1 Agusto 2010

Today we went to visit a governmental orphanage. This particular orphanage houses young teens that needed to be removed from their homes. Many of their mothers, siblings, and relatives visit them often, but living in their house is not safe, or their family cannot support them.
The orphanage is in a dangerous part of Lima, so I didn't want to carry my camera and do not have photos to show you. I don't know how to present the situation, the facility carried many positives and many negatives. Because I don't yet know how it could be any better I am just going to share the information I learned and allow you to carry any feelings that arise. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me.
All the girls are in their teens and treat each other like sisters.
About 12 girls share 5 bedrooms 5 toilets, and 4 showers.
They have a medium sized sitting room for music and TV, and a dinningroom table large enough for them all to eat dinner together every evening.
They have running water, electricity, and a hot water heater.
They have a functioning stove and oven.
There is a room set up for piano lessons that is obviously never used.
This same room has a table and chairs for the psychologist that comes to see them once a week an hour a piece. The girls report to hate the psychologist. They say she is mean. I have been told that the psychologist has no degree and only comes so that she can write it on her resume.
They have a full computer lab and internet access.
The building is falling apart. It needs a paint job badly, probably some new support beams.
They one washingmachine, and hang their clothes out to dry on the roof.
Girls run away often.
One woman lives with the girls. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The girls only go to half-day public school because the government doesn't want to have to financially support them. They are encouraged to study on their own, and some of them really do. One girl is quadralingual. She moved into the center in Lima from a quechua speaking province, picked up spanish, and took a liking to studying language.

The center is funded by the government and one NGO had been sending girls there as well as finding donations.
It is said that a lot of the money donated to the center is skimmed off the top by government officials.
The government officials that represent the girls never go there. They would rather not have to think about these girls, generally ignore them, and do not allow any paperwork through that would change anything about the way it is presently run.

One anecdote. The volunteer that works there presently took time to paint a world map on one of the walls with the girls, when she came back one week it had been painted over because it wasn't the approved wall color. When she asked about receiving funding and painting all the walls with the girls because the paint is chipping and dirty, they said she couldn't, and gave no reason.