Perspective

I went to the orphanage to work today, and it was profound. These kids were dirty and they literally had nothing and no one. There were ten kids coloring the same page of a coloring book when I got there. One young boy had dried blood all under his nose and on his face for hours until I helped him clean it up. It was disturbing. There are about 30 kids and virtually no supervision. They watched the most violent Jet Li movie I´d ever seen, and, since there are 16 year olds as well as 6 year olds, that´s just what they watched. I told them to call me Felipe, since most people here have a hard time pronouncing ¨Phil¨, but a lot of the kids called me ¨hermano¨, which was something.

At one point around noon, a 12 year old came by with a small bowl and offered lunch to the four younger kids. One kid stood up and was fed one mouthfull of goop, and he sat back down. That was his lunch. I asked about the rest of them, and they told me they usually don´t eat lunch. As for dinner, there was a raging fire next to the garbage in the back with a pot on top. Three kids, aged 9, 10, and 11, tended to this huge pot by stirring it and feeding the flame their old worksheets and pages from coloring books. It was not safe or OK really. It kindof broke my heart.

I´ve met a few other great people outside my family, which is sweet. Theres one guy named Willfred who has been here for over a year. He told me that Cusco is great, but you have to accept it before you can appreciate it. I think he´s right.

I´ll put up pictures when I figure out a way to... and when that day comes, there probably won´t be as many words here.

Adios