Meeting the children & parents

Today was a busy day. The journey up to San Benito took an hour and a half, the first part inside Cochabamba in a trufi or minibus and the remainder through the countryside up to the high valleys in a trufi taxi which is a taxi that several people share. As it was raining, most of the people had problems getting to the church patio which is where we meet, but the ones who had the greatest difficulty were the families coming down from Chaki Q'ocha up on the puna. However, they all managed to get there eventually.

The procedure is always more or less the same. First of all Primo talks to the parents and children, clarifying things that he is displeased about and those that he is happy with. Then it is my turn to give a pep talk explaining that all the ponsors ask in return is that the children attend school every day and that they wear their uniform and shoes, which are not to be hoarded for fiestas and holidays.

This year I wanted to take a photograph of each child so that their sponsors could see how they are growing up.

Then the serious business of handing out the material began.
First of all
schoolbags,
uniforms
shoes,
towels,
socks
toothpaste
toothbrushes
soap.

It was like an assembly line and all the children were anxious to receive their things. The new beneficiaries were particularly excited and the younger ones were jostling for position until they were asked to form an orderly queue as nobody was going to run off with their things.

After that the community elected a member to give their vote of thanks to all the sponsors expressing the hope that the work of the project will continue for many years to come.

The mothers then loaded everything into their awayus, the colourful cloths that Bolivian women use for everything, from carrying babies to loading potatoes and other crops to market. Someone had arranged for us all to go to the newest and “best” restaurant in San Benito which has been opened by a man who emigrated to Spain for a while and saved his income to be able to set up this business on his return. Work is still in progress but nobody seemed to mind the unfinished building. The families settled down wherever they could find a space, on the floor, on a step or a chair, and produced the food that they had brought from home which they all tucked into while we, as the “honoured guests” were served the usual heaped plateful typical of Cochabamba where food is a primary concern. We had trout from a little local fish farm, potatoes, rice, onion, tomato and slices of green pepper.

Then it was back down to Cochabamba where the chaos of market day was just dying down. Transport was still at a premium as people hauled their big sacks of produce on to the buses.