Casa de Don Bosco

Today was a jam-packed day, but since I only have 18 more days left in this country, they should probably all be.


A few weeks ago I was talking with Michelle about the difficulties I was having at the school where I volunteer, and she suggested I go visit a couple of the private schools in Lima so that I can get an idea of how things work there, too. This led to the idea for my thesis, which is comparing the different levels of education in Lima and their availability (or unavailability) based on a family's class and income. So, I met up with Joel this morning at la Católica so that he could take me to his old school to set up some days to come in. We took the bus to Breña, to El Colegio Salesiano San Francisco de Sales. We met with one of the priests, and he set up a time for me to visit the 4th grade class a couple mornings next week.


After we left, Joel was showing me the rest of the campus. It's a pretty large school. The one we went to is the boys school, and it's preschool thru high school. Across the street is the girl's school that is associated with the same church. Connected to the boys school is the polytechnical school, and connected to that is la Basílica Maria Auxiliadora. We peeked inside. It was a really pretty church.


Then Joel pointed to another set of buildings that he said was still part of the school. It's called Casa Don Bosco (Don Bosco was the guy that started the Salesians) and it's where they take in boys from the street and give them a place to stay and teach them a trade, like mechanics. We popped in the back door and looked around at their basketball court and stuff, then we walked around the block and found the front door. We peeked in to see if we could have a look around and they said they would get Padre Ricardo to show us around. 


He came out and started talking to us about what they do there. They bring in high risk boys from the street (older than 12) and they start out by giving them a basic education. For example, one of the boys he introduced us to is 15 (like a lot of kids at my school, he only looked about 10 because of malnutrition) and he's in the 4th grade right now. When he came, he started out in 1st grade, because before that he was living with his mother, who was an alcoholic, and he was not going to school. As the kids advance, they also start learning a trade, like mechanics, baking, sewing, etc. That way, once they're ready, they'll be able to find employment. Another kid he introduced us to, also 15, already knows how to sew all kinds of clothing with different machines, so that when he goes back into the real world, he'll be able to go to Gamarra (a clothing market in Lima) and be a tailor or find a job in a factory. 


They gave us a tour of the house. It has 4 different levels, which is how they divide your progress as well. For example, when you're older and learning your trade, you're in the 4th stage, and you also live on the 4th level. The house was really nice. They have a pool table in the patio area on the first floor, there is a nice computer lab, the classrooms are really nice, they have good dorms to sleep in, there's a nurse living there, as well as psychologists. They have laundry facilities, and a room for the volunteers from other countries to live in, and a nice coffee room, where we had coffee with Pablo, the volunteer from Spain. There was also a volunteer from Poland, and various other ones in Lima that come in and out. 


After our coffee, Padre Ricardo came back and gave us a tour of the rest of the place. The whole Salesian complex (schools, church, Casa Don Bosco, offices) is huge, and really nice. It's got beautiful gardens, and pretty architecture. He took us to the bakery, where the kids were learning how to make suspiro a la limeña (a traditional dessert). They also make turrón to sell durning the festival del Señor de los Milagros during October and panettone to sell during Christmas time. Then he took us to the offices to speak with his co-worker about how the casa works, because Joel got the idea that this might be a good organization for them to offer through ELAP. He was telling us about how there are 11 Casas de Don Bosco in Perú, and that he recommends a volunteer stay in one house for a minimum of 4 months. At that point, he said they are welcome to travel to any of the other casas. So if they want, they can spend a week at the Cusco casa (there's also an all-girl casa in Cusco), see how it is, help out, and do all the tourist stuff while they're there. It sounds really cool. 


Padre Ricardo gave us the Salesiano bulletin, a brochure about the Casa de Don Bosco, and he also gave us both a copy of a really nice hardcover book of inspirational poems written by Salesians. Why? I guess because he's just a really nice guy. 


So I'm really glad we decided to peek in, because I ended up learning a lot. It makes me really happy that there are projects like this in the city, because you see so many kids out on the street selling candy, or washing windows at stoplights. Just today, when I was on the bus, I saw a kid that looked like he was about 13 being the "bus counter." I totally just made that name up to describe the people that stand at bus stops (buses actually stop anywhere and everywhere here, so it's probably better to stay that they stand where lots of buses tend to stop) and keep track of the buses that go by, and how full they are. That way, when the next bus on the same route comes by, the cobrador (guy who stands at the door of the bus shouting it's route out - "todo Bolívar todo Bolívar, Católica, Universitario, San Marcos! Sube sube sube!!" and who collects the fares) asks the person keeping track and they tell them when the last bus came by and how full they were. Why does this matter? Because apparently the cobradores have a quota for a certain number of passengers each day. And they have some strategy worked out, so that after these "bus counters" give them this information, they tell the driver, who either starts driving like a bat out of hell, probably so he can pass the bus in front of him and get to potential passengers first, or starts driving really slow and pretending to wait for fake passengers who are "running down the sidewalk flagging down the bus" but who in reality don't really exist, we're just trying to kill time, so that more people will be at the next bus stop. No one ever really falls for this and people usually just start yelling at the bus driver. But back to the "bus counter." How much does he get paid for this information? The cobrador gives him 10 or 20 cents. How much is this in U.S. cents? About 3 or 6 cents. My point with this really long explanation is that that's what this kid was doing at 9:15 this morning when he should have been in school. 


There are about 70 boys at the Casa de Don Bosco right now and there have been as many as 100. So it's a pretty great organization in my opinion. And Padre Ricardo is like everyone's dad. He's super nice, but he also has an air of authority and all the boys respect him. Which is probably exactly what a lot of them need, is something that feels like family. 


We headed back to la Católica and I went to my class and then headed home for the day. On Thursday we're having a Thanksgiving feast/ going-away part for Nichole, so me and her are in charge of making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 60 kids. I'm really excited about it though. I told her that if she made the turkey and stuffing, I would do everything else. And some of the parents at the school said they would bring the mashed potatoes. So I started the cooking today. I baked 2 pecan pies and 2 apple pies this afternoon. Now I just have to make the creamed corn, green bean casserole, and sweet potato casserole. Then somehow with Maria Elena's help we're going to lug all of that stuff all the way to the colegio, and try to reheat it and serve the kids! It should be a lot of fun. They'll love it. 


Rosa also said that if we don't do a Thanksgiving dinner with ISA on Thursday she'll cook one at the house, because she knows that it's an important holiday for us. She's a sweetheart!