CCS work placements

Before we started work last Tuesday, we spent the Monday visiting several work placements to get an overview of what CCS does here. This was fascinating, but quite a culture shock!

First we visited a Wawa Wasi, which is one of the projects that I´m going to be involved in. We drove out of the centre and out into rough suburbs that I now recognise as ´Wawa Wasi country´- dirt tracks, stray dogs, pigs, chickens, and with small, dusty dwellings with shabby iron doors and rooves. About 9 of us piled into a Wawa Wasi and nearly filled it! It was a very small room that felt a bit like somebody´s garage (it probably was, once upon a time), with tiles on the floor and a very tiny sink and toilet in the corner. There were a few plastic toys and old puzzles, and a small table with tiny wooden chairs for the 8 children, who range from 9 months to 4 years. I have since found out that this is a luxury 5-star Wawa Wasi - wait til you hear about mine! This wasn´t a very typical situation, as we were all staring at the children, and what´s more, 2 groups had also got together for a party to celebrate 5 years of Wawa Wasis, so it was all very squashed and chaotic. There were 16 children under 4, 2 mamas who each run a group, plus 2 CCS volunteers. All the children live in extreme poverty and it´s probably only in the Wawa Wasi that they get to eat any proper food or play with any toys. The project is run to allow families living in extreme poverty to leave their children in a safe and stimulating environment while they go out to work. This is a very popular national state initiative, and particularly successful in Ayacucho where there are over 150 Wawa Wasis. 50% of the population of Peru lives in poverty (on less than 2$/day) and 20% live in extreme poverty (on 1$/day), but in Ayacucho 80% of the population lives in extreme poverty. The under 5s are a handful anyway, but in this gruelling context it was obvious that it was going to be a real challenge!

We then headed for a soup kitchen in the centre of the city, but unfortunately one of the women who worked there had died, and so the kitchen was closed. I´m yet to go back.

Then further out of the city into another poor suburb, to visit one of the clinics. A couple of CCS volunteers who are medical students are working here. The clinics provide free consultation and they are currently giving children free vaccinations, but normally drugs have to be paid for, so this can be a problem for many. The clinic was pretty basic, but clean and friendly. We also had a tour round the obstetrics ´wing´(= concrete hut) where we saw how basic the resources are - no sign of any birthing pools or drugs; woudn´t want to give birth here ...

Next, we visited a primary school in a particularly poor area on the outskirts of the city. I hadn´t realised it was a school until children started appearing from various classrooms in a long, thin concrete building opening onto some dusty wasteland. The school was opened a couple of years ago with about 80 children, and apparently there were not even any desks at the time. Now there are about 200 children, desks, and some CCS volunteers had a toilet block fitted, though the door and roof have since been stolen. There are hardly any books, no running water, no electricity. My heart went out to these kids, and I´m hoping to go back to work here, so will let you know more another time.

We finished our tour with a look at the outside of the Yanamilla high-security prison. CCS sends volunteers in here to work with the under 5s who stay in with their mothers (some children were born here!), also to take the children out into the real world on Friday mornings, and to work with the mothers, teaching them English. The prison is mixed, and most of the sentences are for drug-trafficking - the north of Ayacucho province is one of the main regions in Peru for producing coca leaves and apparently 30% of Ayacucho population is involved one way or another in the drug industry.

Other projects that CCS is currently involved with is teaching English in secondary state schools, where there is a lack of English teachers and a real need for teacher training, also in two orphanages, in a street kids drop-in centre, and in some schools out in a remote village about 30 minutes´drive away. I´m hoping to visit more of these soon ...