Volunteering in Lima:

“Amigo… parque?”

This was possibly the one sentence/question Dave and I heard about 20-30 times a day on the next phase of our journey. After Argentina, we spent 10 days volunteering at ‘the hogar’ – a home for sick and disabled children just outside of Lima. Each day we were begged by the younger kids to take them to the park for the afternoon. Generally we couldn’t say no to their pleas and thus the afternoons would be spent, somewhat terrifyingly, taking 10-15 kids down the street to the park. Hoping none of them flew off the swing or fell off the stupidly high slide, we’d race the wheel-chair bound kids around the paths listening to them laugh hysterically as they sped around. One memorable trip home involved me walking about 15 meters with one boy who usually had a walking frame, leave him stabalised against a fence, going back to where I started to pick up another chica who was having a bit of a hissy fit and refusing to walk home, leave her where I left the first boy, help him walking another 15 meters, stop and repeat! It was definitely an interesting experience!

The home was started by Dr Tony, a Catholic doctor from the States who dedicated his life to helping these Peruvian kids. They look after kids with all sorts of medical conditions, whose family cannot afford to take care of them. Alongside spending the afternoons taking the kids to the park, we also helped out with meal times, ‘baby hour’, and the ever crazy bus trips into Lima for medical appointments. If you’ve never seen buses in the developing world, picture an old beat-up 20 seater van packed with about 50 people, with a conductor who pulls people onto and off the buses without it ever coming to a complete stop. Now picture having to do this while carrying immobile kids… absolutely insane!

While 10 days was only such a short period of time, and absolutely nothing compared to those people who spend their lives dedicated to helping others, the experience really opened our eyes to how much need there is in the world, and how much bigger life is outside the confines of our narrow world view.

These kids didn’t have nearly any of the luxuries we take for granted; no big collection of toys, books or electronics and no privacy, yet they were always so joyful and extremely compassionate. They looked after the new kids, the babies and each other without judgement and it was inspiring to watch.

There are so many stories I could share about the kids who stole our hearts, the people who do so much for them and the heartwarming moments of actually seeing kids health improve, but I’d be writing forever. So instead I’ll leave you with a some photos of these beautiful souls…