05 June 2008

All good things come to an end I suppose

This will be my last blog entry as my time here in Trujillo is finally coming to an end. I have been here for 5 months and it has been a truly amazing experience. Initially I was suppose to be here for 3 months but I extended the stay when I realised just how much I was enjoying it and how much good work there was to be done. I am a sad to be leaving because I am going to miss the kids of Porvenir a lot, but that’s life I suppose.

I am looking forward to seeing my family and meeting up with my friends again. I really can’t wait to get good pint of Harp (Irish beer) as the beer out here isn’t the same. I don’t have too much time at home as I am going to Kenya on the 23rd of June. I am going to work in an orphanage north of Nairobi.

Since it was the last week, Robert and I decided to have a special class with the kids. This week we brought in music and a guitar to the classrooms and played various types of music to the kids. We played rock ‘n’ roll, metal, classical, dance etc...we would then get the kids to write whether they like it, loved it, really like it, hated it or didn’t like it. The kids loved this lesson. Then after this, we all sang John Denver’s ‘Leaving on a Jet plane’ but in Spanish on the guitar. We felt it was appropriate as we are leaving. The kids really enjoyed this.




Last weekend I went to a little town in the Andes called Otusco with my girlfriend Mayra. This was only a day trip. It normally takes a 2 hour bus journey on a treacherous road. However, the bus broke down and then we hitch-hiked on the back of a truck all the way to Otusco, us and about 12 other people! Here is the bus after it broke down:

The weekend before that, the volunteers and I went camping in a nearby town called Poroto. This was very relaxing and was in the middle of a beautiful mountain range in the Andes.




I leave on Sunday night. It takes nearly 3 days to get home considering everything. It is going to be very strange not going to Porvenir on Monday morning.

I would like to say it has been a pleasure working for SKIP and would recommend it to any potential volunteers. I have really enjoyed working with Robert. I have a feeling we will talk about Porvenir for many years to come. All the volunteers have been fantastic but a special mention must go to our director Bee. She does incredible work here and having lived with her, I can appreciate how dedicated she is to the cause.

Finally, I want to mention to kids of Porvenir not just with SKIP but with Indoamericano and Lizarzaburu. They have been by far the best part of my time here in Peru. I just hope that by me being a part of their lives for just a small time has made has made a positive impact on them.


If any potential volunteers have any queries, feel free to contact me m1572202@qub.ac.uk

For the last time, adios

Prof Jose Antonio

19 May 2008

Hello Teacher, My Friend Forever

Friday afternoon is without question my favorite time of the week to be working over at the SKIP office. Happy kids, finished with the week's work, come by to get a jump on their weekend homework, to get tutored in English, or to learn new hobbies like guitar or even chess.

Robert (whose mane is pictured here, a volunteer from Manchester, England) and I tried to introduce the royal games this past week, with fairly positive results.


Here is Robert working with Jhony, who is looking quite pleased with his position. I taught him a few things, and he seemed to take to the game very quickly.

You had to be careful when playing this little dude, however. As soon as it became impossible to legally capture an opponent's piece, he'd try pretty much any move on the board, no matter how implausible, so long as it ended with the other guy's piece in his hand.

Jhony, I know your hunger!

In this picture, Gersen works through English sentences with Joseph, a volunteer from Northern Ireland.

As far as kids go, this Gersen is razor sharp! Loves studying English, loves school, very sweet and motivated kid.

I once tried to help him with some math homework, and he practically laughed at me for suggesting he deign to show his arithmetic.

While other kids are struggling to enunciate the alphabet, Gersen is dropping sophisticated phrases.

"Hello Teacher, my friend forever. My name is Gersen. I am from Peru. I am ten years old. I love school."

-Ari Olmos

18 May 2008

Trip to Iquitos




I have quite a lot to report since the last update. I and 3 other volunteers made a trip to a city called Iquitos in the Amazon jungle. It was quite a journey getting there. First it took 24hours on a bus from Trujillo to a place called Tarapoto. This was followed by a 4 hour car journey to a place called Urimaguas on a treacherous road at night.

