in the evenings on the streets). The emotional component to the work is strong, and learning to maintain professional boundaries is vital to my professional development, the quality of my work, and my own mental health. On the emotional side, another benefit is the joy that the children bring me (most days!), as I continue to build relationships with them!
In terms of challenges, there are many, as there are in many field placement sites and in any new job. Language, although I feel quite confident in my Spanish speaking skills, definitely takes adjustment in terms of new slang, vocabulary, and listening, especially in group meetings when everyone is talking. And the bimonthly meetings here are very long, on average two and a half to three hours (and they NEVER start on-time!), and after an hour or so it takes a LOT of effort to concentrate!
Personally I also have experienced a fair amount of illness in my first six weeks, primarily stomach problems from the change in food and water. Slowly, but surely, my body is adjusting, but there have been many days when I haven’t felt very well, and some days when I could not even get out of bed! This has been difficult, since I am normally a quite healthy person!
In addition to these challenges, there have been multiple volunteers here in the past, but never a social work intern. The expectations of the staff are, at times, quite different than my needs and expectations as an intern. At times I feel as though they wish I would just fill the gap left by the last volunteer and spend my mornings and afternoons helping kids with homework. Role clarification istaking a fair amount of time. Finally, working in a multidisciplinary team always presents unique challenges, especially in terms of coordination. I have found this to be true in numerous situations here.
November 16, 2004
Greetings once again from Arequipa, Peru! While I have heard from many people back home that the weather seems more "wintry each day, the sun continues to shine here. I have yet to experience even a drop of rain and there is rarely even a partly cloudy day. The warm weather cannot be complained about, but it is very necessary to be extremely careful with the sun, as it is much stronger than in Minnesota. I never go out without sunscreen at least on my face and most of the time hats are worn during the day. I definitely enjoy the flowers, the palm trees, and going on long walks without having to wear a jacket!
Life at Hogar de Cristo
The last month has been quite busy for me, both at work and more personally as we are starting to get settled more into a life here (making friends, establishing routines, etc.). My health has been much better and I have started to feel more "normal. At first life was completely wonderful and I was excited about everything, then I began to see more negative things and feel a bit more lonely, and now I feel more "normal. I think it is a good sign on the road to adapting to a new, and completely different, place.
At Hogar de Cristo I have begun doing school visits on my own and have spent the last two weeks visiting all of the primary schools of kids at Hogar (about 23 different schools), meeting with professors to learn how the kids are doing in terms of academics, behavior and attendance. I have been walking a lot and also learning to navigate the city via combi (vans used as public transport). Sometimes one of the older girls from Hogar accompanies me and keeps me from getting too lost! This has been an exciting, and often interesting, experience. A couple of funny moments include a little girl from a special education class grabbing my hair and refusing to let go and one teacher who didn’t want to talk about the student, and instead focused on the role the US has in supporting Peru, much like John F. Kennedy did in the 1960s. (I am not sure what (if anything) Kennedy did for Peru, but I should look into it!). I also conduct follow-up meetings with the kids and parents who are doing very poorly academically.
I also am beginning to do home visits with the kids who have recently come to Hogar. I go out to the home and complete a fairly in-depth intake including family history and composition, living conditions, health and socioeconomic issues and family dynamics and relations. Most of the families at Hogar live in very rustic homes, often just a oneroom shack, with or without water and electricity. The last visit I did a visit there were chickens wondering in and out of the room while I chatted with the mother. Also, in terms of living conditions, often there are only one or two beds for an entire family, which can lead to problems with sexual abuse and promiscuity. One in three girls (and one in six boys) in Peru are sexually abused before the age of 15, so it is definitely a large problem. Most of our families are also single-mother homes with many kids.
The dental campaign that I mentioned in my last report has turned out to be a bit of a mess. The director at Hogar wanted a second opinion on the assessments that the interns at the University did, since there seemed to be a lot of extractions taking place, perhaps unnecessarily. I spent last week bringing 25 kids (5-6 day) to another clinic (very reliable and trustworthy) for a second opinion and unfortunately the fears were justified. Not one assessment was done correctly! And many were quite different! Not only did I feel horrible for the kids (many already had work done), but also very frustrated with the interns and my still lacking knowledge of how to effectively navigate systems here (i.e. I learned through this that the interns get more "points for doing extractions than only filling cavities, and needing to fulfill a certain number of these points, it led to this). I am now trying to work with the social worker to figure out how to best present this to the University, without damaging the relationship between the "Uni and el Hogar.
