Tilbake i Iquitos

Naa har jeg vaert tilbake i Iquitos nesten 3 uker. Det var bare fantastisk aa komme tilbake hit, som aa komme hjem:) Superbra aa treffe alle sammen igjen, store og smaa! Livet fortsetter som vanlig her, men det er mange nye frivillige. Er mye sammen med noen frivillige fra Spania, veldig hyggelige folk!

Mandag til fredag jobber jeg med Aula Movil om formiddagene, leksehjelp og andre aktiviteter. Paa ettermiddagene/ kveldene har jeg engelskundervisning. Det er stort sett de sammen ungene/ ungdommene, men siden prosjektet paa kveldnene- Entre Nos- er i ferd med aa avsluttes er det ikke alle vi jobbet med der som kommer naa. Ungene er skjonne som for, og det er virkelig givende aa jobbe med dem. Foler at jeg har verdens beste "sommerjobb". Men man blir frustrert ogsaa, naar man jobber med unger som har gaatt paa skole to-tre-fire aar, og enda ikke kan bokstavene og tallene skikkelig. Da er det noe med undervisningsopplegget som ikke er bra nok. Det er jo umulig for dem aa laere, hvis de ikke har det grunnleggende paa plass. Istedet for at opplegget tilpasses deres nivaa motes de med frustrasjon over at de ikke laerer. Det er umulig aa ikke bli engasjert i utdanningsproblematikken naar man er her. Ting vi tar for gitt i Norge er ikke oppnaaelig for de fleste peruanere, eller andre steder for den del.

Frustrasjoner til tross, jeg storkoser meg.

Viva Iquitos!

4 days to go and I´m sad as can be...

We have four days left here in Iquitos and it´s so hard to say goodbye to everyone here. I keep hugging and kissing the kids and when they ask me to take them with me, that´s just what I feel like doing:) But this is their world, and I´m just happy that I have gotten to know it, and that I have the posibility to go back here. Hopefully soon. And one day I hope the world has changed enough to give them the posibility to travel as well, and follow whatever dreams they might have.

20 days to go; Am I making the world a better place, or is the world making me a better person?

A while ago a friend of mine wrote to me "it´s good that someone´s out there to make the world a better place¨. Later that day I started thinking, and I realised that, yes I might be here doing something good, something meaningful and yes, something important. But, I know that what I´ve seen, experienced and learned from the people here, no doubt has changed me and made me a better person, more so than whatever changes for the better my presence here has made. And now, the end of my stay here (for now) getting dreadfully close, I know I´ll be going home with new knowledge, contiuing my priveliged life in Norway, and everyone I know and care about here will continue with their struggles, in a country that needs years of change to give its people the security and service they need, deserve and are intitled to. This may sound pessimistic, but after living here, it feels unjust that I can just get on a plane and go home to my safe world.

Why can I study whatever I want when the mayority of young people in the world can´t?
Why can I travel wherever and whenever I want when the mayority in the world can´t even leave their homeplace, even less their country?
Why can I buy (almost) whatever I want when the mayority barely have money to put food on the table?
Why can I feel safe that if I get sick or injured, the system will take care of me when people are afraid to even find out if they have an illness because they can´t afford the treatment?

Living here these almost 7 months has given me a deeper understanding of what poverty is and it´s consequences, and how unjust it is that not averyone has the same posibilities . And it has made me even more sure that we have to keep on fighting it, keep on trying to make the world a better place, for everone.

Alone in the street at midnight...

It´s almost midnight and I´m sitting on our usual internet-café El Cyber right across from the plaza. Outside there are a coupple of 6-7 year old kids playing. A normal monday night here in Iquitos. I´ve gotten used to seeing kids in the streets at any hour of the day (or night) , but it still moves me. These are kids who are outside because their parents don´t care, because it´s better than staying at home with drunk parents or maybe no parents in the house, or kids who can´t go home before they have earned enough money. Kids who need someone who cares, someone who worries, gives limitations and who loves them. I always tell "my kids" to go home and go to bed when I meet them late at night, sometimes they nod and say they´ll be going home soon, but then I´ll see them again an hour later. For me who only have known these little angels 6 months and allready love them, it´s impossible to understand how their parents can be so, well I can´t find a suitable word to cover it...but imagine that you have a 5 year old kid, and you don´t care if she is alone in the street at 2 o´clock in the morning, you don´t worrie what can happen to her or what see might see. I always thought that the love parents have for their kids is the strongest kind of love, and something universal, no matter where you are from, and if you are rich or poor. But what I have seen here makes me question it. Can it be so that the poverty and all the social problems that comes with it destroyes this love? That the everyday problems takes the focus, and that everything else becomes less important and makes love and sentiments a luxury you can´t afford? If that even partly true, that´s one of the sadest consequenses of the worldwide unjustice called poverty.

