dearest kids, mom, cool family and friends,
it is a warm thursday morning here in Cusco and life is clicking along.. determined to catch you up on life in the orphanage i am going to jump right into the first week for it is monumental to build from having experienced yesterday!
the first thursday with the little boys.
i am greeted joyfully by a few little boys.. waving across the courtyard and life becomes light. with painting completed to a point and no remaining paint gavin has spent the morning clipping rose bushes .. not like yours aunt jo, or mom... but spiny little sticks of bushes that have survived the beating sun that pours down into the open courtyard. these bushes surround each quarter section of the place and are dotted along its borders.. so without a real plan for the day i ask for a shovel so that i can edge around the bushes and give the roses some breathing room... a wonderful wrinkled old custodian gets me a tool.. this is an exception thing... a pick on one end and a flat axe like blade that can act like a hoe.. ok.. so i begin edging the 30 some roses per section in the beating sunshine. it is eleven in the morning and i begin to edge the circles.. a small little soul joins me to dig... these little guys know stuff.. so i show him the pattern of the circle and together we whittle out about fifteen roses and the center corridor begins to look defined and ready for the rainy season.. which is their growing season and summer.. this begins in november so we are at the end of dry season now .. which is the brown patchwork quilt that you saw in the first pictues that i sent..
so yardwork is underway, painting is complete, little kids are entertained..but there is a key ingredient missing here... TOYS. there are no toys!!!!
there is a wonderful workshop that i have mentioned in other letters.. like Dad's but without the tools spread randomly across the work table.. there are the machines... the lathe, the table saw and the planer... and the amazing old carpenter that i have wrapped around my fingerwho is kind and helpful to the boys.. and to me...
my eyes surf the room and see areas of treasured wood piled neatly against one wall. there are four tables to work on .. two empty and one with partly finished and finished birdhouses that are being made... beside the big saw wide stools sit awaiting finishing touches..... beneathe the low table against the wall i see a stack of boards all various sizes and shapes.... .. hmmm. i pick out a few boards and show the carpenter. i speak no spanish.... i ask him in english, with perfect board in hand, motioning cuts that i would like... then i take out my paper and draw the different shapes that i would like him to cut. his eyes light up and i know he understands..
he takes the board from my hand and walks over the the lathe... carefully those old wrinkled hands turn that rough disguarded board and it becomes finished on four sides.. then he asks me with his hands how big and gets me a small square and dull pencil.. i mark the pieces.. wow! my heart sings... in the meantime a small gathering of boys are spattered about the centre statue and i gather the finished pieces together and go to the warm yellow bench... i have with me sand paper and little pieces of wood... mission thursday.. blocks...
i take the little block in my hand and begin to sand the edges.. shiny black heads of hair form a circle around mine and instantly the job is understood... sandpaper under fingers fly into motion and there is a buzzing eagerness about all of us.. how many do we need? well we have about fifteen younger boys... ten or so that are involved in everything.. so as long as i can keep that old carpenter happy, i believe i can have blocks. the boys are busy and i find more wood.. the carpeter keeps cutting and the boys keep sanding. before long we have a wonderful pile of sanded blocks of many sizes. . enough to make houses or towers or whatever they want... with eight or so finished the boys are already building. happy moments for me and happy moments for gavin, the other volunteer on the job.
then gavin decides he would like the carpenter to cut small pieces of wood for a game called Yenga?? i think it is yenga.. so the blessed guy does that for us too. now we are not settling for mediocre here.. these little guys are determined and each block has to pass quality control and the passing of inspection means the block goes in the bucket... a truly wonderful afternoon...
i leave about 3 with new volunteers in charge of putting things away and a wicked game of demolition going on on the walkway... three different teams of kids have built forts with centre holes from which are being launched long sanded missiles.. they are engrossed in the game and i am glad for kindergarten and Dad´s red blocks.
a simple gift.. a skill and a toy. perfect!
i may have mentioned that behind an iron door that squeezes open and pulls shut there is a hallway leading to a small room for the guinea pigs and an unfinished chicken coup.. the chicken coup is our next project. in the morning gavin asked Janet, the director is we could finish the coup and get the kids a rooster and some chickens to raise and lay eggs .. she said yes. at the moment it is a dumping ground , the chicken wire is torn from the walls and the cages are broken and apart. so we are excited to be starting a building project that will include some boys and get us away from the maintenance of the grounds which is really not our work.. but that we have taken on because we can teach a boy or two a skill while we do it..
i work later than gavin and before i leave for the day janet asks me into her office and with the custodian says to be... ¨lets be a team¨ and tells me that there is an important person ,not sure who, coming to the orphanage and although she likes the chicken coop idea, she really needs curtains for the dining room, and paint for the walls and lockers... i can see how much paint is needed in the courtyard so i agree .. yes i can buy some paint.. so i tell her that i will give the maintenance man the money to get the paint... in a second two gallons has grown to 4 gallons and 1 gallon of thinner ... and i get a bad feeling in my stomach .. and all of a sudden the whole thing isn´t sitting right...
i go home to rice, potatoes in sauce and a version of pudding. i am tired and my nose has dripped all day..
the next morning at work gavin and i decide to work on the chicken coop and with language barriers being what they are i play the waiting game on the paint... when the paint happens, i will go with the maintenance senor, and then, starting with a couple gallons, we will get what needs to be done.
in the meantime on with the chicken coup project.. tucked behind the black metal bifold that opens only with brute strength having become unattached at the top from the plaster wall... a small sienna hallway leads to a second open air space with a tiny smelly room with four small pens for guinea pigs and a second partly roofed area.... about 12 by 30 which has the makings of a chicken coop.
