A week with Hogar de Cristo (2nd post 17th June)

Moving on, I got word that the Puno home had suspended work with the children. So I was to go up for only two weeks.. that meant I had two weeks spare. I looked around and prayed and I got the opportunity to work for a week with Hogar de Cristo in Arequipa center.

This home is an open home that freely welcomes street kids to come in. The home is called open home because it does not have the kids living there and is open only on week days.


The kids can come in and have breakfast, then get stuck in to homework and about an hour of work shops were they learn carpentry, art, crafts for selling. The kids really are happy here. I worked in the morning and helped the secondary kids do homework. The primary would come in the afternoon. I like this system - it has many more details involving the kids' parents. But the ideas for street kids to come in and the home giving them help is so much better than them doing homework in the street beside their mum that has to sell. Also for the kids that come from the background where their house has no table or light to do homework and no substantial food to keep a kid going. Also it does not help if the parents can’t read or write- they have only got primary education at times or can’t be at home but only at night times for work. So then the kid is all alone at home.

The work that interested me most is the work the home has with the street kids actually on the street. I went twice two nights to go down with some volunteers.One is a lady that was once a volunteer like me and now has connected with Hogar de Cristo and set up a small home for girls. She is looking for more volunteers in the street work as we could only cover the centre plaza but they used to cover many more areas. Also to work in her home or at hogar de cristo.. please contact me. Jd_lovell84@hotmail.com

These kids are very talented as I found out when we took them to an arts competition. We won too!
Also want to say I went to visit the Hogar Rosa de Chaves, an orphanage full of babies where most get adopted but a large number don’t. I couldn’t get to see the kids but brought some bags of nappies and milk. Thanks for your donations.