The value of 7 soles

It´s been an normal saturday afternoon here in Iquitos. After hanging out a while with the kids at La Restinga, I went around the corner to get a bite to eat at one of the many street-venders. The street next to the crowded boulevard is filled with stands where they sell burgers,sandwiches and simple dinners. Trying to decide what to eat, I hear a well known giggle behind my back. It´s Tracy, on of the little angels from La Restinga comming to say hi. As any other night, she is out in the streets, together with her brother and cousin. As I´m ordering my chicken sandwich and coke, her brother says, Camilla I´m hungry, and well, I can´t just sit here and eat my food with hungry children in my lap. A burger and coke to share,and they were content. It didn´t cost me more than 7 soles (14 NOK) to give me and 3 kids a small meal, and a happy smile on our faces.

Hanging out at La Restinga

La Restinga is a place where it happens a lot, but still there is always time to hang out and "chill". Sometime its a bit too much "chilling" for a stressed norwegian who´s grown up in a culture where you have to do something "meaningful" every minute of your time. But, we´ve found a solution to the "problem"; LUDO and YATZY! I´m sure at least all norwegians have good childhood memories connected to playing these fantastic games. They have ludo here in Peru as well, allthough with some different rules, and there isen´t a day that the kids don´t ask us to play ludo. Yatzy, unknown here, also has become populare. Other than that, we also appreciate the time we just hang with the kids and fool around. We norwegians have something to learn when it comes to the understanding of time, it isen´t so bad "not doing anything" after all.

Taller - workshop

The last coupple of weeks Elise and I have had a taller (workshop) with the kids tuesday and thursday afternoon. We called it a taller de cooperación, focusing on doing games and activities where they have to cooperate and communicate in different ways. Some games they like, but other times they shout "otro juego, otro juego" after a coupple of minutes. In general it seems like most of them aren´t to used to playing like this, and don´t seem comfortable letting go and just have fun. And sometime its hard to explain the games, and for them hard to understand our gringa- spanish... But, all in all I would say that its been successfull. And it feels good being in control of something, not only tag along with what the others organize.

Long time no see...

Finally I´m back. Well, I´ve actually been back from vacations quite some time, (3 weeks, I think, it´s hard to keep track of time...) but for some reason I haven´t gotten myself to sit down and write anything. Bueno, enough exuses. Here in Peru theschools have had summer vacations from mid- Desember, and they still have 3 weeks of vacation ahead. You should think that ment lazy days in the sun, but no. Every day a lot of the kids come to La Restinga, either to do "reforzamiento"- schoolwork to help them prepare for the next school-year, or "talleres"- workshops. Now during the vacations they have different talleres, as aerobic, manicure, malavares (for those who knows what that is...I´ll post a photo to illustrate..). So we are still hanging around, helping out where we can. Now there is a small plan of starting up two groups, to work with different themes, but we´ll have to see what happens, it´s not that easy to plan things here. Hopefully I can bring more news on that issue very soon. ¡Hasta luego!

Merry Christmas!

First of all, Marry Christmas to everyone!

It´s the 1st day of Christmas and here in Iquitos I think most people has spent the day resting, after yesterdays celebration. It was, for us, a very different, but very nice celebration.

We started the day by going to mass. Even though we didn´t understand everything, and clearly it was in a catholic church- not exactly the same as the traditional Christmas mass in Norway :), it was nice. After all, it´s tradition to go to mass Christmas Eve.

Then we went to La Restinga to finish the "pepperkakehus" (gingerbreadhouse) we had baked the night before. Maybe not the most estetic pepperkakehus, but very tasty indeed! And we had great fun decorating it with some of the kids. Kids being kids, all the candy ( decorating the pepperkakehus) has been eaten before eating the kake... :)

The Cristmas dinner at La Restinga started at 8 something at night, and we helped serving the kids. After eating, most of them went home to their families, or they went dancing somewhere. Here in Iquitos, Christmas isn´t that big a family day, people usually go to parties after eating with their families. We also went dancing. Thats why I´ve spent today resting my sore feet- even more because I insisted wearing my new high heeled shoes...:)

Tomorrow we are going to Lima, then to Cusco to celebrate New Years Eve. I feel a bit sad to be leaving La Restinga and Iquitos for 3 weeks, but it´ll be great to meet the others! And, it´s always good to travel a bit! :)

So, until next time, take care, have a wonderful Cristmas, and a great New Years celebration!

Con mucho amor, Camilla :)