We stayed a night in Urimaguas and then got the boat to Iquitos. This was a 3 day boat trip. There wasn’t much to do on the boat except play poker and listen to music. The food on the boat was really good. You actually had to buy a hamac for the boat to sleep on which was cool. Here is mine:


We then arrived in Iquitos and we were met by an ex-SKIP volunteer called Felipe. He helped us out a lot and got us sorted with a place to stay.

When we in Iquitos we made a trip to the Amazon. We spent 3 days there and took many excursions. We saw many cool animals including monkeys, snakes and many beautiful birds. Hera re a few photos of us trekking and canoeing:


Our first night in Iquitos we tried Ayahuashca. It is a drink made from special plants from the Amazon and is a strong hallucinogenic. It was the most incredible night of my life. I never thought experiences like that existed. We did it under the supervision of an experienced Shaman and with Felipe there. It really is an experience that words could not do justice to.

We also visited a butterfly farm in Iquitos. That doesn’t sound exciting but actually turned out to be really interesting. There they had many other cool animals. They had an anteater and a jaguar. Jaguars are a really impressive animal. Here is a photo of the entrance to the farm. The owner has a monkey wrapped around her head:
After Iquitos, we flew to Lima. We spent one day there and then got the night bus back to Trujillo. The entire trip took 13 days and was really worth it.

I don’t think I will do anymore travelling when I am here in Peru. I think I will be the only person to come to Peru for 5 months and not visit Cusco and not do the Inca Trail. Apparently it is really expensive and to be honest I am not that intrigued by it. I intend to return to Peru in the future so maybe I will do it then.

I have 3 more weeks of teaching to do. The week before I left for Iquitos we taught the kids about there favourite animals. This week we are going to teach them about the family. I had my inter-cambio this week again with Tatiana. My Spanish has reached a low plateau! I don’t have as much time as I use to learn and feel I am not progressing as much as I would like to.

When I was in Iquitos I took one day to organise what I am going to do after Peru. I am going to work in an orphanage in Kenya with a friend of mine. It will only be for about 2 months as I have a job in England to start in September.

That’s about it for this update. As always, any questions let me know. My email is m1572202@qub.ac.uk

Adios

Joseph

27 April 2008

Update

A few things to report since April the 9th.

I have begun to teach English to just the SKIP secondary kids on a Saturday morning in Indoamericano. This is a lot more stress free as these kids are a lot more co-operative and enthusiastic to learn. This is just for one hour.

There a few trainee teachers that volunteer for SKIP on a Saturday morning. In return SKIP offer support with their English. I was supposed to have a class this Thursday but it didn’t happen. Another class is scheduled for this Thursday so we'll see what happens.

I am not sure if I have mentioned that from the money I raised prior to coming to Peru, I gave SKIP a substantial amout which went ot buying shoes and school uniforms. Here are a few photos of the material being distributed:




We have taught the kids how to describe their country and other countries. Last week we taught then how to say what food they liked. They particularly enjoyed this lesson as Peruvians can be quite passionate about their food. Here is a photo of the kids taking the exam we gave them a few weeks ago:


It was my birthday last Sunday. I turned 24. Birthdays are a big deal in Peru; they are keen to acknowledge them.

Last week, I and 3 other volunteers went to Lima. I got my flight ticket reissued. It was a good trip. It was just relaxing to not be teaching for a change and to see another part of Peru. I have been in Peru over 3 and half months now. Here are a few photos from Lima.



Classes with the SKIP kids on a Friday afternoon are going good. It gives the kids an opportunity to get help with their homework. After the lesson, I take the kids for football.

My inter-cambio started back up this week with my teacher Tatiana. We had two sessions this week and i feel they make a difference. I hope to take an A-level in Spanish when I return home.
Possibly at the end of this week, I and some volunteers will be going to a place called Iquitos. It takes 3 days to get there by boat up a river. I hope we get to go as I am leaving Peru in 6 weeks and feel I haven’t saw much. It will be interesting to see the Amazon Jungle.

