The problem with trying to save the world

I´ve often called this 5-month experience my time to save the world. And in truth, a few months of post-Vassar idealism is exactly what I wanted. Not surprisingly, trying to help people isn´t all that easy. The great thing about Inti is that it is giving such a real view of what it is like to work in an intervention setting, maybe even more so than an organization in the United States would. Inti doesn´t get any government funding and is entirely dependent on donations. It has a wonderful goal of offering support to street kids and children who essentially live in poverty. The fact that a lot of our kids live outside of the city and walk for an hour just to come here says (I think) that this is something important in their lives. They get some sort of guidance, they learn to do crafts, and overall are given the opportunity to be regular kids. They can have fun, they can get exposure to the arts through projects devised by the volunteers, and most importantly, they are safe. Some of these kids have abusive parents or work in unsafe conditions, so at least while they are at Inti, they can escape that part of their lives. This, the idea that they have a safe place, is essential.

Ideology aside, there is a very frustrating side to this whole intervention attempt. The most obvious is that there simply is not enough money. The kids have plenty of books available to them, which is excellent, but art supplies are low. Their drawing supplies consist of a very sad plastic container filled with crayon stubs. There is also a dearth of paper for them to actually use for art projects. Problematic. The teachers are also more like workshop supervisors, meaning that the man who does jewelry making doesn´t often leave his jewelry room. The needlepoint instructor is only there in the mornings, so one of the volunteers has been filling in during the afternoons. Other than that, the program is entirely run by volunteers. In a sense, this is great for us, because we have total freedom over what projects we want to do with the kids and are in constant contact with them. However, this lack of structure or non-volunteer supervision means that there is no consistent schedule, which I really believe these kids need in their lives. Of course it´s wonderful to be flexible, but if all of us are helping with homework or trying to run a theater practice, who will watch the kids who don´t have homework and are running around chasing the dog through the entire building? Nobody. There is nobody. If they could only have one or two adults there who have a constant presence and maintain order, I think everyone would be a lot more productive. Occasionally someone will appear and yell at the kids if they´re being rowdy, but I just don´t think that is good enough.

At times I feel frustrated and powerless and just want to take over the organization myself and paint all the walls a pretty color and run things in a more efficient way. I realize that this is indeed a very difficult thing to do (or else things would run more smoothly as it is), but I honestly think that even small changes would be greatly helpful. I think the most important thing I am taking from experience is an awareness of the characteristics that can potentially define a successful and nonsucessful attempt at intervention among low-income youths. I´m also becoming more aware of my own impatience with inefficiency, something I definitely need to work on is this is something I´d like to do in the future. I guess frustration isn´t necessarily bad as long as it can yield a solution.

That's essentially my big rant about working in Perú. I am exasperated with The System but love working with the kids. I like that they can have fun and feel appreciated by everyone working at Inti. If nothing else, I can feel pretty satisfied knowing that I made a few kids happy. :)

Pictures soon!