Abel Gomez's Journal
02-09-2008 @ Tupac amaru
4-Sep-2008
That´s the name of our project and it´s located in the Tupac Amaru neighbourhood withing the San Sebastian district.
On our first day we took public transport, the famous "combi". Ours was called Correcaminos and it was about a 30 min ride from the city center. To put it in simple words, a combi is what we would call family van, monovolumen, vanette etc. However, instead of fitting 12 people (as per the vehicle manual) these ones here fit up to 25 so you can get the picture. We had to pass the airport to get to Tupac Amaru and once we got to the end of the line we just had to walk a few minutes to find the center. The children were waiting outside but as soon as they saw us they run inside giggling. This center consits of one room of about 20 m2 with a curtain which divides it in two areas. They also hava a small cooker in a little room at the back where they also keep powdered milk and rice (supplied by the government).
As soon as Chris and I got inside the house some children asked us to takem in our arms, some others introduced themselves ..it was a nice, warm and totally unexpected welcome.
Juan Carlos, who is the coordinator, explained us the daily routine (i.e homework, playtime, dinner, activities). After this, we went around the tables trying to figure out what kind of homework they had to do. Most of the children know how to sum, substract and multiply to some extend. Just the youngest ones are still learning how to write.
Since we did not have much time (less than 4 hours) I decided to give them some maths homework. The reaction was amazing, as soon as they were done they would come asking for more difficult exercises.Ít struck me how these poor children were so keen to learn and to be taught new things.
After their homework was done they asked for permission to play outside. The boys played football with Chris so I played cat and mouse, wolf and other games with the girls and the youngest ones.
When dinner was ready all children run inside and sat to say grace.
When we were leaving many of them hugged us and asked us to teach them some basic English.
I can´t wait for the second day to start...
Previous Entry: Strike • 3-Sep-2008
4-Sep-2008
That´s the name of our project and it´s located in the Tupac Amaru neighbourhood withing the San Sebastian district.
On our first day we took public transport, the famous "combi". Ours was called Correcaminos and it was about a 30 min ride from the city center. To put it in simple words, a combi is what we would call family van, monovolumen, vanette etc. However, instead of fitting 12 people (as per the vehicle manual) these ones here fit up to 25 so you can get the picture. We had to pass the airport to get to Tupac Amaru and once we got to the end of the line we just had to walk a few minutes to find the center. The children were waiting outside but as soon as they saw us they run inside giggling. This center consits of one room of about 20 m2 with a curtain which divides it in two areas. They also hava a small cooker in a little room at the back where they also keep powdered milk and rice (supplied by the government).
As soon as Chris and I got inside the house some children asked us to takem in our arms, some others introduced themselves ..it was a nice, warm and totally unexpected welcome.
Juan Carlos, who is the coordinator, explained us the daily routine (i.e homework, playtime, dinner, activities). After this, we went around the tables trying to figure out what kind of homework they had to do. Most of the children know how to sum, substract and multiply to some extend. Just the youngest ones are still learning how to write.
Since we did not have much time (less than 4 hours) I decided to give them some maths homework. The reaction was amazing, as soon as they were done they would come asking for more difficult exercises.Ít struck me how these poor children were so keen to learn and to be taught new things.
After their homework was done they asked for permission to play outside. The boys played football with Chris so I played cat and mouse, wolf and other games with the girls and the youngest ones.
When dinner was ready all children run inside and sat to say grace.
When we were leaving many of them hugged us and asked us to teach them some basic English.
I can´t wait for the second day to start...
Previous Entry: Strike • 3-Sep-2008