Some other highlights in my work have been attending a meeting with the local government regarding child labor with parents and the older kids, a dance festival with other organizations that work with a similar population of kids, coordinating a letter campaign for Christmas and book donations, and continuing to build relationships both with the kids and their families.
Joys and Challenges
My professional relationship and role at Hogar still is presenting challenges for me. I often ask a question and am given three different answers by three different people or am sent to someone else for a response. Effective communication between staff and lack of strong direction seem to be organizational challenges. I have had some very frustrating moments. For example the social worker has not updated her files for over two years, instead writing down everything in notebooks and keeping them at home or in binders that are in no sense of order. It is almost impossible to look back at what has been done in the past. There was also a time when a new family came in and she turned to me and said, "Do you want to do the interview? Desperately seeking experience, I agreed and began the interview. However, unknown to me she had already asked many of the questions and eventually she interrupted and said, "I will have to explain the situation to you later. And then, "They are not understanding you… (in front of the family) and finishing the interview herself. My Spanish is not perfect by any means, but I definitely can communicate and know how to rephrase when people do not understand. I sometimes feel
undermined and taken advantage of, which is very frustrating. However, on the positive side, I am also learning how to better clarify my role, needs, expectations and frustrations!
Feedback is a very different experience as well. At times people are upset or unsure of my role and do not tell me to my face, but instead bring it up at staff meeting, in front of all of the staff. I am learning to try not to be too defensive, but also to stand up for myself when I feel uncomfortable. Numerous times I have told people that they can advise me personally of difficulties or questions, and then if there are larger issues they can be brought up at meetings. This tends to happen between other staff members as well.
The kids and families continue to bring me the most joy at Hogar. Many, if not most, of the families now know me and I am excited to see how these relationships develop over the year. The kids are also beginning to open up and trust me more, which is very positive. I enjoy being out in the field more than any other part of my job. The home visits give me the opportunity to really get to know the families, their needs, etc. as well as the chance to see firsthand the effects of both macro and micro level systems on the families. I am trying to integrate a more strengths-based manner of questioning when conducting intakes. The school visits have exposed me to the educational system here and I am able to see common challenges that affect many of our kids; I hope to be able to collaborate with the educators in a more effective manner based on this knowledge.
My Spanish is also improving, especially in terms of comprehension. I do not have to translate in my head hardly at all, can easily watch TV and movies (even the news is getting easier to understand!), and have been dreaming in Spanish, which is always a good sign. However, my English is also getting mixed with some Spanish phrases and words! Staff meetings are still way too long (three hours!), but at least my headaches have faded from feeling overwhelmed by the language!
Overall, life here is very good. There are wonderful days and experiences, and days with challenges and frustrations. Such is life wherever one may be…
January 23, 2005
Time continues to pass very quickly here and I often have to remember to try to treasure each day, because before I know it a week or even a month has passed and I look back and wonder how it is that we have been here in Arequipa for almost five months.
The rainy season has arrived in Peru and I now believe that once in awhile clouds do enter this city that is usually so sunny. The mornings are usually beautiful, but the afternoons bring clouds, cooler air and rain showers. It is actually a welcome change from the hot, powerful sun. It also makes the world a bit greener and the flowers bloom with more gusto! Dustin and I were able to travel to southern Chile for Christmas, so we were able to at least see some snow and ice, although it was not nearly as cold as winter in Minnesota.
Life at Hogar
December was a crazy month at Hogar as many groups came to give gifts, special food (the favorite being paneton, a sweet fruit cake typical of Christmas), and do activities with the kids. Christmas, as in Minnesota, seems to bring the season of giving. It was wonderful for the kids, but as at home, made me wish people would give throughout the rest of the year! I thought the kids would explode from the amount of hot chocolate they drank during a two week period!
