6 Month Mark

Can you actually believe it? Because i can't! I've now actually been here for a whole
6 MONTHS
Its seriously crazy, it feels like only yesterday that I was leaving the UK and hugging goodbye to my family at Heathrow airport, yet now here I am in Peru. I have seen an unbelievable amount of changes in myself since I left and in the honest truth without sounding big headed I am really proud of myself.

I know a hell of a lot of people doubted me before I came out here, I mean its safe to say that I am not the typical volunteer. One of the saddest things that makes me so unique to volunteer work is that I am one of the very few volunteers of black origin. Its not sad because i want to be surrounded by black people, no no no, thats not what I'm getting it. It's sad to think that my skin colour DOES make me not the typical volunteer, especially one coming from London. Its funny how in the UK media, young black kids are portrayed in such a negative light, and to be honest it seems as though thats the ONLY time they are ever reported about in the media? When they read these negative articles, read the stereotypes which the media are portraying, rather than trying to show that not ALL young black teenagers are like this they kind of just succumb to that stereotype. I personally think that volunteer organizations should try and push harder at reaching out to young kids of black origin, explaining what you actually get out of volunteering and why they should do it! Its definatley something that I want to get involved with when I get back to the UK. You don't have to be the typical rich kid from posh towns who goes on their "Gap Yarhhh to chunder everywhere", but just someone normal who wants to help a child. Use your own experiances whether it is one that you have learnt on the streets to help steer a street child in peru for instance in the right direction? I've realised im kind of blabbing on a lot about this but it really is a topic which I can talk about for years.

I've learnt so much about myself since being here in Peru and also learnt what is and isn't acceptable. A huge problem I had before I left to volunteer was my anger, there would be times when I would actually get angry for absolutely NO reason or just because of the most stupidest things. I couldn't deal with teachers telling me something i didn't like to hear or teachers in general to be honest, and there are times which i am not proud of where I have been UNBELIEVABLY rude to them. I think i had a problem with dealing with authority figures to be honest, like im a big believer in the whole "everyone is equal" thing but I took it too the extreme or more than one occasion. Working at Azul Wasi, in such a closed enviroment and being role models to the very impressionable boys meant that I COULD NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE become this angry person again. I had to leave her back in England. Im proud to say that I have not ever shown my anger since being here at all like I did in the UK, I'm not saying I never got pissed off because trust me I did but I just found ways to deal with it. I noticed that I had made a change when me and Rachel were having a conversation and we were talking about something that we had changed about ourselves since being here, I said my anger/temper and she said she would never of guessed I ever had one and that made me smile :).

I've also learnt since being here that a good work ethic can actually get you anywhere in life. The boys at Azul Wasi worked UNBELIEVABLY hard and after looking at their grades they all came out with A's and B's. They all take time in doing their homework, Wilmer especially spending hours to do his homework neatly and it was always perfect. Their work ethic rubbed off on me, especially when it came to doing my kent essay on "Why are the indigenous andeans persecuted" which they gave me to see if I would get selected or not. I started working on it almost immediatley which is almost unheard of for me and done around 4 drafts. After reading over a million articles, talking to Anastacia the cook about her pesonal experiances and help from my sister Natalie to check for grammer etc, i was finally finished over 2 weeks early. That has actually got to be the first ever time I have EVER been finished before a deadline. Usually I'm still doing it the day before the deadline in a huge rush. Its because of this that my grades were absolute crap (BDD) but if worked this hard in woodhouse as I did on that essay I know my grades would have been more like ABB. But what can you do that is all a learning curve! I wasn't going to hear from them until the 1st February as that was the Deadline and by the 3rd February I recieved an email from UCAS to say that I got an unconditional!!!!! I was unbelievably proud of myself after that, I mean my UCAS points were over a 100 below what they had asked for and I still got accepted. I have now accepted that offer and will be starting in September to do Hispanic studies and French which funnily enough has another year out so this won't be my last travel blog LOL!

I've also learnt how important it is to ask questions, which is something my pride would never let me do. I was almost forced to do it as when I first came here I had no spanish and therefore had to ask Rachel questions ALL the friggin time. And to be honest if I never asked questions I would never have learnt spanish and got it to the level that it is now. I am now able to bring up points I am not happy with in a way which does not ignite an argument and can actually get things solved.

