In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

For the last week the organization has been hosting a short term volunteer group from Oregon Institute of Technology. The group worked with the local dental school and did clinics in primary and secondary schools in the area. They taught the kids the importance of brushing your teeth using small circles and gave them all toothbrushes. They also picked some kids that needed some extensive work on their teeth and worked with them during the week filling in cavities, root canals, etc.

This past Sunday Nathanael and I joined the group on a trip to the jungle. We were told to bring thick pants, long socks, long sleeve shirts, and mosquito repellent with a lot of deet. We took a bus from the organization to the dock down town. We loaded all our things on to the organizations boat and began our journey. We got on the Nanay River which is one of the many tributaries of the Amazon. We got to see a few pink dolphins along the way. We got on the Amazon and started heading to La Isla de los Monos (Monkey Island).
There we were introduced to a few kinds of monkeys, Wholly Monkeys, Spider Monkeys, Tamarines, and a few other kinds. The monkeys had interesting behaviors and were pretty cleaver. You had to be careful with your things because they would get into your backpack and take some things. Others knew a few tricks, like how to play dead, "sing" or hang itself using its tale. After visiting the monkeys we went on a hike to the other side of the island and saw all the different kinds of vegetation they had. They had star fruit, cocoa trees, coconuts, all of which we tried.



After we left Monkey Island, we toured a few other islands around the area. We finally made our way to the island were the Bora tribe lived which is found off the Momon River. We set up camp in the little village of San Andres. We did not have showers so we went to the river and swam around to get the sweat and dirt off our bodies.






We woke up early the next morning, gathered our stuff and headed out. We began our hike to the Boras. Our guide, Walter, was the Bora Chief's son. Walter took us out to the jungle and taught us a little about natural remedies that can be found in many plants in the jungle. He also taught us where you could find water if you were stranded in the jungle with out any, and even what bugs to eat. The jungle is rich in resources and natural remedies. Some of the remedies are a bit extremely, but seem to work. The indigenous people of the Amazon survive on its resources. In the jungle you do not have easy access to a pharmacy to fill a prescription for a high fever or bronchitis.



We finally arrived at the Bora tribe around noon.They performed a few of their ritual dances and showed us a few of their art work.

All in all the jungle experience was great. We did sweat and we were extremely dirty, but enjoyed every second of it!

Adjusting...

It's already been a week. I already know how to flag down a moto-car, tell him where I need to go, and even bargain for price. When we arrived at POPPYS house Tuesday afternoon, we didn't really know what to expect. We had only seen pictures of the house when parts of it were still being constructed. The house is located in a small friendly village of Santo Tomas. When we arrived, we were greeted by Lisa and Casey Hann, the directors of POPPYS House, who were also the ones who recruited us. Bianca and I have known Lisa since we were little, and her and her husband had been helping us get prepared as much as we possible could. We didn't get to meet all the girls that day because most of them were in school. We got a tour of the place. There are lots of fruit trees on the property, star fruit, coconut trees, oranges, camu camu, and a lot more.


Behind the house there is a pond that overflows during rainy season. We set up our room and went to bed pretty early that night.

The next morning we met the rest of the girls that morning in worship. We met the other couple, Aaron and Kelly Linfoot as well. The rest of the day we spent talking to Lisa and Kelly about rules and regulations, schedules, and each girl specifically. We learned that the girls would probably test boundaries.
We talked about the jobs and responsibilities we each had. In the past, the organization had had problems with supervision at the school. There had been some cases of inappropriate behavior at the school. Since these girls have had traumatic pasts we take the necessary precautions to prevent anything else from happening to them. My job is to go to school with the primary girls in the morning, and be kind of a teacher's aide and help out in supervision. In the afternoon I help out with the tutoring and working with Kevin, who is a child with special needs. Bianca and Priscilla are in charge of an afternoon learning program. They work with 4 kids all under the age of 5. They teach them their numbers, colors, letters in both English and Spanish.

My first day of work took a lot of adjusting. I entered the school, looked around, and met the teachers. The school is not very big. Since Santo Tomas is a very low income community, the primary and secondary have to share the school. The primary kids go to school from 7:30-12:30, and the secondary kids go to school from 1-6:30. The rooms are fairly simple. The rooms are just a concrete room, with chipped walls, one very worn out black board and a few broken desks. Since most of the up keeping and repairs of the school are done and paid for by the parents, not much is done because as much as they want to help, they cannot afford to help out with the school and keep food on the table. The classrooms are hot and there are no windows except for a few openings in the wall from the designs of the brick. The attendance of the teachers varies from day to day. Sometimes they show up, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they come late and expect the children to be there on time, and on rare occasions are there when the last bell rings. It's a tough learning environment for these kids. They don't have a single book, they have to write everything down themselves in a notebook. It's hard for the teachers and the students to be motivated to come to school when conditions are hard. I think that this is what I will struggle with the most. The fact that these kids do not get the opportunity to learn all they can.

Showers are cold but people are warm and friendly and sunsets the sunsets aren't too bad... just kidding..
amazing!!!!

TRIPPING...

We've arrived!
And we are doing awesome!
We had an 8 hour lay over in Panama City. There Priscilla's sister-in-law's aunt took us out to see the town. (I know that one is a tongue twister) They were such nice people.. They hadn't had a day off in quite some time, but they took the day off and took us out to see the city. We greatly appreciate them, because if it weren't for them, we would have spent the whole 8 hours in the airport, no bueno. We went out to eat and later saw the glorious Panama Canal!


It was a breath of fresh air after traveling for about 7 hours. It was refreshing meeting such nice people who made you feel comfortable and made you feel like you were with family.

But contact info...FEEL FREE TO WRITE!!
Long, wordy love letters or play by plays.. =) I'll be posting some info soooOOON!
Sorry this one was kinda short!



Mailing Address
Princess Zambrano
Av. Abelardo Quinones No. 3912 (km 4.5)
San Juan Bautista - Iquitos - Loreto
Peru


Email: deezeeprincess@gmail.com or dragongurl87@gmail.com