Glad I Waited

This morning I finally did something that I've wanted to do since before I arrived in Peru. I started looking for volunteer opportunities while I was still in California, and had continued looking without success until now. You would think that in a developing country, you could walk down the street and volunteer somewhere but I found it much more difficult than I imagined. 


There are many people, a lot of them college-age, who travel to Peru from all over the globe to participate in volunteer programs located in various parts of the country. You pay to participate in these types of programs, where you get to immerse yourself in the culture and take side trips for sightseeing . Cusco is certainly a very popular volunteer destination, but there are needs and opportunities throughout Peru. Before you are accepted as a volunteer, there are requirements that must be met, especially if you want to work with children. This is understandable, and is similar to the US where we now need to be fingerprinted and background checked. Since I live in Lima, I have to go about volunteering from a different angle.


When I first arrived here, I visited the largest orphanage in South America, which houses over 500 kids. I also went to the children's hospital near downtown Lima with a friend who had previously volunteered there. In order to volunteer in a public institution, the process for volunteering is complicated - you need to complete lengthy applications, provide health certificates, pass psychiatric exams, and attend hours of training. The interesting thing is that institutions don't appear very interested in your interest. At the children's hospital, we inquired about how to help and were told to send a letter. We asked if we could talk to someone since we were already there? No, the procedure is to send a letter. Well, could we email it? No,  it has to be a real letter, not an email. My friend wrote the letter on the spot and handed it in, and to date we have heard nothing from the hospital.


Site location and transportation to a volunteer site is an issue. There are so many shantytowns on the outskirts of Lima, places that are incredibly poor, and programs operated by churches and NGOs who are happy for volunteers. I attended a discussion at the South American Explorers Club where three program directors described their programs in the shantytowns and said they'd welcome volunteers immediately. However, these areas are far from where we live, it would be too expensive to take a taxi, and I wouldn't feel comfortable (ie. safe) traveling alone through certain parts of town by bus.


I'd really like to work with street kids. You see them out at night, some have parents who neglect or abuse them, and can't afford to feed them, and others who are orphans. Kiko had a great project for a class of his; he and his classmates raised money to help a group home for street kids. I got to spend an afternoon with the directors and some of the boys in the program, sadly hearing tragic stories of before they arrived at the home (for example, one boy's mom tried to drown him in a bucket of water, most of the young boys were drug users) and happily seeing boys with the promise of a future. I would love to work with this program, but it's just too far away.


Guess what? Timing is everything. I was more than frustrated that I've been here all these months and still no volunteering. One day, after spending all the previous day searching for volunteer opportunities online, I was having coffee with mi amiga Peruana, Maritere, and mentioned my desire to volunteer. She offered to introduce me to a friend of hers, who just happens to be the director of a program I saw online. Coincidently (?) while on their website a few weeks previously, I had expressed interest in volunteering and requested more information but hadn't heard from them yet. Of course I jumped at the opportunity, so my friend took me right over to meet the director. Carla gave me her card, and told me to email her and she'd help me to get involved. After a few emails back and forth, she put me in touch with the site coordinator, we scheduled an interview, and TODAY was my first day of voluntariado.


I am volunteering at a public hospital for cancer patients (Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, or INEN), with a program called Aprendo Contigo (meaning "learning with you", Information and photos of Aprendo Contigo in English). Since we moved to the new apartment, I can walk to the hospital in a leisurely 15 minutes for my 8:30am - 12:30pm weekly shift (I would have had to walk 10 minutes and then take the bus from our old apartment). The program's goal is to make sure that children with cancer have things to do to keep cancer from being the center of their lives. The kids who are patients in the hospital have lessons every day so they don't fall behind in school, and the kids who are there for chemo or doctor appointments are kept busy with activities.


This morning I was one of 12 women who tried to get some cute kids' minds off their cancer for a little while. I worked in the chemo room, with the youngest being one year old to a teenage boy texting on his cell phone. Our job was to make sure the kids had something to do. We gave them toys, dolls, games, puzzles (rompe cabezas, literally translated as head breaking?!), word searches, cartoon pages and ceramic ornaments to color, and comic books. I learned that Danna is 13, and hasn't seen her mom in two years because she's working in Los Angeles. Edwin's hair is growing back, I think one of his legs was amputated, and he kept me busy providing the right colors for his artwork. A darling 18 month old cried for awhile when the  enfermera tried many times to find a vein in her little hand. A few parents smiled in understanding when I explained that I'm from the U.S. and were very patient with my Spanish. Besides working with the kids, we talk to the parents, who are often from the provinces and not only overwhelmed with their child's illness but also with the huge city, tall buildings, and traffic, as well as learning how to deal with an institution like a large hospital. We're actually on the floor from 9 until 12, with the first half hour as prep time and the last half hour for putting things away and a wrap up meeting to discuss the kids' progress and any issues.


All the women are very nice and helpful, and a few speak English, but they all know I want to improve my Spanish and can understand a lot if they speak slowly. The program seems well-organized, which is really exciting (for Peru, that's a novelty!) I am already included in the Secret Santas, and will be going to the "reveal" luncheon with everyone in December. To top it off, one of my fellow volunteers, Ada, lives down the street from me, and I had a very enjoyable walk home with her; she pointed out various flowers and birds, telling me their names in Spanish and correcting my incorrect grammar.


I'm so glad to be working with kids again. I've missed them since I lost my long-term sub job. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about being around these very sick children since I've been more emotional lately. But I had no problem because these very sick, brave, smiling kids were a joy to be with! My friend Debra reminded me of this today via her Facebook status, "In all things, God is never too late or too early but His timing is always perfect. It is up to us to trust, wait and obey." I think that while we're waiting, often impatiently, we really can't imagine what that thing we're waiting for will look like. I'm so blessed that what I waited for looks like Aprendo Contigo.