Not much else to report. As always, any questions send me an e-mail at m1572202@qub.ac.uk
Adios
Joseph

09 April 2008

Update

A few things have happen since the last update.


Robert and I have given all the primary kids an English test. It was basically everything they have learnt since the start of the school year. It was a little unusual for the kids as they had never experience an exam style atmosphere. We didn’t put to much emphasis on the result but we were keen to highlight the need to practice English at home and the importance of homework. Schools in Peru do not have the same kind of discipline when it comes to homework as in the UK for example.

As for the actual results, a lot of the kids were able to recall the english but their spelling was poor. We are not too concerned about that for the moment as long as the kids can speak. Here are some of the kids of lizarzaburu in the library where Rober and I teach:
Robert and I have certainly settled into a routine with the teaching. At first it was difficult because schools are so badly organized and run that it was difficult to have classes starting on time and being able to control the classes. We have gotten the teachers staying in the classrooms and maintaining discipline while we actually teach. We will gradually involve the teacher into the lesson through time. This is the idea as it will be a lot more sustainable for the future.


We have come up with quite a few ideas to improve the lessons. We really want to instill a desire into the kids to learn English. We want them to enjoy learning English. We are going to incorporate cultural learning into the lessons. This week we taught the kids how to say where they were from. We also taught where other countries were from and told them a little bit about them. For example, we took in pictures of London, Ireland, Africa, Rio de Janeiro and the US. The kids enjoyed this. Here is a picture of 6C at Lizarzaburu, they are an excellent class:



Last Saturday I used the money raised to buy SKIP a new computer. They were using almost 10 year old laptops which were very temperamental. We got a new desktop with a printer. Hopefully now, life will be easier for the directors and workers for SKIP. Our director Bee was really happy. Having seen how much they needed the new computer, I think it was money well spent. Here is the new computer:


I also replace my camera. The money used to pay for this can be reclaimed back on my travel insurance. I will do this when I return home and then give the money to SKIP. You will notice a lot more photographs in this update!

I am going to Lima next week to renew my visa and to revalidate my plane ticket. The nearest STA Travel branch is in Lima. I will be gone for 3 days and I am really looking forward to it.

The SKIP house has really begun to fill up. We now have around 8 volunteers, from all different countries, in the house.

I am still learning Spanish. It is a little more difficult as I have a lot less time now. The inter cambio starts back up next week as my inter cambio buddy was away this week.

Well that is about it. As always, for any potential volunteers if you have any questions or queries, feel free to contact me m1572202@qub.ac.uk

Adios for now

Joseph

28 March 2008

Update

It is now the end of the 4th week of term here in Peru and everyone has well and truly settled back into school routine.

I have still been teaching in the two schools; Indoamericano and Lizarzaburu. Things have not been running smoothly as one would hope. Peruvian schools do not function as well as they do western world schools. Teachers often arrive late to school and sometimes not at all. It is common to find classrooms without a teacher. My colleague Robert and I are finding it difficult sometimes to work with the schools as they are not co-operating as well as they should be considering we are volunteers. Even with their lack of co-operation and enthusiasm, Robert and I are still determined to teach the children as they should not suffer because of this.

As well as teaching in these two schools, I have plans to start back up football games and english classes just for the SKIP kids on Friday afternoons and maybe Saturday mornings. Something similar as to what i was doing during the summer camp. I would like to cover whatever english the kids have been learning during the week again as there is no routine of homework here in Peru.

My spanish is continually improving but not as fast as I would like, however, my friends here say to me that I am improving fast. I have started an inter-cambio which is basically a one-on-one tutoring sessions. This is free and is with a qualified spanish teacher. It is free because for the first hour she teaches me spanish and for the second hour I help her with her english. I feel I am certainly getting more out of it than her!

Volunteers are beginning to arrive. A guy from San Diego and a girl from Sydney have just arrived. The weather has took a downturn which is for the best. The days are a lot cooler but are still warm though. Being from Ireland, I have welcomed the new weather.

