When I returned to my humble abode in Madrigal from Arequipa I was greeted by my loving host sister, Roxana. I must say that her awkward teenage smile is what makes this place home for me. But, the hugs are what keep me joyful. Because touching is not a part of the culture every time I go in to hug her and give her a kiss on the check she has this moment of shock that quickly melts into comfort. It just might be the first time my bony hug actually comforts someone instead of just encircling them in wiry discomfort.
We sipped some tea and like real Peruvian sisters she talked about her classes and the award she won last week in an art competition, and I told her about my new, dare I say, boyfriend. Then we stapled a couple hundred surveys together…
Today, I went to the elementary school and handed out surveys to each kid asking questions about preferences, hygiene, world knowledge, living situation, etc.
Some sad:
What do you do after your classes?: I go help in the fields.
I help my parents.
I do my homework when there isn’t work to do.
What would you prefer to do after classes?: Heat water and take, like, a 2 hour bath.
Play.
When do you wash your hands?: When they are dirty.
List come countries of the world: Madrigal, Lima, Cuzco.
What was the age of your mother when you were born?: 15
Who do you share a room with: My whole family.
How many books have you read outside of the classroom in your life?: I just read text books at school.
I think less than half said they play or relax after school.
I can’t really wrap my mind around the idea of not ever reading picture books as a kid. I live with them and I still can’t wrap my mind around it. Can you imagine not being read to every night before bed? Can you imagine your teacher at school never sitting the class in a circle and reading aloud. It is all very hard to fathom.
The ‘bathing after classes’ answer is particularly sad because this shows me that she/he WANTS to clean her/himself. Cleanliness is a huge issue here. It isn’t really a part of culture to wash. Can you imagine how often you would wash yourself if your only option was ice cap melted freezing cold water? And why can’t she just heat water and bucket bathe? Because we are so high in altitude, not many trees can grow here. Firewood is rationed. The families that have gas tanks and kitchenettes also ration the gas as it is expensive. And why is heating food so necessary? Because people that don’t boil everything they eat in a soup get sick and die. We don’t have refrigerators, if you want to eat meat or vegetables, you need to boil the crap out of it before consumption. If you ran out of resources you would be in serious trouble. I see it as it literally coming down to two things for them: cold showers, or death. Seriously.
I can’t even say the number of kids that asked me what a religion is. Most of them didn’t answer the question inquiring about world religions. The only religion they have ever heard of is Catholicism. They don’t even recognize their gifts to mother Earth as a religion. When asking, “what religion does your family practice?” one kid answered, “quechua” which is the local dialect. I am not sure if that answer is closer or father away from what I was looking for.
Some of the world maps consisted of a circle with some wiggles making out alien continents. Others were literally just an outline of Peru. Peru, is literally all they know. It is all they are taught by the government issued text books.
Did I mention that there are a ton of white-skinned Jehova’s Wittneses crawling all over the canyon trying to save the lives(souls?) of the poor who live here? Yeah, a couple of my kids said they read the scriptures of Jahova.
Of course, I didn’t just give out the survey today. First, I did a little talk with them about what a survey is and what it means to be your very own person with your very own answers. One of the most challenging parts of working with these kids is the huge variance of ability in each 9-student classroom. Because there isn’t any legitimate testing, each kid pretty much advances by age. That means you have kids struggling to read and understand language because of parental deprivation in the same classrooms as kids who have parents who read to them regularly and help them with their homework. While the second happenstance is rare, there are a couple, and they are years ahead of their classmates. This makes keeping kids’ attention a huge challenge. They all need vary different forms of learning and the classroom is a huge challenge to keep under control.
Some beautiful answers:
What was your favorite book: When we read “cuentos blancos” I loved it because it had a lot of important stories with morals.
What do you prefer to do after classes: Read stories or things that teach me.
Draw.
Study and learn interesting and important stuff.
You wouldn’t believe the number of kids that said they want to learn. They are so hungry it is unbelievable. And the teachers are so eager to teach. The lack of resources to do so is horrifyingly sad.
A teacher pulled me aside when she saw my surveys and said, “you know what we really need is printers in the classroom.” Can you imagine a school without a copy machine? They function here without printers or copy machines. The teacher usually writes the questions on the board, the kids copy, then answer. It takes SO much longer to get anything done, and the kids’ attention spans are not extended due to their lack of resources. What was interesting to me was the way she explained to me why they need printers. Almost like I didn’t realize it, or the reason they don’t have printers isn’t because they don’t have the money, but because they don’t realize they need it. It was like she just realized how convenient a printer would be when she saw my stack of machine copied surveys I made in Arequipa. Conversations like this are like a stab in the leg that make me wonder how I am going to keep walking. They are so cut off. There is so much to teach. How can I and where do I start?
For the kids that have, a few times in their life, read books in their free time, they remember every one. Every book title, and every detail of the story. With pride a few kids wrote things like, “I have read 6 books:” then the list of each specific title.
Over all, the surveys were a success. They mostly told me things I was aware of, but now have on paper.
