Tuesday morning and another cold start to the day. Nowadays it isn't really an option to take a hot shower in the morning as it is a survival thing.
Off to Ushpa to a fun day with the niños in maternal and soon after breakfast we get the kids to walk out as usual which tends to be just to the basketball court where they get to run around, play with toys etc. and just be in the sun for a bit. This time however, it was different, we keep walking and soon I realise oh oh! we're going on a trek to the church again. 17 little ones going down a pebble ridden steep path requires an extreme amount of alertness and quick reflexes.
After a fair bit of walking (for the babies), we reach the church and Jose Miguel is surprisingly smart as he automatically turns to the right even though the kids have probably only been there a couple of times before.
More surprisingly for me and the other volunteers, Rosemarie tells us to walk on and the realization hits- We're going to the river!Another 15 minute walk down hill, crossing a highway with little ones who can barely walk, just learning to walk and a few who cannot walk yet. Adventure indeed.
Arrive at this crazy looking narrow as hell path that is so dangerous even for an adult to walk on their own as you really have to balance between fitting in the path, not getting scraped by thorns on both sides and making sure you don't slip on the pebbles and other obstacles.
I see your obstacle path, and I raise you the path with kids who can just about walk. It was without a doubt the most tiring and scary thing I've done in the longest time.
We finally reach the dried out river, get the babies to sit down, entertain them a bit, feed them mandarinas and then yipee an uphill battle this time. Now, the babies are exceptionally tired from the long walk, the struggle to get to the river and sleepy. So, task is to climb up holding on for dear life and carry babies who don't want to even stand any more. Wow! When we finally got back to the class, one could tell we were beyond exhausted and really just wanted to climb into a bed somewhere and relax. Alas! This would not be possible as the kids have to be fed lunch, cleaned up, put to bed and then we have to wipe down, sweep and scrub the classroom clean before we can leave.
What a day!
Off to Ushpa to a fun day with the niños in maternal and soon after breakfast we get the kids to walk out as usual which tends to be just to the basketball court where they get to run around, play with toys etc. and just be in the sun for a bit. This time however, it was different, we keep walking and soon I realise oh oh! we're going on a trek to the church again. 17 little ones going down a pebble ridden steep path requires an extreme amount of alertness and quick reflexes.
After a fair bit of walking (for the babies), we reach the church and Jose Miguel is surprisingly smart as he automatically turns to the right even though the kids have probably only been there a couple of times before.
More surprisingly for me and the other volunteers, Rosemarie tells us to walk on and the realization hits- We're going to the river!Another 15 minute walk down hill, crossing a highway with little ones who can barely walk, just learning to walk and a few who cannot walk yet. Adventure indeed.
Arrive at this crazy looking narrow as hell path that is so dangerous even for an adult to walk on their own as you really have to balance between fitting in the path, not getting scraped by thorns on both sides and making sure you don't slip on the pebbles and other obstacles.
We finally reach the dried out river, get the babies to sit down, entertain them a bit, feed them mandarinas and then yipee an uphill battle this time. Now, the babies are exceptionally tired from the long walk, the struggle to get to the river and sleepy. So, task is to climb up holding on for dear life and carry babies who don't want to even stand any more. Wow! When we finally got back to the class, one could tell we were beyond exhausted and really just wanted to climb into a bed somewhere and relax. Alas! This would not be possible as the kids have to be fed lunch, cleaned up, put to bed and then we have to wipe down, sweep and scrub the classroom clean before we can leave.
What a day!
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