Foto´s from my home

What to do on a windy night in Peru? PANCAKES!
With a nice old belgian recipy me made the stomacs of our peruvian guests yearn for more.
Gracias a Marthe who assisted me during the whole baking process (or was it the other way around) ;)

Also some colared views during sunset from my rooftop.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=256736&id=763086169

Foto´s ALDEA

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=256730&id=763086169&saved

One sunday I went with Ivan to Aldea. Ivan is the presidant of AFS here (a local volunteer of 21 years old) and he gives a religion class there almost every sunday. After his class it was my turn. I crawled myself into my old scoutsuniform, mentally, and handed out some games in my best spanish :p
the kids seemed to enjoy it! So maby I will try to do this several sundays every month .

Reserva Ecologica Chaparri

One week ago I went on my second trip outside of Chiclayo. A small van of Inabif took me and the others employees out of the bustling metropolis that is Chiclayo all the way to the quiet mountains of chaparri. (The chicos followed in a bigger bus) The ride went very smooth but after 2 hours of cramped sitting knees over bumpy ways, my legs were thankful that we arrived. When I came out of the combi I was welcomed by this overwhelming heat, turned out that this place had its own mini-climate and that is was always hot. I put on a gallon of sunscreen and was totally ready to be  guided around and enter this new world. Although this is pure Sierra (mountains) it sometimes showed glimpses of the real Selva (jungle). I cant wait to see that part of Peru.

A little bit more information about the reserve:

This 34.000-hectare prívate reserve, located 75kmeast of Chiclayo, was established in 2000 by the community of Santa Catalina and the famous Peruvian wildlife photographer Heinz Plenge (what a Peruvian name!?).

This is one of the few places in the world where you can spot the rare spectacled bear in its natural habitat. This area is an ornithologist’s dream, with over 140 species of birds including rare white-winged guans, Andean condors, king vultures and several species of eagle. A large number of threatened species are also found here, including pumas, collared anteaters, and the Andean weasels. Nearly a third of these vertebrates are not found anywhere else in the world.

Sitting and eating raw mango's underneath a mangotrea :)

working at Don Bosco

Today or actually the weekend all together was great! I’m really starting to love working at INABIF. The boys are really fun and every day you learn more about them. Last day I went to Johan because he was standing against a wall at the other side of the compound . When I asked if I could help him with solving his problem (I didn’t ask if he had a problem because he obviously had one) he started crying… When a 16 year old boy starts crying at your side you don’t really know what to do for several seconds. I laid my hand on his shoulder and waited a few moments. Then I repeated my question. He said that he wanted to go home, back to his family, his mom, brother and sisters. He didn’t want to stay two more months in Don Bosco.

Although I already knew the answer to my next question I still asked it. Why he wanted to go back. Whether your working with small children in school during lets say a Zeeklassen or Overnachting or in the scouts during een welkakamp of your at the other side of the planet working with mistreated, abandoned of abused teenagers the general feeling of being extracted from your homeplace is in common: loneliness, homesickness, nostalgia

 

We talked about the subject and his feelings for several minutes and my advice was that he had to explain his feelings to his mom when she would come to visit him. I talked a bit more over the purpose of being here in this community and how he could give meaning to his time here –but for a 16year old boy its hard to do these kind of mental exercise-.

Two hours later at a distance I saw him sitting next to his mother and little sister with his head between his legs, supposingly  crying. I did not interfere and I didn’t see him anymore that day.

The next day I was gladly surprised when he came to sit next to me during the little haloweenparty that the mothers of the casitas had organized and started to talk about the day before. He told me that he could go home next month and he seemed utterly relieved. His mother had accepted his apologies and they had a long and serious talk. When I asked for what he had apologized he said that a few moths ago he’d trashed all the windows off his house and fought with his brother. He didn’t remember much of it because he was wasted at the time. …  I listened and he talked on until somebody of the others guys pulled him of his chair to dance. Few seconds later I suffered the same faith =).

I realize that this story is but one of many. Every boy here has his own to tell … or not to tell.

So far 3 boys told me theirs. I m not curious about the stories but about which boy will be next to tell me his. It’s in that moment that you know they trust you.

…The other day there was a footballmatch between Don Bosco and some teenagers of the neighboring town. One of them called me gringo y algo (something more I didn’t understand). Grover, another very talented boy of Don Bosco (15 years old), heard it , gave me a smile, tackled the offender, said something and gave me a blink. J I was a part of the team! Here I’m no longer a gringo, finally !

Foto's!

After my return to Peru some new pics. enjoy and please do comment or ask questions.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=254828&id=763086169

I will obligate myself into writing a text this weekend to put on the blog. Sorry that I dont keep you posted on my experiences here but spending time infront of a computerscreen seems so unimportant...

even terug in Belgie...

Het was niet gepland maar sinds enkele dagen, woensdag 29 september om exact te zijn, ben ik terug in Belgie... Het was een plotse beslissing naar aanleiding van een zware operatie en dito herstel van mijn vader. Ik denk dat dit een goede keuze is geweest. Verder ga ik niet te veel uitwijden, hopelijk kan ik 14 oktober opnieuw vertrekken met een gerust gemoed.
Het abrupte afscheid van mijn Peruviaanse familie, hoewel het tijdelijk bedoelt is, was zeer intens. Vooral mijn oudere zus, Marilu, waarmee ik een goede band heb, had het er bijzonder moeilijk mee. Zij vreest dat ik niet zal terugkomen. Zelfs mijn retourticket kon haar niet van het tegendeel overtuigen. Maar dan kent ze mij nog niet :) Als het erop aan komt kan ik bijzonder koppig zijn.
Ik wil hierbij al mijn vrienden bedanken die mij sinds mijn terugkomst al elke avond hebben geëntertaind. Het doet deugd om bij pot en pint - wat is het Belgische bier toch heerlijk - nog eens bij te praten. Vooral het feit dat je weer alles begrijpt wat er tegen je gezegd wordt en alles wat je denkt kunt verwoorden, is fantastisch.  Weg die taalbarrière!
Nog een weekje op Belgische bodem en dan vertrek ik terug huiswaarts... Klinkt dit raar? Wel, zelf heb ik het gevoel dat ik hier op "vakantie" ben. Zeker als je je 's nachts te slapen legt op een luchtmatras met een geïmproviseerd nachtkastje naast je.
Nog even vermelden dat ik het geweldig vond om de Carmina Burana in de Roma te kunnen meemaken. Proficiat aan alle mensen die hieraan meegewerkt hebben. Het publiek heeft kunnen genieten!
Maak er verder een onvergetelijk 75 jaar-xaverius-feestjaar van en trek voldoende foto's :) !!!

Benji

foto's, een link (hopelijk werkt het)

Met FB is het veel gemakkelijker en sneller om foto`s te uploaden. Dus, ga allemaal naar deze link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=245667&id=763086169&saved#!/photo.php?pid=5090854&id=763086169&ref=fbx_album


Groeten
Benji