Well that is all for now. I posted home 3 copies of a 10 page report on my time here. It details where the money I raised has gone to and what I am doing here exactly. One copy has gone to the St. Vincente de Paul group of Maghera in Northern Ireland who kindly gave me £500. Another copy has gone to the Third World Shop in Maghera in Northern Ireland who kindly gave £1000. The final copy will stay in my home where visitors dropping by can read and find out what I am doing. It contains a lot of pictures so it should be a good read.

Apologies for there being no pictures, I still haven't repaced my camera.

As always, any potential volunteers, feel free to contact me with any queries or questions, I will be glad to help. My e-mail is m1572202@qub.ac.uk

Buena suerte

Joseph

11 March 2008

School Term Begins

The school term has eventually begun here in Peru. It was suppose to begn last week but nothing ever runs on time out here. Myself and another volunteer, Robert from Manchester, are teaching in two schools.




One school is called Indoamericano where we have approximately 90 SKIP kids and the other school is called Lizarzaburu where we have only 20 Kids approximately.




Our schedule is fairly demanding. Our first class is at 7.30am until 9.00am in Lizarzaburu. We are teaching English by ourselves to the 6th grade of Primary school. Our next class is from 10.30am to 12.30pm in Indoamericano. We then support the English teachers who teach 1st grade of Secondary school in both schools. These schedules have not been finalised yet but will last until around 6.30pm.




Last week was pretty sporadic. We had arranged a lot of meetings with the schools in order to organise schedules but meetings in Peru rarely happen and even rarer on time. This is very frustrating. Anyway at the moment, we have a fairly rigid schedule and I know what I will be doing for the remainderof my time.




I was suppose to return to Ireland on April the 8th but I have changed my ticket to June the 10th. I felt 3 months was not long enough here. I would have prefered to stay until July but my ticket didnt allow me. I will stay for a total of 5 months.




Of the money I raised before coming out here, I have given SKIP £1329 so far. I have given £610 through the CAF account available on the SKIP website. This has the extra huge advantage of claiming 28% extra known as Gift Aid. The rest I have handed over as cash in Soles (S.4100 = £719) for schools uniforms, shoes and materials such as books and pens.




Lat weekend I went to a traditional Peruvian event known as a Poyada. It is a fundraising event where friends and neighbours attend and buy chicken and beer. The proceeds then go to the cause whatever it may be. This particular one was where a Peruvian girl needed money raised for her child for some reason. Didnt find out exactly.




Bit of bad news also. Got my digital camera stolen about a weel ago. I had some real good photos on it. I will just have to borrow Roberts camera. I should be able to claim the camera back on my insurance.




Here is photo of our director Bee signing the new contact with the Lizarzaburu school:



Here is my first day teaching in Lizarzaburu:

Well that is all for now. As always, any potential volunteers want any information or have any queries, let me know and I will be glad to help. My e-mail is m1572202@qub.ac.uk

Adios

Joseph

05 March 2008

THE CHAMAN`S DEATH



The Candoshi is one of the last indigenous tribes who conserve themselves almost intact in the middle of one of the most beautiful forests and less touched by the civilization in the planet. They are close of the Peru-Ecuador border. To arrive there, it is necessary to sail by different rivers approximately 6 days, is necessary to furrow one of the most dangerous rivers of the Peruvian forest, the Pastaza river, is necessary to cross one of the most great and beautiful lakes of Peru, the Rimachi lake, and is necessary to have, in addition to much value, some arms for protection because the Candoshi people has become one of the most violent tribes of the Peruvian forest.

Although by the survival of the tribe they have had to fight continuous battles with near tribes and although the violence of their race it is in their genes - the Jìvaros tribe, famous for to reduce the heads of their enemies, it is come from the same sanguineous trunk - the Candoshi was pacific. The history of its last 90 years is the reason of its violence. According to official information, in the last 10 years, more than 200 "civilized" people have died or disappeared in Candoshi territory and although it exists conversations with the government on the matter, still it exists violent confrontations with "civilized" people who are found fishing, hunting or cutting trees in their territory.



