Long volunteer meeting this morning. Nearly everyone going on trips this weekend.
We also did some much needed washing. Ray is becoming very domesticated.
This afternoon we were both on Community work along with quite a few other volunteers.
Today we were helping to organise a meeting for the whole Quille Huatta community in relation to communication skills which included anger management, sexual violence and alcoholism and to eventually offer families help if needed.
This program has been in the planning stage for the past six months and Lauren and Iris were quite apprehensive about how it would be received. We weren't sure how many people would turn up.
We planned the meeting to start with games (using a parachute and balls)which they love (entertainment for these people is very infrequent, after a hard day in the fields) afterwards we moved onto communication games (ie. whispers, which they all cheated, in good fun). Then we moved onto more serious matters. As Iris had their full attention by then she made the most of it and the meeting went on a bit long.
Afterwards we supplied biscuits and soft drinks (you would think they had never seen them before). They don't get this sort of thing very often. Ray, Jackie and I had been allotted to organise this earlier in the day.
Our expectations for attendance went far beyond anything we could have expected. Just about the whole community and their children turned out and participated with such enthusiasm that we were stunned. It was a huge success (other than that we did not account for so many children needing to be supervised and they ran wild all night as the meeting ran overtime).
I was on registration of attendance. It was interesting to see how those who cannot write or sign their own name coped. Helping each other, they used a biro to colour in the tip of their finger which they then pressed on the spot for the signature and left a finger print. Those that did this were very proud of themselves. I was consumed with awe to participate in this, helping them to colour in their fingertip.
Perus Challenge has plans for more such meetings, hoping to touch more seriously on some of the more pressing issues. Now that this has been such a success they are very hopeful for future meetings. There are many families that will be in serious need of help.
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