Our team

Teacher Secondary School

For a teacher I think it’s important that you know how to listen. Then automatically your heart opens up and you can see the qualities, virtues and needs of the children. Sometimes there are situations that I think you can only understand having lived something similar. Many parents are very cold with their children or very hard because they had a difficult childhood themselves. I refer to the situation of violence of the years of terrorism that still seems to me to greatly affect our children today.

On one occasion we took a group of children participating in our ‘individual education program’ to the zoo. When we returned home in the afternoon, the parents of one of our children were praying in the church near my house so I had no choice but to return with the child to my home. When my 8-year-old son came home, he asked me: “What is this child doing here? Will he be your new son?” I was surprised and I explained the situation. Once I delivered the child at night to his parents, I talked with my son. I explained in more detail the work I do. Sometimes my son sees me talk to the Mama Alice children and he claims: “With them, you have much more patience.“ (This is probably true). I explain that they have a lot of needs and despite their situation, they are persevering, so I need to be very patient.

When I think of the future and see myself as an old man, I see my children turning into good men. I am sure that they will be people who will feel empathy for other people. They will treat their wives well and what is more important to me: their children, with care and responsibility. On one occasion when I was learning to drive a car, I crashed the motorcycle of one of the boys from the barbershops of Keiko Sofia where we used to work. The owner of the motorcycle came to hit me, but Huichin, the friend of the motorcycle owner and my former student, came out in my defence so in the end nothing happened. I think I will be safe in the future, because we taught our children to be better people.

I love my work as a teacher because I have the opportunity and responsibility to provide the children with a space and company that is free of judgments, demands and pressure. I wish there was a Mama Alice in my childhood.

Esefani is a young girl who was going through a very difficult time last year. Her parents were separated due to problems with alcoholism and mistreatment. Every day this girl ran from far away with a smile and overflowing joy to greet me and I was waiting for her and yelled: “Eeeeetefeeeefaniiiiiiii” to receive her with a big hug. After this daily ‘welcome scene’, she always walked to her class with a big smile. I hope I have been a little support for her.

On Father’s Day, I wanted to cook the traditional PACHAMANCA. You prepare this in a hole in the earth with heated stones and you cover the meat with leaves. We ended up having lunch at 2 in the afternoon and I think it was the richest dish I ever prepared because there was no food left and I am already ‘contracted’ for Christmas.