Walking into a dusty rock filled ‘playground’ as adorable smiling Peruvian children run up to hug you and drag you into their small classroom to play games whilst chatting away in fast Spanish is how the past few days have started off.
As well as learning Spanish in Cusco we are also spending time volunteering at a charity funded school with cheeky monkeys aged from 3 to 6 years old. We have to catch a bus that takes around 25 minutes to reach the very outskirts of the city so already the day is off to an adventure (check out that post for why!). We are there to assist the teacher in the crowded tiny one room ‘school’ which also doubles up as the kitchen in the corner. From playing games, teaching them ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes,’ and chatting to them in our still not so great Spanish, I can’t tell you how tired we are at the end of each day!
It is a world away from the children and school I used to teach English in back in France. We have learnt not to bat an eyelid when squawking chickens run across the yard and got used to swatting away flies when we are sat with the kids teaching them to count.
The children are so happy and keen to learn that the teacher has little trouble controlling them when she gives lessons. They are constantly taking your hand, running up and giving huge cuddles and trying to give you a kiss that I have on a few times wondered how easy the adoption process would be…… (Relax mum and dad if you’re reading, don’t worry I won’t be coming back with a new addition to the family!)
Before lessons start they sit and pray for all the teachers in the world, the abandoned children and sick people (and other things which i haven’t worked out in their fast Spanish!) which is heart meltingly adorable. We have the task of washing their tiny hands before the morning snack so it’s out to the yard where a bucket of water and a jug waits for us to rub in soap and wash it off trying not to get soaked with water as they enthusiastically air their hands dry. The snack is usually a cup of hot milky rice and a cracker, that surprisingly fills you up, although one day it was a grey boiled egg and a boiled potato that we quickly munched down for fear of offending them.
After some more games, dancing and singing it is time to clean their teeth! They each have a plastic cup and toothbrush that we squeeze toothpaste on and fill the cup with water as they stand in the yard brushing their teeth and spitting out onto the ground. I had to hold back the giggles when it first happened as 20 or so kids hacking up toothpaste was a sight I have never seen before.
Have you ever spent time volunteering when travelling?