Now that January has arrived the kids are not in school and most days there are 40 kids at Hogar about 11 hours a day, so it is definitely busy! We use summer as a good opportunity to help kids catch up in the school subjects that were troublesome in the past year, and also ´play` quite a bit more. Favorite games include UNO and jumproping. We spent last week (5 days) at the beach with a group of 45 including kids and staff; it was crazy, but wonderful! For the first time I was able to really see the kids acting like kids. They didn´t have the responsibilities of working that normally hang over them at home, and could relax, play, build sandcastles, swim, etc. Many of them seemed much younger as they asked for help with sunscreen or fell asleep at the supper table after a long day in the sun. I know that I will look back on the week as some of my best time with them.
I am still busy conducting home visits for all of the new kids who are seeking admission to the Hogar. I then write a socioeconomic evaluation for the director to help determine acceptance. The home visits are wonderful and I greatly enjoy getting to talk to the families, see their homes and visit new parts of the city. However there are also very difficult experiences. One example: two weeks ago I completed a visit to a home in the sandy hills on the outskirts of Arequipa. The taxi had to drive down a dirt path to bring us to a bridge that we hiked across and then up the hills to the home. There were two rooms for 6 people that live there, the youngest being 10 years old. The walls were constructed of cardboard, with dirt floors and a tin roof, so one can imagine that during the rainy season it is a mess. I saw only two beds and the house was dirty with flies covering everything. The mom is also quite ill and the family earns less than $6 a week. Hogar does not have financial resources (neither does Peru in general), so it is hard to know how to help the families. I have to hope that in helping the kids at Hogar we are giving them a chance at a better future than they currently experience.
I also have been working more in the health area, taking kids and families to the doctors, coordinating payments and treatment and providing following-up. In February I am hoping to begin a biweekly group on human rights and responsibilities for the kids between the ages of ten and twelve (about 11 kids). I am really looking forward to this and have been working hard on the planning.
Joys and Challenges
There continue to be many joys and challenges that come with conducting an international field placement. It was, of course, hard to be away from family, friends and familiarity during the holidays. We were able to take a wonderful trip, but there were some moments when being at home by the Christmas tree eating cookies with our families sounded like the best place in the world. The Hogar also continues to frustrate me at times with the lack of organization and communication between staff. However, the longer I am here, the more I am learning how to best navigate through this, while balancing it with my own limits and boundaries. The ethical decisions are often challenging as well. For example, while at the beach it was not forbidden for the older kids to drink alcohol, in fact one night some of the staff went out drinking with the kids (ages 15 and above). I had a hard time with this and talked to another staff member about my concerns. I was told that I was probably right to be concerned, but that I was being "too good and that even the director sometimes does this when she is here.
The greatest joys continue to be the kids. The beach gave me the chance to work purely on relationship-building, especially with some of the kids that I have had a hard time getting to know. There is one girl in particular who has been quite a challenge, but somehow sleeping in the same room, sharing food around a table, playing in the water and building sandcastles together for a week seemed to erase some of her attitude and build some trust between us. It was really rewarding to be a part of this. I also have seen my own confidence increase in areas that were difficult for me before, like communicating and handling health situations and appointments, navigating the city, working in some of the larger systems (coordinating with the Archbishop, schools, etc.). Language is also very natural now and I have been able to translate materials for Hogar without any problems.
Travel and the chance to have new adventures are also tremendous blessings and incredible learning experiences. Chile was a very different and somewhat unexpected (maybe ignorantly so) experience for us. It made me recognize once again my feelings and thoughts surrounding development, wealth, and social and ethnic classes. Chile is much more developed, economically-speaking, than Peru and this increase in wealth is evident in everything from the transportation system, to crosswalks in the street (with actual lights to tell you when to cross!), to garbage cans in parks and plazas to dispose of trash, to the level of safety, to the lack of counterfeit money, to general organization of systems. There is also a very different ethnic mix in Chile. In Chile 95% of the population is either white or white/Amerindian, while only 3% of the population is pure Amerindian. This contrasts with Peru, whose population is 45% Amerindian, 37% mestizo (Amerindian/white) and only 15% white. It is hard to explain, but it felt very different for us. We didn´t stand out in the crowd in the same way we do in Peru (height, skin color, eye color, hair color, etc). The trip made us realize we missed things that we weren’t even aware of, mostly the little things like having garbage cans in the street or bathrooms with toilet paper and soap (both are very rare in Peru and we have gotten used to always carrying toilet paper in our pockets!), and simply blending in, even if just a little bit more than in Peru. After a lot of reflection I
think we will now be able to better identify feelings of discomfort that sometimes strike unexpectedly and without explanation in Peru. We are in a place that is different from home in almost every sense of the word: culturally, geographically, weather-wise, developmentally, etc. We are learning to appreciate Peru for what it is, not what it is not. See it for what it could be, not what it has not yet achieved. Reflect on the reasons behind its slower economic growth, lack of good public education, ethnic wars and racism, protests that are daily occurrences in the streets... Even in South America we have realized that two countries can be worlds apart. All of these are lessons we are still learning and that taking a step outside for a moment helped us to evaluate a little more carefully. I only hope that we never stop learning and reflecting.