When we speak about the Candoshi, like of any other indigenous tribe or old civilization, we must remember that although they do not have the education that "civilized" people have, the antiquity of their culture and their cultural identity anyway confers an education different from ours but it is education. This without touching the most important point: that they are people like us. The few that we have had a permission of their autorities, but mainly, sufficient value to enter its territory, with the simple observation we have been able to notice that the education does not depend exclusively on wonderful advances technological or massive mass media, it is may depend of a millenarian system of moral principles - principles that we took innate each one of us and that have been, in the best one of case distorted them by our individual and collective circumstances. When living in the nature they are same nature, of thousand years living in comunión with the forests have taught the importance to them of the balance in the consumption of the resources, have taught to them to cause the regeneration of the consumed thing. To put an example, in the lakes that are within their territory, the Candoshi seeds and raises one of the most exotic fish and on the way to extinction of the amazonian forest, the Paiche. Its growth is so slow and difficult, and its meat so is appraised that they have rationed their fishing to an adult unit by family to the year, (an adult unit gets to measure up to 3 meters).

It is sad but more and more "civilized" people get in the nights at her lakes to fishing their Paiches (in the city it is can get to cost up to us $20 the kilogram). This is one of the reasons of their aggressiveness. They simply defend what it is belongs to them, they defend what will be the sustenance of its family.
Nevertheless, the original reason of their violence is a little older, is a little sadder, is a little more shameful.

Everything began approximately about 50 or 60 years ago, when the first missionaries (catholic, evangelical... that does not important matter) arrived at their territory. The history that has left great scars us, although with slight variations, is even repeated today and as it happened in the past the imposition of a new belief implies the eradication of the previous one and therefore the lost one of cultural identity. Like all the great mechanisms of domination, the change does not happen immediately, the work is systematic. In this case, the main axis consists of the obtaining of the confidence of the community, easy to obtain through the magical mechanisms that we have and that they never have seen. A simple electrical lamp, a mirror, a radius to battery, caramels, our way to dress, our own customs and until our language are wonderful things for them.
Unlike the past in which the salvation speech was tax through the massacre and the extermination - impossible to make in the present time due to international the public opinion (thanks to God for this) - the following step is the disrepute of the old traditions. It was that soon the medic of the Tribe, the one who through the sacred plants or the stars said to the correct time for seedtime, the fishing, for the love or the war, was represented like the representative of the devil, the same demon. Just a short time later, whenever a boy became ill, whenever a old people died, whenever the unpredictable course of the river took a cultive, was the Chaman that was sight with distrust, with rage and anger.

Soon, hated by their own brothers, by their own children, as if they was criminals, hated by people to who they cured, 8 families of chamanes with parents, children and grandsons, preferred a new life in the solitude from the forest to the pain of to see hatred in the eyes of their brothers. As if a masterful plan existed, as if everything had been calculated, the climax of the events, the fact that marked the outcome of history, it happened a day in which one of the missionaries arrived at the tribe with influenza. Just a short time later, 80% of children, old people died - they do not have defenses against ours "civilized" diseases.
One night, left to their luck by who took the death to their forests, fled with the weight in the conscience. One night in which the sadness broke the soul of the tribe, with the alcohol burning their noble hearts, the surviving men, armed with arrows, lances, stones and woods, they exterminated to the 8 families of chamanes. 8 complete families, old people and young people, wimen and man with all their things were massacreed and burned in the dark of the night and with them all the knowledge of thousand of years transmitted of generation to generation.
The tribe was lost of many years - they was confused. The missionaries who knew the truth of the things did not return. There was no the wise person who cured the snakes attacks. The time of sowing, the fishing time, the war time or the peace time, was unknown because nobody could read stars or listen to the sacred plants.
Nobody knows when they understood the mistaken, nobody knows as they discovered the truth, the pain and the confusion showed them the truth of the magical things of "civilized" people and later, as it happens in all conquest, the vultures, the plunderers those who live of the misfortune and the death arrived to take, their fish, their animals, their trees. But the Candoshi tribe, brothers of the jíbaros tribes - the hunters of human heads, brothers of the of the Achuar tribes, the soldiers of the water, they transformed their pain into fury, they painted of black colour their faces and they declared the war to the "civilized" people.

