Today, I worked at Semilleta’s. I was able to help take the
older children out for a day. We took the children to the beach and it was so
heartwarming to see how happy and excited they were. Although they could not
verbalize their joy, the children expressed their joy through their actions and
behaviors :).
The only difficulty we all had was with the wheelchairs.
Buses in Peru are not made for people with wheelchairs. It was very difficult
to get the children with wheelchairs onto the bus. What we did instead was we
carried the children by hand out of their wheelchairs and folded up their
wheelchairs to store on the bus.
When we got to the beach, the children were not allowed to
go into the water so I gave the children I looked after some rocks so they
could throw rocks into the water and make their rocks skip. Mari and Jonathan
loved skipping rocks. I think I got whacked in the face a couple of times
because I got in their way :(. Eh, oh well, totally my fault :).
Unfortunately, at the beach, many people gave some of the
children some really mean looks :/. I did not appreciate that at all. It
actually made me quite upset. I’m offended by some of the actions and behaviors
of my fellow human brothers and sisters. It made me sick that some people can
treat another human being in such a condescending way.
With that aside, the bus ride to San Miguel Plaza was quite
nice. I was able to interact with the physical therapist that I spoke of in my
previous blog more. He is an amazing man. I love how he knows exactly what to
do to make the children smile or laugh. It looks like the children are healing
him more than he is healing them. I observed him and noticed that he is
happiest when he is working directly with the children. It’s amazing how these
little miracles can change your life. It really is.
In the afternoon, the volunteers and I left to La Punta. We were
able to make beads with the girls today and they were so happy. It’s as if the
girls were given a chance to recreate their childhoods. A childhood filled with more happy memories
than pain and sorrow.
Oh, by the way, I have finally given up on trying to tell
Peruvians that I am not Chinese. I have also given up on telling them my name
since everyone here instantly calls me “chinita” (little Chinese girl) -___-.
No one cares to ask me what my name is and I think I’m starting to respond to
“chinita.” Eh, oh well :). Vietnam is on the same continent as China :).
On another note, you are the creator of your happiness. You can spend your life
doing things that will hurt you or other people or you can spend your life
making yourself happy as well as others. I dislike seeing lack of communication.
I am also struggling with communicating my own personal feelings
to someone who has become very special to me. Fortunately, I am aware of this
and since I love challenges, this motivates me to try even harder to
communicate my feelings instead of running away from them. Thank you for that
(you know who you are :)).
At night, after a little rest, some of the volunteers and I went
karaoking. It was a lot of fun. I got so tired by the end of the night. I was
literally falling asleep every two seconds. I am definitely not a night person.
When we got home, we were able to greet the new volunteer!
She seems nice. I really look forward to getting to know her more.
On another note, I’ve been thinking a lot about coming home.
It’s a little stressful actually. I am mainly concerned with Jumpstart. I
really don’t want to let my team down. I’m also worried about school. Graduate
school, that is. I still haven’t started on my letter of intent yet. There is
so much to do this weekend. I hope I won’t get lazy.
Overall, today was a tiring but amazing day. I know, everyday
seems tiring but rest assured, I get plenty of rest on the weekends. Weekends are
usually when the volunteers and I go out.
Okay, I am so tired right now. Goodnight friends! :)
