The Adventures at Suyai Wari

After yet another overnight bus, Jim and I arrived in Cuzco at 6:30 am. It took some time, but after going to another bus terminal and taking a taxi, we arrived in time for breakfast at Suyai Wari, an organization devoted to helping the natives properly use their resources and improving their community. Our arrival happened to be the same week as the reforestation week, so we have spent many hours marking the locations for the trees and digging the holes. That sounds straight forward, but we are in Peru, so it can´t be that easy. And it isn´t. After spending an afternoon marking hole locations in a field, some locals came and complained that they didn´t want the trees there. In the end we had to abandone that field. Another day someone filled in about 10 of the holes we had dug. This turned out to be ok, however, because we had dug them too close to a water line. On yet another day the shovel broke, leaving us with only two picks. The shop in town fixed the shovel, but we managed to break it again, so finally we bought a new one. We also had to buy a new pick because Superman was digging a hole, went to pry out a rock, and broke the metal prong. After that show of strength, Superman wasn´t allowed to eat anymore oatmeal.

Because Superman (Jim) and I both speak excellent English, we have been helping the English teacher at the local school. We help the children say the words properly in the textbook examples. In one class I also taught the kids the names for relatives. The director of Suyai Wari, who speaks very good English, had us fill in for him at the after school English class he teaches twice a week. While we enjoy being teacher at the after school class more than helping at the school, the after school class is difficult because the students are all different levels. We are trying different styles of teaching to ensure the students learn something. As of now we have discovered the students grasp a concept better if they can see a physical action such as, ´I sit on the chair´ or ´He walks around the room.´