I've realised that if i really want something then I can actually achieve it as long as I put the effort in. When I first came here i came with absolutely NO spanish, not because I didn't have the time to learn it because I had more then enough time, its just because at that moment in time I stupidly thought It wasn't important, and going raving/drinking with my friends was more important. So I seriously had to concentrate on spanish, whether it be through asking questions, listening and just trying it out even though I'm bound to get things wrong. Now i can safely say that I can understand the majority of spanish at the moment and say more or less what I want. Don't get me wrong I still have tonnes of tenses to learn such as the evil Subjunctive tense which I now NOTICE when its being said but havn't learnt how to use it yet. Give me a month or 2

Being here in a foreign country with a completely different culture has also made me appreciate what I had back in England and how lucky I am to have such a loving Marge and Farge (Mum and Dad in normal people talk lol). They have provided me with such a great start in life and let me see things and experiance things which other kids have not. I have always had a roof over my head, food on the table and a loving family to go back home to which is something the boys of Azul Wasi never had until they were saved. This is going to sound SERIOUSLY cheesy but before I came to Peru i don't think me and my dad have ever actually exchanged "I love you" before, not because we never loved eachother but because we are both far from the soppy type loool. Now we say it when ever we speak to each other, and I have learnt more about him since being here such as he actually went travelling himself when he was younger which suprised me!! I think we have all become a much closer family which is strange because I'm on the other side of the world but more so because when we do speak to eachother we cherish the time and it is not spent arguing etc. I really miss my family at times which is normal but I don't actually get homesick because I know how proud I am making them which is as much motiviation as I will ever need :)

To put it frank, this experiance is one which I will always remember! It has definatly had its ups and downs but I have got through them and have become a much stronger and mature person than I was before I came here. I would highly recommend volunteering to anyone and especially with project trust! Also my hair has grown to obscene lengths and has decided that Gravity doesn't affect it so now I have a huge afro haha.

I'll leave you guys with a few pictures to sort of show the transition through the last 6 months. Hope you enjoyed this blog even though it was extremely soppy. Im very happy to say that Rachel & I's next orphange move has been FINALISED and we will be heading of to the Ciudad de los ninos, in San Juan de Miraflores, around 45min bus journey to the centre of Lima which is good. The orphanage is absolutely HUGE, yet again we have an orphanage with all boys this time 300! I really believe that it is fate that has always put us with young boys, I guess that boys are in more need of a bit of Rachel & Tanya in their lives :) Hope you all enjoy the pics

Simply Signed,
Simply Compas xxxxxxxx
Few days before I left the UK

Project Trust Peru Girls 2010-2011



Welcome to Azul Wasi



Me & Rachel in our first week


Me & Dani


Me, Hernan & Valerio on the Water Tower, Oct 2010


The Azul Wasi Kittens, Rambo & Spider Man a.k.a Homer (R.I.P Homer :( )


Bolivia, Rurrenebuque Nov 2010


Beautiful Sunset in Rurrenebuque Nov 2010


Me & Rach on the roof top swimming pool bar, Rurrenebuqe Nov 2010


Me, Valerio & Ivan, December 2010


New Years in Plaza de Armas, Cuzco 2011


Me At Machu Picchu

The most eventful month so far

Hi everyone!
For those that have me on Facebook, you probably all know what has been going on with me, for those that don´t your about to be in for a bit of a shock. I´ll start with the biggest news, I am writing this blog from Lima as Rachel & I have left Azul Wasi. It was extremely unfortunate that we had to leave, we both loved Azul Wasi so much even at the worst of times and it was unbelievably sad to see the boys go. I think i speak on behalf of the both of us when I say that Azul Wasi will always have a piece of our heart, por siempre y siempre!

We left Azul Wasi due to the fact we kept on getting ill with parasites. No matter what we tried: Stopping eating the salad, improving the hygiene of the kitchen, teaching the boys to wash their hands before eating & using antibac gel before every meal, we just kept on getting reinfected. It was almost as if we´d go to the doctors for the drug to combat the giardia and as soon as that course was over within 2 weeks we were reinfected. This we had been told had weakend our stomach lining and so our stomach wasn´t able to absorb the nutrients from the food that we ate but luckily there was no long term effects. The more bouts of giardia you have the more likely it would be to reoccur which is probably why we kept on getting it. It wasn´t always just giardia either, a lot of the time we had some form of infection along with it as our immune systems became really low, the last bout i had giardia it also came with a stomach infection!

Now i know that some of you guys (If not all) are worrying about the health of the Azul Wasi boys but rest assured, all the boys are fine. Their bodies are accustomed to drinking the water where as rachel & i´s are not. The doctor said that after a year we would be immune to giardia however Project Trust could not let us stay out there when we were constantly getting ill and after speaking to the Insuarance companies doctor it was recommended that we leave Azul Wasi immediatley which has brought us here.

We´ve been in Lima for exactley 3 weeks now and have been working in La camera britannica (British chamber) helping them do some research. You might ask how the hell we got this but its because our peru reps are the british chamber and so we dont get bored they offered to take us in. They are all really lovely and Rachel & I have got on especially well with Ruth and she has really taken us under her wing is so nice! At the moment we are waiting on finalizing a project move for us both which HOPEFULLY should be done within the next week. Its not that the work experiance here isn´t good but in all fairness this isn´t what I have come out to Peru to do and I can´t wait to get back into an orphanage. We've visited a few since being here and i must admit i do really like on but i wont go into too much detail until anything is set in stone.

