Lima II

Marina Mora...who can remember who she is?

Parque Kennedy at night.

Lima I

El Puente de Los Suspiros in Barranco, Lima.

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Parque del Amor.

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean from LarcoMar, the most upscale shopping center in Lima, just right off the cliff.

Pasaje de Los Pintores in Parque Kennedy in Miraflores, Lima.

Flags of all Latin American countries flying in front of the Congress in Lima Centro.

7-4-2010

Lemar´t having fun at the pool during therapy.

The kids were happy coz they won stars on their faces during group behavioral therapy!

Jomi tried on the balancing beam while Samanta encouraging her.

Marcos on the balancing beam first.

Lemar´t pretended eating an orange.

I felt quite accomplished today as Lemar't finally is making some progress in pronouncing more than 1 syllable words! In fact, I've changed the schedule a bit so I'm doing therapy with him daily, while maintaining other therapy schedules. He has shown a lot of signs having some sort of developmental disorder, but we can't do assessment unless we are sure as it's too expensive here. Anyway, I suggested to do more intensive therapy with him for a couple months and see how it goes. If there are still going slow and he show more signs of developmental disorder, we can request an assessment for him. Anyway, it's going well, but definitely he's not yet learning in a normal speed as other kids are. The rest are doing very well in behavioral therapy, and I'm happy to see them become more positive and strive to be better! The result is really astonishing by just changing the environment from negative to positive! One thing I had them rid of was that they always said "no" to the caretakers during daily routines, and believe me, it's contagious! But little did they know that I'm a compliance control freak, now they know better not to say no all the time! Haha

On the other hand, a teenaged boy, Luis Torres, came up to me and told me he's kinda sad because he missed his mom. I felt for him, and really there's nothing to do except giving him a long big hug and told him that I'm here for him. His academic level is very behind and comprehension is very low. Nonetheless, he loves to learn and always want to learn more things. It's taught me that we really should treasure our strengths and abilities that God has granted to us and use them fully, wise and as much as we can.

Extra Photo 2: March, 2010

Franklin climbed in the top shelf of the cabinet, pretending sleeping.

Jhonatan and Alonso also pretended sleeping in the cabinet.

This s the outside of the classroom. In fact, it is very dusty because the paths aren´t constructed at all. And there are tons of glassless windows, and it can be quite windy in Lunahuana. I can expect that the classrooms can get pretty dusty.


Some kids from the home, including Agustina, Anita, Ayita and Hector are in this class. The classroom has no light, solely relying on natural light through the glassless windows.

Carlos Torres and Marcos working on maths homeworks.

Extra Photo 1: March, 2010

Franklin playing with his reinforcement: Balloon!

Lemar´t was also playing with his reinforcement.

Lemar´t fell asleep at the table right after finished his homework.

28-3-2010

The kids working on a poster about China. They also drew monuments like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City based on the postcards.

The all competed to use chopsticks well so that they can eat as many crisps as possible.

When it kicked off, they were having tons of fun!


Milagros practised writing in traditional Chinese brush.

Our cultural event finally kicked off! First stop, China! Well, bits of Hong Kong as well. Thanks to my friend, Lydia, who sent me tons of materials such as postcards, Chinese stationery and chopsticks. I had set up four tables which contained many things of the Chinese culture. A group of kids who're interested in learning about different cultures got together this afternoon. We first learned about different interesting sites in China through postcards, such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tsing Ma Bridge, Victoria Harbor, etc. Then, we learned how to write in traditional Chinese brush and ink. And they were eager to learn about different words in Chinese as well. The third event was probably the most exciting one, as they learned how to use chopsticks. Well, since I could get hold of any Chinese snacks here, I just got a bag of crisps and they use the chopsticks to eat them! Finally, we took what we've learned and created a poster together, which is posted in the dining room, so that everyone can see as well. They all reported to find it very fun and interesting, and to be extra happy because they got some postcards, a pair of chopsticks, the Chinese exercise book and a pencil with Chinese poems on it.

25-3-2010

Jhonatan in therapy.

Lemar´t in therapy.

Marcos and Alonso getting off the bus from school.


Jhonatan carrying his backpack and snack bag!

Jose Luis in the car after school.

After the kids arriving home from school, I went to pick them up and greet them. They all were excited to see us picking them up, just like families do. And they are so cute carrying their backpack and mid-morning snack packs!

As usual, I had therapy sessions with some kids since we officially started last week. In general, they are behaving so much better and have improved a lot! Of course, it took some crying and taking consequences before they learn to behave well. For instance, little Jhonatan is so compliant and attentive now that it's a joy working with him. In fact, lately he's been doing this "ven, ven ryryryanan" thing (it means "come, tio Ryan") while he waves his hand and nods his head when he says it. It's super cute and funny! Next time I must capture that in video!

After therapy time, I also helped with the other kids' homework. They struggled a bit, but it just takes some patience and encouragement to help them improve. They are actually really great to work with, because unlike a lot of kids in urban cities who struggle with compliance and concentration issues, they behave perfectly fine and we just have to guide them think more multilaterally.