February 25, 2005
The months continue to go by! I am constantly amazed when I look at the calendar and see how much time has gone by and how little remains. Dustin and I are planning on leaving Arequipa at the end of June to travel before returning home in August, so in all actuality there are now less than four months of work left. We are looking forward to visits from our parents in March, which will bring the opportunity to get to know the diversity of Peru a little more. We will visit Machu Picchu, Puno and Lake Titicaca, the jungle near Puerto Maldonado and of course lots of sites herein Arequipa. I especially am looking forward to seeing our daily life through "fresh eyes, as many
of the things that amazed us at first (getting stopped in the bus for sheep to cross the road, the abundance of people selling in the streets, etc.) are now normal life and I long to be re-amazed!
Life at Hogar
The kids are still on summer vacation, so the Hogar is busy from about 8:30 in the morning until at least 7 every night. In March I will be coordinating the Education Campaign for the primary school kids, which includes visiting the schools, registering kids whose parents have not done so, buying books, assisting with preparation of school supply packets, etc. There are going to be at least 25 to 30 schools to visit since we have had so many new children in the last couple of months (almost 10!). I am planning on being extremely busy, but hopefully it is also a lot of fun to be out doing intensive fieldwork again.
Today I will have my fifth human rights group with eight kids between the ages of ten and twelve. We meet twice a week for one hour in the afternoon. We are working on recognition and application of human rights, especially in terms of children. In future sessions we will also be working on the definition of responsibility and recognition of their own gifts and talents and how they can use them to help others. For the final project, they will complete a giant bulletin board with different artwork (yet to be determined by the group members) about what they have learned. Like any group, there have been challenges and joys. Last session for example one girl threatened to leave the group because she had to work with another girl that she does not get along with. After about ten minutes of her sitting next to the door they began to work and with some specific guidance and direction completed the assignment together and were even smiling by the end. If they can learn to be more tolerant and positive in their relationships towards one another, I will be very pleased! Another main objective of the group is for them to recognize that even though they are young, economically poor, and most come from rough home situations, they still have gifts to offer to others.
I am also still busy with home visits, conducting four in the last three weeks. They continue to be a great opportunity to witness family dynamics, view living situations, work on my assessment skills and complete recommendations for the family.
I was also able advocate in a hospital setting recently, which was a great learning experience. A 17 year old girl whose family has been with Hogar a long time had a baby on Valentines Day, so the next morning I went to the Hospital General (probably the worst hospital in Arequipa), since as a social worker I was permitted to visit. She was in a room with about 12 other beds, no curtains or privacy. The babies are kept the in nurseries and aren’t allowed to be with the mom. When the mom gives birth no one else is allowed to go in, so you can imagine the amount of people in the waiting area (basically just some benches here and there). The staff at Hogar told me that they rarely will do a C-section because of the cost , so often the mom and baby suffer for hours before they will allow the surgery. The family has to buy all of the medication ahead of time for the labor and the baby, so for poor families it is really difficult, if not impossible. There is a national insurance that covers the birth procedure, but not medications. They have to buy everything, down to the needles. There were also signs in the hospital that said things like "we don’t allow blood vendors here" and they sold cigarettes in the cafeteria!!!