Whilst we´ve been in Lima we´ve been staying in the flying dog hostal which is the same group of hostal we stayed in when we first got here but this one is just on the other side of the parque kennedy. Our insuarance money is covering our stay here in order for us to recouperate and get better. We have been able to cook our own meals which is good as we know where it is coming from and how hygenically the food is cooked.

Lima and especially Mira Flores is unbelievably different from Cusco! I mean miraflores is a differnt world to little old Oropesa. I have not seen 1 SINGLE CHILLITA (traditional peruvian dressed woman) since being here in Lima, and this is ONLY what the women in oropesa wore. There are 100´s of cinemas, supermarkets, arcades, resteraunts and fast food resteraunts here. I had such a huge culture shock and im from bloody london! Imagine what it will be like when i actually get back to london ey!

I honestly cannot speak more highly of Project Trust right now, they have proved to be an absolutely HUGE support for Rachel & I and for anyone reading my blog who is contemplating whether or not to go on a gap year with project trust i highly recommend it! There´s nothing better than the piece of mind knowing that someone back home is there to help you out if you have any problems!

Your also probably wondering (and if your not, your gonna read it any way :]) what did Rachel & I do in our last few days of Azul Wasi? One of the things we did was go to MACHU PICCHU!!!! Unfortunatly we had to go via train and not through trecking which is what we orignially wanted to do but this was good enough. We went on the 29th january after booking our tickets literally a day before it was crazy! And in order to get half price MP tickets we had to get an International student card which involved me having to fake a Woodhouse College ID to make it seem like i still went there LOL, thankgod for Microsoft Paint haha. We also had to get a passport picture taking and the way i was looking the picture came out horrenouds. I look like a child that needs adopting and my hair looked as though it could house a family of birds. Im contemplating scanning this picture and putting it here on the blog just for laughs. At the same time though i do appreciate the fact that when I get back I will eventually want a boyfriend and this picture will haunt me for life.

We left unbelievably early in the morning to get a bus from Oropesa to Cusco and then we got on a locals bus to Urubamba then from Urubamba all the way to a town that right at this minute i can´t remember lol! From there we got a train to Aguas calientes where we stayed the night. Whilst there we also bought our MP tickets and bus tickets. We woke up at 3am to get to the bus stop for 3.45am as the first bus leaves at 6am or something and if you want to do huynapicchu you have to be the first 200 people and being that thousands of people go to Machu Picchu every day we had to be early. low and behold we werent the first ones we were infact like the 80th people or something. But we done it and got our stamp to do HuynaPicchu. To be honest I didnt know what it was until Rachel told me. It had warnings on the entrance like *only for the fit and healthy* and i honestly was like "ahhh f*ck" (mind the language tanya lol). It was SO high, SO hard and there were SO many steps, I don´t know how the Incas did it but we got ourselves up there. We waited for the morning mist to clear and then we saw Machu Picchu in all its glory it was amazing like literally breath-taking! After this rachel & I lost each other LOL and spent the remainder of the Machu Picchu journey by ourselves :( WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA But seriously all the sights were just amazing!

We came back to Oropesa that exact same day in the evening, the next day was to be our last full day in Azul Wasi and so we made the most out of it. We got up in the morning early and went to sell all our books we couldnt bring with us on the plane due to lack of space/weight and got around 7 sole per book which is really not even 1/5th of what they were worth but what else were we going to do? Leave them at Azul Wasi? We used the money to buy the boys a chicken dinner each and a cake saying Azul Wasi on it made by our friend Maritza. We said a few words to the boys before we ate, basically saying how much we would miss them and how much we have learnt since teaching them. We read a story to the younger boys and tucked them all in to bed, being a bit silly with them i guess and it was so sad. Valerio kept asking when are we coming back :(

So the next morning came and it didnt come with out stress in true alcides fashion LOL. We had a nice breakfast with the boys and were waiting for the cab that Neptaly went off to get at the end of oropesa and it was really late and very small lol but it got us to cusco. Saying goodbye to the boys was so hard and I had to hold back the tears. Dante was sitting by himself on the tree stump when he left and wiped a tear from his eye as i gave him a hug. That made me sooooo emotional :( . And whilst im writing this now I can feel my eyes starting to well up. They are all such special boys and I really hope that I can one day re visit Azul Wasi as it really has touched my heart. Its such a young orphanage that needs so much help but from the right people who can allow Azul Wasi to flower and grow into the image which Alcides has invisioned. I have learnt so much from living at Azul Wasi and it is an experiance i will never ever forget. When I eventually get back to the UK I want to do some fundraising work for Azul Wasi starting by making them a website which was impossible at AW due to the lack of programmes but it will be done!

So the end of this blog ended up to be a really mooshy one but i couldn´t help it! in 6 days I will have met my 6 month mark, can you believe I´ve been here this long? because i can´t! I don´t even know where the time has gone. I will update another blog soon *I HOPE lol* and also put some pics on since i still have fast internet.

thanks again for reading,
Simply signed, Simply compas
xxxxx