November 2008

News - Newsletters

My recent trip to Las Lomas

I returned to Las Lomas in November 2008. It was great to see all the work that had been done in Las Lomas since my previous visit. I met some of the families I knew previously, it was great to see them so happy, and making an effort to thrive on the support which Peru Children's Charity has given them. As always, the locals gave us a lovely welcome. Michael also brought us to a new area of Las Lomas, where he had not been working in on my previous visit – it was so much poorer than where he had originally worked. Despite this, many of the locals showed a lot community spirit. The thing that I noticed was the amount of people looking for help – they all come running when they see Michael and give him letters asking for help. This is a very difficult part of Michael's work – deciding who needs help the most because compared to us everybody is extremely poor. The most important thing for Michael is that the families make a conscious effort to sustain themselves after help is given whether that is in the form of building a house or, a new roof/floor for their house or perhaps providing medical aid for their child or paying for meals from the Community Dinning Rooms. It is the aim of Peru Children's Charity to "help families help themselves", and education is key to this in that if a family receive assistance from the charity they must ensure their child/children get an education in order to break the cycle of poverty.

I had been back to Peru in June 2008 and the Therapy Centre had just opened. Having a background in working with people who have disabilities I had a great interest in this project. The therapy centre caters for children with Physical and Intellectual Disabilities and is opened 3 half days each week. Two of the young people attending the centre I had met on my first trip to Peru. The difference in these young men was unbelievable – they looked so much happier and no longer possessed that vacant look on their faces. They really seemed to enjoy their time in the Therapy Centre and appeared determined to work very hard with the exercises that they were given. Diego even managed to show me how he could walk with the use of the parallel bars – seeing the pride in his face was unbelievable. Karena - the trainee Physiotherapist is doing great work with all of the children and adolescents and she adapts to each one according to their age and needs.

During one of our days in Las Lomas in June, we were en route to visit a family when we passed Myleene's house – she sits outside alone in her wheelchair while her mother is at work, a relative brings her some lunch but other than that, she had no social interaction until the Therapy Centre opened. What amazed me was that Myleene did not see us approaching her house but we saw her on her own practicing the exercises, which Karena had taught her.

Since the Therapy Centre opened in June, so many more children are using the service, which is great. Parents and carers come along with some of the children. The children partake in activities such as singing, arts and crafts, music sessions as well as doing their physiotherapy. The children proudly spoke to us in English, which Cedelia had taught them! They asked us to send blessings and good wishes to all of you who help to make it possible for the Therapy Centre to continue to operate. We brought the children down to the city of Lima for a treat one evening. To see the amazed look on their faces when looking through the window of the bus and while eating in a Fast food restaurant was incredible. They seemed so happy to be experiencing something new. Our original plan to go to the Dancing Water Show did not work out so we just drove around the city showing them some of the sights but this did not seem to take away from their enjoyment of the evening.

Both Karena and Cedelia run the centre but due to the increase in children attending it was necessary to employ another carer. This ensures that Karena can focus solely on Physiotherapy. This carer is a local woman - Lourdes who had been doing some volunteer work for her community. Lourdes and Cedelia can now focus on structured activities depending on the needs and interests of the children and adolescents. Cedelia plans to forward a progress report at the end of January. I also look forward to returning to visit Las Lomas and the Therapy Centre soon – hopefully this time with more Spanish!