This girl, luckily, gave birth naturally to a healthy baby girl. However, since she is a minor without proper documentation, they did not want to give the baby to her. They didn’t even let her see the baby for the first time until over 16 hours after she was born. I ended up spending over 5 hours there helping the older sister with all of the paperwork and documentation that was needed to let her go home with the baby. It was quite a process and at one point I wasn’t sure if they would let the baby go. The hospital social services were not friendly or kind to me or the sister, in fact, they asked if I was involved in child trafficking (a great help I am!). However, it was an adventure that ended well. I was there when they dressed the baby for the first time and took photos for them. I got to hold the less than a day old baby and in the end they went home together (less than 24 hours after the birth because they needed the bed space), so it was all worth it.
Joys and Challenges
I am finding myself in bright spirits lately, feeling comfortable in my work and generally in my life here. The annoyances that drove me crazy at first (the staff meetings, the lack of communication and organization, etc.) now seem manageable. They still exist, but I now know how to best navigate the organizational system to meet my own needs and the needs of the kids and families with whom I am working. I know that I am more relaxed and more patient than when I came, hopefully virtues that will continue to serve me well when I go home! Of course there are still bad days, like in any job, but overall I am enjoying my role at Hogar.
My relations with the kids are now quite strong and I have witnessed the increased respect that they give me in both their obedience and in the trust they place in me. I also am feeling more willing to make suggestions at Hogar (translation of particular materials, implementation of rules or programs, etc.), to which the other staff has been receptive. I am now the veteran volunteer, as the old volunteer left and the new one arrived. It is weird (but also fun!) to be the one who knows the ropes and to be able to help Dominika (new volunteer from Australia) get to know her new job.
Looking ahead I am guessing that my biggest challenge may now be lack of time to get everything done! In March and early April the educational campaign and my human rights group will keep me very busy. I also have a couple of small goals (running one session of a parent´s meeting and one for the older kids) that I want to accomplish by the end of April when I technically will end my internship hours (and continue on in the same capacity as a volunteer). All of this is in the midst of a life that is now more integrated in the community, especially in our church where we have been actively involved in an outreach program with children. These are challenges that excite me and push me to make the very best of the time that we have left in Peru!
June 1, 2005
Only a month to go…instead of making plans for the future I have switched into the mode of trying to make sure everything is complete by the end of June, that I tie up all loose strings and more than anything treasure the time I have left, especially with the kids. Termination will be hard and I am not looking forward to it, no matter how excited I am to come home.
Dustin and I are personally doing very well. We have the opportunity to housesit for some close friends for the months of May and June, so we have moved from our small bedroom at Hogar to a two bedroom house with cable TV, a great kitchen, and internet access! We were content with our previous lodgings, but are definitely fully enjoying our new found space and the freedom it gives us. We also were able to travel for two weeks at the end of March with both sets of our parents and experienced everything from Machu Picchu to muddy hikes in the Peruvian jungle. It was also wonderful to introduce our parents to our life here and have them interact with the kids. They brought a large donation from a church in the States, which we used to take kids shoeshopping, buy school supplies, etc. My dad, who is a doctor, and Dustin`s mom, who is a nurse, also did a medical campaign with the kids, getting accurate height and weight measurements, as well as checking the hearts of 47 kids at Hogar.
Life at Hogar
Life at Hogar has been wonderful the last few months. I realize now that I have moved beyond the organizational "flaws that bothered me so much in the beginning (ie. Concepts of time, lack of structure, communication between staff, etc) and now am able to focus fully on relationships and my work with the kids. Instead of dreading staff meetings, I find myself looking forward to being able to spend time with my coworkers and am able to fully participate in the meetings and decisions that are made. I have learned to relax and not get uptight when things don`t function as ideally as I wish they would. I hope this virtue will continue to grow, even when I move back into the professional world of the States.
My relationships with the kids have continued to grow and I enjoy them immensely. Here are two small examples that made me smile and realize our relationship growth: Juan is one of the "leaders within the kids between ten and twelve; he is a sweet kid, but also isn`t afraid to speak his mind, which often seems to be filled with thoughts beyond his years. One day a few weeks ago he sat next to me in a windowsill as we tried to catch some of the last rays of afternoon sun and sang me a song he is working on on his small wooden flute. Sitting still is a great accomplishment, singing is amazing! Also, one evening last week I stopped by Hogar with Dustin to drop a book off and we stayed and played with the kids for awhile. When we were about to leave a large group of boys immediately stopped playing soccer (with a small plastic bottle) to say goodbye and give me the customary kiss on the cheek. The little things often speak volumes.
