Third Week!

I can't believe it's the end of the third week! This week was pretty low key since a new group of volunteers arrived on Sunday and the staff spent a lot of time getting them acclamated. We worked with the male inmates on Monday and then worked in the regular day care on Tuesday. The kids are doing really well but there is still no real teacher there which makes me worry about what will happen when CCS closes down here. Wednesday was really cool because we went to a "model community" about an hour away. A few years ago the town was really struggling but some NGO's came in and redid the school system and set up a new health clinic. By Peruvian standards, the town is now thriving and the school was really amazing too see. The kids were hilarious and had some songs prepared for us. The health clinic was definitely lacking, as there were only three nurses to support the town and its surrounding areas, in which over 3,000 people live. Some patients have to walk over four hours to the clinic and it is oftentimes closed for various reasons. However, after visiting this town it was clear that it was in much better conditions than those surrounding it and that similar help was needed in these areas as well.
Thursday we were back in the prison and Friday we took the kids out to a local river and farm. They were thrilled to run and splash around, chasing donkeys and scaring tadpoles. Because we were being eaten alive by bugs, we finally got them all back into the van and took them on a drive around the city. Might not sounds too thrilling but all the kids love being in cars and couldn't be happier to be driven around.
This weekend is going to be a relaxing one, much needed after last weekend's craziness! We said goodbye to two of the volunteers last night, a sad reminder that most of us will be leaving in the next week. Today we're going to the local club soccer team's game and then a sunset hike to the top of a mountain near town. Tomorrow we're planning on eating at our director's new restaurant.
I keep adding new pictures to the album on here so check those out!