El Porvenir and SKIP

I spent most of Monday at the SKIP school/ office in El Porvenir.  El Porvenir is a village on the outskirts of Trujillo and is one of the poorest areas i have ever seen.  It is really dry and dusty and you arehardpressed to see grass or trees.  All of the houses are made of a mud clay miux.. so needless to say it is a very drab looking area..... in order to get there all of the volunteers shove themselves into taxis. i haven't ridden in a taxi with less that 7 people..  it is quite a clown car.
    The village of el porvenir is obviously high in crime as well.  Apparently the cops refuse to go there at night and barely go there during the day.  A few months ago there were some men with knives waiting for the volunteers to come out to rob them of there money and computers. Because of this incidence we are no longer aloud to carry bags/ mopey/ cameras./ laptops to the school. THey don't want people to think we are carrying anything of value.  With this said... it is mostly safe for us there because we are getting in and out of a taxi and into the school which was very tall gates etc..... also, most people don't want t mess with us because we are there to help their people..
    inside SKIP you can tell good things are going on! the families are very happy and the kids seem very happy and resilient.  its so cute even if you don't know the person walking in they will come and give you a kiss on the cheek.  yesterday.. one of the peruvian helpers told us in spanish that she like americans the best!!! too funny especially since this is a british run program!

Sisters Esther and Abigail outside of SKIP

    I learned that i will be teaching reading, math, and english to kids who about 7-10 years old.  Both reading and math will be taught in math.... so i am VERY worried about that.. how  can i be effective when i don't even teach the language.. they keep reassuring me.. so i guess i just need to relax...  Trust the Process!!!

ciao ciao