I turned in my report for the School Campaign for primary school kids last week. I was in charge of buying books, coordinating school supply packets, directing a large donation from the United States, and preparing a financial report for the Board of Directors. It was a wonderful opportunity to work closely within a team, learn more about the educational system, and gain a clearer picture of the educational needs of these children. During the first two weeks of June, I will be visiting the primary schools once again to check on the children`s attendance, behavior and academic progress.
I also finished my Human Rights Group in late March; our final session consisting of making a giant bulletin board about the rights of children and how we can use our talents to serve others and promote justice and human rights. Although there are definitely things I would do differently the next time around, it was a rewarding experience and I believe that the six kids who regularly participated brought away a better understanding of human rights within their community and at a global level. Based on their evaluations, one of their favorite activities was writing letters to children affected by the tsunami and sending them through UNICEF.
I have also decided to develop a manual for volunteers from abroad. Many of the difficulties that I experienced in the beginning of my internship, and issues I have seen other volunteers deal with, come from a lack of clarity and communication surrounding expectations of volunteers. In my case it was especially difficult clarifying my role as a "normal volunteer and a social work intern.
Incredible growth
I am not sure how to even begin to express how much I have learned through my experience, both personally and professionally, here in Peru. Many of my goals in coming have been accomplished, although not necessarily in the ways that I expected. I wanted to learn what it feels like to be in the minority, which I definitely am here ("gringa, "turista, etc.). But instead of facing discrimination (besides the frequent price inflation that takes place), I have faced a situation of increased respect and rights based on my skin color. I am let in free to restaurants with cover charges, constantly stared at (overly-appreciatively), served before others…the list goes on. I have learned through both personal experience and observation about the social stratification that is present here, often based on the lightness or darkness of your skin.
I have also realized the strong influence of larger macrosystems (especially political, religious, economic) on the individual lives of families and children with whom I work. Two weeks ago I was on my way to work and had to cross a bridge over the River Chili to get to Hogar. For more than two blocks the street was completely blocked with people marching in protest of the government which was taking money that had been promised to be invested into local development. Politics is a daily reality here, one that you witness in the streets, in the music and in your conversations with families. Often politicians gain loyalty through gift giving at election time (it has started already for the 2006 presidential election). Currently most popular candidate here in Arequipa is Alberto Fujimori, now in a self-imposed exile in Japan, who was dismissed in 2000 for under grounds of "moral incapacity and amidst various financial and political scandals.
The Catholic church is also strongly involved in decision-making for the country. I have heard stories of children who have been refused their vaso de leche (national feeding program for poor children) because their families are not Catholic. I have faced questioning and challenges about my own Christian, but non-Catholic, faith in both professional and personal settings more than ever before.
My school visits, as well as my many hours of helping kids with homework, have demonstrated to me over and over again the devastating state of the nation`s public school system, primarily due to lack of inversion by the government. Buildings with broken windows, no books or supplies, poorly-paid teachers who haven`t been adequately trained or evaluated and assign primarily busywork. Sadly enough it is easy to understand why many of the children are neither excited nor encouraged to study and why work often seems like a better option. My ideas and opinions around child labor continue to be shaped as I interact with the kids from Hogar within the institution and as I walk through the plaza at night, leave the movie theater and restaurants, and converse with them and their families.
My Spanish language skills have greatly improved, most notably in comprehension. It is now unusual to hear words that I don`t recognize and I am able to fully participate in group conversations, understand more difficult accents, and communicate in a more natural and relaxed manner. My confidence in this area has greatly increased.
In terms of social work skills, I have been able to work at individual, familial, group and communal levels. I have been able to improve my crosscultural understanding and communication, work effectively in a multidisciplinary, Spanish-speaking team, and build trusting relationships with the families and children. I better understand the needs, responses and strengths of people experiencing oppression, poverty, injustice, and extreme familial difficulties. I have been able to reflect on my own position of power and how to work and collaborate with this high-risk population within a system of social and economic inequality. My assessment and analysis skills have been tuned and I have learned to be more creative in my intervention strategies in settings of scarce resources. I have advocated for clients in health, educational, religious, and organizational settings, promoting social justice and equality and attempting to maintain a systems and strengths-based perspective in all of my work. My conciousness, respect and understanding of diversity is deeply integrated into my thought processes and my daily interactions.