From "Travel´s Chronicles" - 2001- FGP

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At the present time, some special children of the Candoshi tribe, are studding the knowledge of the plants and the stars with Chamans of neighboring tribes.
At the present time, although it exists pacts of peace with the Peruvian government, it is impossible to go into the Candoshi territory without a special permission of their authorities. The police in the Candoshi tribe does not exist, all law it is distributed by the political authority of the community - the Apu. The government, with the help of the international community has signed a treaty for the construction of the first small schools and first aid posts in strategic places like part of the campaign of "civilization" of indigenous communities.
The personages of this history are fiction. All similarity to the reality is pure coincidence.

Felipe.


16 February 2008

I thought i would update this blog, its been a month since i last posted anything. Things are still going great. The summer programmer is into its penultimate week. Construction has actually begun on the SKIP center so a newly developed center is on its way.

I am still teaching english from monday to wednesday. I can actually see an improvement in some of the kids which is fantastic. They often come up to me and chat as much english to me as they can, its funny. Football still continues on Thursdays and Fridays.

The weather in trujillo is getting a lot warmer, at around 3 especially its tough.

I have started taking surfing lessons in the world famous beach near trujillo called huanchaco. Surfing is amazing and here its really cheap. SKIP volunteers get a reduced rate just for being SKIP volunteers from one particular surf shop.

I am still continuing with my free Spanish lessons. I not sure if i am improving as much I would like but its certainly enjoyable anyway. My peruvian classmates are really nice and helpful.
Cant think of much more to add. Going to add some photos also:
Here is the summer programs painting class:
Here are the future footballers of peru (except me!!)
Here are some of my students listening attentively!!

Some of our kids outside our center in porvenir

What do you think of my teaching of the human body????


Some of my kids working hard improving their vocabulary
Thats all for the moment.
Joseph
P.S. I did a lot of fundraising before I came to SKIP and managed to raise a substantial amount. If any potential volunteers needs ideas, feel free to contact me on m1572202@qub.ac.uk



22 January 2008




Here are a few photos I have managed to take. The first one is me and a few of the kids. I use the map of the world to teach "where is" to the kids. The second shows the kids working hard. On the walls is some teaching aids I put up, such as the alphabet and the numbers in English. The second shows two SKIP kids outside the center with the badge.

Joseph the Irish volunteer

Hi

My name is Joseph and Iam from Ireland. I arrived in Trujillo on Thursday 10th January to begin volunteering for SKIP. I actually began on the Monday as I spent a few days with friends in a place called Huaraz.

I have been teaching English to approximately 30 kids but not all at the one time. Its part of SKIPs summer program. On Monday and Tuesday I teach 7-10 year olds and on Wednesday 10-12 year olds. Thursday and Fridays I take about 20 boys for football in a football court beside the SKIP center in Porvenir.

I didnt know what to expect when I arrived although my friend had already volunteered and told me a lot about it already. The SKIP house where the volunteers stay is in Trujillo. The house is excellent I feel as I was expecting very basic accomodation. Porvenir is approximately a 5-10minute taxi ride from the house. Porvenir itself is very poor. The people have very little and houses are pretty dire, well thats from a western point of view.

Having said that, the people seem happy, well the kids do anyway. The kids arrive to the SKIP center smiling all the time and they greet you as if you were a celebrity, it certainly helps your self esteem!

Teaching them is amazingly rewarding because they are so keen to learn. They would often say "mas ingles" (more english) at the end of a lesson which is nice.

Trujillo itself is a nice city. It has a lovely city center and has plenty of places to eat. Next to the SKIP house is a restaurant which does delicious chicken, rice and chips!

The summer camp will be continuing for another six weeks before we the volunteers will go to the state schools to teach English. The SKIP kids get a reduced rate because a volunteer is teaching in that school I think.

I will be updating this blog regularly and if any potential volunteers have any queries, you can e-mail me at m1572202@qub.ac.uk I will be happy to help.

adios

joseph