with permission granted for our project.. to make a coop for some chickens so that the eggs can be eated and the chickens nurtured as pets... we begin the clean up... there is a little boy there they call Loco.. about to my waist this little one plays alone away from the crowd with bottle caps flattened with a smooth stone.. he has five or six in his pocket.. i love him and he has become mi amigo... his hair is like yours was mark... a perfect crystal ball .. and he has wonderful brown skin and little black eyes that sparkle.. he doesn´t speak but grunts and squeals and lives in watch of other bigger boys that bully him... he is with us and he is a worker. in the beginning he was the loner. he was the one that when i took his hand it hung limply inside mine. he yelled alot.. well, not anymore.. his real name is Aldear and he has a mother who visits.. initially the story i was told that he was abused because he couldn´t speak, but he is the only one who has a mother that visits.. she is old and wide with long braids tied together down her back.. her legs are covered in tan wool socks and sandals protect her feet. when i realized who she was i showed her wonderful pictures of her little one and told her that i loved him and he is good.. in english and motions.. she smiled looking at the pictures...
the first job is to sweep... carry garbage and clean the space out... i sing away..and it is a happy game.. he just follows along doing everything with me like the faithful little friend that he is. so much better... boards and garbage goe into separate `piles and before we know it a new idea blossoms.... airplanes... by now there is a wonderful gathering of helpers ..about five.. two smaller ones and americo, jean paul and one other little guy i still don´t know his name.. base, wings.. tail ...propeller... in no time the first plane is built... enough of the chicken coup til monday we have better things on the go.. and imaginations that have settled become alive...tiny fingers take plyers and hammer alike and place tiny nails that bend way too easily into place.... put one here, another here... yes, that will work.. you want that here, okay... just a minute.. we need another piece...this one,.. yes that will do..
we all work away ... four .. five wonderful planes and the boys are on their own..
back in the carpenters office there is a beam of delight in an old man.. simple joy. happy boys.. toys.. i find a leg of a table and give it to the senor... yes , he can make wheels. so he cuts the pieces of wood and the little ones play the waiting game. by now, a few of the planes are elaborate.. pop caps have been hammered on for decoration, tiny chunks of wood have been hammered to wings... propellers spin.. we have real works of art. but the wheels, well the wood is so hard i cannot sink a nail, let alone attach it to the side of a plane.. so the senor comes to my rescue... digging away in an old box he reveals a small bit for an old drill, not as good as the one i inherited from you john, and gets the bit into drill after a few moments .. little bullet of wood in hand he places the bit in the center and squeezes the trigger... the smell of burning wood enters our nostrils as we all stare at the process.. snap.. the bit breaks... hmmmmmmmm... back to the box where he finds a pointed bit, a little wider, so hopefully a little stronger... it does the trick , right into the table...
from this point on i drill the holes and over the course of time the carpenter and i have attached some wheels to some very fabuloso avions.
as other niños and chicos arrive from school in mid afternoon it is clear that monday will be as full as today between the chicken coop and more planes.
the week ends a perfect week with the boys... already i have two attached at my hip.. my heart is light working there and i have not cried since tuesday.. they are used to being here.. their days are structured with school, and lunches with incredible spanish music blarring into the courtyard. the little ones have us to entertain them and there is a system of care that i am discovering.. this week there has been no interaction that i have noticed with the staff.. they have disappeared each day behind office doors... we are doing the loving care and they are doing the basic needs.. exactly how and what i still don´t know..
so far the boys are happy with me and i with them and it is a perfect arrangement..so this is how the week ends with only a little turn in my stomach about the paint.
on to some fun.. certainly this is part of the joy of living in cusco.. saturday morning comes and i zoom down to the main square to see if there are any tours to take in with the gang of people that i am living with at the house. within no time i am approached by a peruvian man who is an older version of a thin elvis. i listen as he speaks english quite well and there is something about him that i like ... with all the warnings of getting taken by tour groups i am aware and polite.. he tells me about the tourist pass that gets you into 16 popular tourist sites for 130.00 sols and for a little extra you can pay for the bus and english/spanish speaking guide. sounds fun.. so i meet up with the gang and our trip gets booked for 2pm til 6ish tonight and a full day tomorrow.
i am tired so i am going to stop writing here tonight. happy dreams everyone. thank you for your time and letters. if you have any questions just ask......fyi mark, at night i usually sleep. but we have had two great nights of cards, three nights of trivia with lots of other teams..three movie nights and lots of early to bed nights.. i like getting up with the sky so it is easy to hit the hay early..
good night, thank you and all blessings,
love mom aka me , deb....
this is the beginning of monday's story - our little boy they call loco
this little special boy is my star helper and our job is to remove all the nails from the posts that surround the worn stone floor and partly finished brick wall that stands about a foot tall.. the sun is hot.. it beats on us.. our faces are brown and our hands are dirty. one by one , usually with Aldear perched on my knee he pulls the nails , bent flat against the post to hold non existant chicken wire.. determined, eager, with purpose he grabs the nails. ancient black plyers brace against the post,, twist, pull, tug .. his hands twist to figure it out... i show him over and over .. put it up and down, against the post, pull down... sometimes he gets it and after we have the whole side all done... just a few more posts Aldear.. no.. no .. no .. he is done.. so i go to my backpack and pull out some bottlecaps... coca cola, inca cola, beer caps... and
he is with us.. to be continued
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