In terms of limitations, there were many. However, I was able to learn to conquer many of them, ask lots of questions, and most importantly have been able to put myself in the position of a learner and humbly recognize my limitations and request help when needed. Therapeutic experience was lacking, as well as adequate supervision from the staff social worker. I have learned that it is extremely important to be clear about your needs and expectations from the very beginning of the internship experience. My use of theory, theoretical frameworks and academic investigation was also limited, partly because of my own limitations and insufficient knowledge of the population, but also due to a lack of adequate, daily supervision and the general lack of use and discussion of theory within the organization.
I want to strongly encourage anyone who is pondering an international field experience to do everything possible to make it a reality. The personal and professional growth will shape your perspective and understanding in ways that you can`t understand without experiencing a day-to-day reality much different than your own. There will of course be difficulties, frustrations and lonliness, but in general these moments seem to grow further and further apart and the positive heavily outweighs the negative. I want to end with a story I wrote a couple of nights ago, late, after getting home from work. Know that when you take risks and step outside your comfort zone, you will be amazed over and over again by what you are taught, what you feel, what you experience and how your life is transformed.
A special evening at Chicken Palace
The moon is just past full. It looks different here, waxing and waning from different sides than at home and it seems closer and more clear if that is possible. We are in a no-name taxi that I would never take if I was on my own, but since I am surrounded with three kids and Lucho, my coworker, I feel safe enough. Maria, a nine year old with a big smile and long, dark pigtails, is sound asleep on my lap in the front seat, and I hold her tightly, trying not to let her move too much as the taxi takes corner after corner. There is a smell of a child who has not bathed for too many days, but I don`t care and I hold her more tightly. The signs of poverty are clear as we head up the cerro to Maria and her brother Mateo´s home, turning onto a gravel road with no lights, except the glow of the moon above and the city spread out beneath us. Spray-painted signs on sillar walls warn against littering, but garbage is still strewn about. Dogs bark at the car and run along side as we continue until we reach the bottom of a steep hill, disembark and head up on foot to their waiting mom and grandmother. Their mom always seems like she is about to cry when we talk, overwhelmed by a life that is too hard and has worn away just a little too much. They kiss me on the cheek and head inside, tired and full and happy.
I take a couple of photos of Arequipa at night, and we continue on to Romero´s. Alto Selva Alegre San Luis to Cayma Buenos Aires. Spending way too much on a taxi that has already stopped twice for gasoline. 4 soles doesn`t buy even a half of a gallon, but the serviceman at the station is used to such requests. Romero insists on sitting in the front seat, attent and wide-eyed, at least for the first ten minutes until his long-lashed eyelids grow heavy and I have to wake him up for directions. I am completely disoriented as we take turn after turn after turn, passing plazas and parks that I swear I had seen five minutes earlier. Eventually we arrive, after Romero tells the driver a little too late where to turn for the last time. His mom and older sisters greet me eagerly with big smiles, not seeming very worried although it is after ten and Romero is only ten years old. I guess that they trust us. I invite his mom to the mother`s day party tomorrow and get back in the taxi. Lucho has decided to smoke and I don`t complain although I really dislike it and we chat about random work issues like ordering the chicken for the party tomorrow.
What a special evening. We walked through the busy plaza with processions on two sides and a service in front of the Cathedral with a choir singing in honor of Corpus Christi, the festival to celebrate the body of Christ. The road is covered with sand and flower petals that have now been trampled, but were beautiful murals. Bringing seven of the eight winners of last weekend`s art festival to the Chicken Palace for a quarter of a chicken, ensalada, papas and the choice of CocaCola, IncaKola and Sprite. It was Mateo and Maria`s first chicken experience and unusual and exciting for all of the kids. I assisted them at the salad bar, cutting the chicken off the bones of some of the younger kids, and pouring gaseosa to prevent unnecessary accidents. They proudly showed their chicken in all of the photos and had smiles pasted on their faces. I ate everything and enjoyed the company of laughter and fun conversation and random comments that are so common with kids. It is nights like this I hope I always remember.
