CDCA Volunteer Blog

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Time to say Good-Bye! ¡Adios!

So, I'm leaving Arequipa on Monday (2 days!) and heading back home to New York City. It was my last day of teaching at Paz y Esperanza on December 4th and the Director forgot to tell the teachers and students. So, I only said good-bye to about half the kids as the other half were not even there. I also passed out some school supplies and gifts to the kids and gave them their folders back. I wish I had some pictures of the last project I undertook, but I was pretty sad my last day. I helped the kids put their hand prints with acrylic paint around the framed photos of the mural process over the mural itself (Ashley- check it out in the "library" next time you go to Horacio). It turned out pretty good, but I was crying most of my last day while doing this as I couldn't believe so many kids weren't there and that the Director forgot it was my last day. I had reminded him a handful of times, but he still forgot. The "real" Director (Director Froilan) was not able to come out to bid me farewell, but he sent me a beautiful e-mail thanking me for all the work I had done.

I'll probably miss Arequipa since I've been here for so long, but I am so ready to go home........

Good-bye readers (all 5-8 of you). Maybe on this last post you might actually have the ganas to comment:)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Dance Competition

The kids competed in a District-wide dance competition a few weeks ago among other public elementary schools in Socabaya. It was fun to watch them dance and see other schools and their dances as well. The winning school performed a more modern dance than the other schools. The boys and girls all wore the same costume (a colorful skirt and brightly colored shirt with ruffle necks and sleeves). They danced to modern-type music in a freestyle-type fashion. It was very entertaining.

Everyone said that our school was memorable for all the props we used. The kids danced to very traditional music about harvesting corn and raising alpaca. I believe this competition will become a tradition in the Socabaya School District.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Campeonatos!

The kids have been practicing for these games that lead to some sort of Championship at the end of the school year. The events are volleyball, soccer, and chess. The volleyball and soccer teams at Paz y Esperanza have not had much success; the only game won between both teams was a volleyball game against a really small public school in Socabaya (about 60 students). The game was also only won by 2 points in the third match...

Anyway, the chess team has not had any real "games" since they are "training" for a tournament in a few weeks. The boys are waaay more involved in the "training" than the girls and often opt out of recess to practice and have mini tournaments of their own. This is refreshing. And I am particularly interested in the games since they use the CDCA game board and chess pieces. The kids are trying to teach me how to improve my strategy. Some of them are actually quite good. Two of them have beaten me as well. As you can see above, their concentration is intense. They aren't very competitive, which is good, but they are mostly highly motivated and intentional.

Paz y Esperanza Playground Update

So, the kids loooove the playground. There exists a border-line obesession with it amongst all the students at the school. Kids from the community (usually friends of the students) also come to play in the playground on Saturdays when I go to the school to do games and crafts with the kids. Two Saturdays ago the kids couldn't play on the playground equipment, because Kris painted the equipment (as shown above). It looks really cool, no? Everyone went crazy over it. All the teachers told me, "Tu novio es bien Peruano....", since he painted the playground equipment in the colors and style of the Peruvian flag. No, he's American, but we both love Peru in some special way:)

Visit to Quequeña

Hi:) So, I visited the school at Quequeña (the only primary school there is out there) and was pleasantly surprised. I had been told that Quequeña was mostly farmland and that the town itself was very small (population size around 1,000). Therefore, I was not expecting much from the school itself.

The school was surprisingly spacious and the grounds somewhat modern compared to other public schools I have been to. It had a soccer and volleyball court and lots of green area as well as plants and trees. The student body is small (55 students- 1st through 6th grades), but the students seem very attentive and respectful. The teachers seemed engaging and knowledgeable about the community and the public school system.

I would have to say that Quequeña is also a contender for a future partnership with CDCA. It will be difficult to choose a school for CDCA to work with in the future. I really enjoyed my visits at all 3 schools and would love it if they could all receive help. Maybe, CDCA could somehow work with all three of the schools ;-)

Sunday, October 4, 2009

School Visits continue..................... and so does the school year

First Grade classroom 1

First Grade classroom 2

View of sinks near bathrooms

View of girls' bathroom stalls at Santa Maria

Hi! So, I visited an elementary school in Paucarpata a few weeks ago (pictures above) with Director Froilan. The visit went well and the travel time was not as bad as I expected. I had heard that Paucarpata might be about an hour from my apartment, but it was about 45 minutes. Paucarpata is a one of Arequipa's poorer districts like Alto Cayma (Cayma highlands) and Ampliacion Socabaya (past the city of Socabaya). Santa Maria, the area I visited, was much like La Mansion and Horacio Zeballos such that the population is mostly comprised of immigrants from other parts of Peru and the socioeconomic status is very poor. The area seems to lack in basic public services such as a sewage system and water like Horacio and La Mansion, although the school seemed the be better equiped infrastructurally like La Mansion yet unlike Horacio.

I plan to visit a school in Quequeña this week (granted the Director doesn't have another UGEL meeting), so I shall report on that soon.

As far as the school year goes, the kids at Paz y Esperanza are mostly doing well. The 6th graders are moving from "Who? Possessive Pronouns and Family" into "Where? and Location" after having taken and revised an exam. The same 3 students did well on the last exam, but many students are understanding and pronouncing English words and phrases better and better every week. 5th grade and 4th grade are taking the "Who? Possessive Pronouns and Family" exam this week. 1st and 2nd grade are up to letter Q this week and making lots of progress on the alphabet as well as school vocabulary. 3rd grade is still very difficult to deal with and engage. When I do keep their attention they recite and sing the alphabet perfectly and sing all the vocabulary songs correctly as well as remember phrases and numbers up to 30. When I don't have their attention, things get stressful and I resort to art (usually painting), which they enjoy.

Art lessons are coming along quite nicely with 6th and 4th grades as well 5th grade, sometimes. They are learning shading techniques and will move into self-portraits after recreations soon. There are a few students who I believe are definitely artistically inclined and could become very good at drawing as well as painting.

I have to start planning the kids' end-of-the-year English and Art presentation/show since December is quickly approaching. I can't believe that I'm leaving Arequipa in two and a half months....

Please comment your thoughts:)