We weren´t able to make it to an internet cafe yesterday so this update will be about both days.

Yesterday was the more interesting of the two - we really got to experience another aspect of La Casa de Panchita.  First, however, we had a meeting with Blanca, Agata and some of the promoters of La Casa de Panchita (women who spend their weeks in the poor districts of Lima recruiting women and children, building relationships with them and involving them in programs in La Casa de Panchita.)  We planned out our month and we were wrong to be worried that we were going to be doing mostly paperwork.  We are going to be visiting San Juan de Miraflores, one of the principle neighborhoods mentioned before, amoung others and going with Agata to a school (or something, I didn´t understand completely).  Next week we are also going to be visiting a woman named Beatriz.  Beatriz was one of the women who benefited from La Casa de Panchita.  She was a long-time domestic worker for a family but when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer they fired her without a pension, leaving her with no money and no place to stay, as she has no family in Lima.  So la casa took her under their wing and set her up with a place to live.  They also take donations of food and supplies to keep her sustained and visit her regularly.  I´m excited to meet her.

So after this meeting we went to one of the workshops they hold for women who work in homes.  A lot of these women find themselves lost when they start working in the homes of others. For example, the families may have appliances they´ve never used before or need them to do things they´ve never done.  These workshops are basically to teach them things they may need to know.  Jessica, Emily and I all sat in on the class talking with them women and doing our best to help`when they had questions.  
I spent the rest of the day with my sunday group planning next sunday´s activities, which will be more or less the same.  They taught me how to sew since I need to actually help the children do that next week instead of telling them to ask Beto.  

Today was mostly organizing all the materials in La Casa that have become disorganized over time.  It took all day and wasn´t too interesting, but we got to chat and listen to music and we were doing work that needed to be done.  We also met with Agata and Saija (another foreign volunteer from Finland) about the English Lesson Plans and they had a few helpful suggestions.  
Now it´s the weekend and we may not be able to update for a few days because we might be a little too busy sunning ourselves on the beach.

chau!  

¡Hola gente! Yesterday, Emma and I had a Blanca, the director of La Casa de Panchita. We discussed what we will doing for the next three weeks. We are going to visit a school, an ex-domestic worker who has terminal cancer (her name is Beatriz), create more English lectures, visit SJM (San Juan de Miraflores), and create a min-show for the people at La Casa de Panchita that represents something we are interested in or just simply American culture.  We also visited a class for domestic workers. They learned things like how to conserve water, how to take care of babies, and what to do in certain accidents.The class was very interesting, and Emma, Emily, and I got to participate and make suggestions. I got to know some of the domestic workers well. Their ages very; some are 16 years old, and some are 40 years old. Regardless of what some people think. the domestic workers that I met were very intelligent, honest. and generous.  They were so willing share their advice on topics and provide solutions for other people´s problem. Also, one domestic worker told me that is very dangerous for women to go out at night; thus, some domestic workers will group together at night and walk home together. They also mention how there is soo much discrimination towards women in Peru. They are rarely treated as equally as men. However, regardless of these problems, they are still willing to remain hopeful of a brighter future and continue to smile. I find this truly amazing.


Today, Emma and I really did nothing (Yikes!!). Johana, the director of  my Sunday group, had us organize all the materials for the Sunday activities. Then, we  put together useful packets that included information such as how to eat healthy for a class today. Next, we met with Agota and Saija to talk about what we need to include in our English lectures. They want to see more dialogues and fill in the blank sections in our lectures. Also, Emma, Emily, and I are still reading the two books that we have to do a report on, which is due on the 26th of January. For each book, we have to write a descriptive summary about the whole book and a critical analysis on one chapter. So far, everything os going well, and everyday is a new adventure!!!

¡Hasta Luego!

Jessica