"Life Plan" Workshop

Last Friday, our third group took part in a special workshop run by Jazmine Chopra, a skilled social worker from the US.

Tracing the outline of one of their feet onto a large piece of paper, each person was asked to produce a collage of drawings, pictures and words that defined them as a person; what they had achieved, suffered, overcome etc.

Then, tracing the other foot onto another piece of paper, they were asked to make a collage of the goals they wished to achieve in the near future and the means needed to accomplish them. Finally, they were asked to present their work to the group, explaining the collages and the significance of each element.

Having grown up with violence, abuse, criticism and rejection as part of their daily lives, most of the young people we work with have very low levels of self-esteem. Activities like these help them to improve their self-image and to believe in themselves and their dreams.

They are also going through a difficult stage of their lives at the moment; a stage of transition, of leaving care and entering the outside world. Thinking about where they’ve come from and where they want to go with their lives helps them to focus on their futures and on what they want to achieve.

Trip to the Cinema

Yesterday was Bilela's birthday, so we celebrated in the usual style with a cake and a few party games for Angelica's son José's benefit, whose 7th birthday is this Tuesday.

But it was afterwards that the real fun started - thanks to some funds that volunteer, Will Gale from the UK, had raised for us before he came to Peru, we were able to take all the young people to the cinema. This is something they are hardly ever able to do, apart from perhaps a one-off outing with the care home during their stay.

All of our current three groups of young people have now finished their training (apart from the third group who are starting a couple of weeks of maths lessons), so the outing was a fun climax to end their training phase.

Everyone had a great time, especially José because it was the first time he had been to the cinema. A big thank you goes to Will Gale for helping make this treat possible.

Raise Funds For Free!

Did you know you can raise funds for The Colour of Hope without spending any money at all?! Easyfundraising's Free Funds Section is a list of retailers who are currently giving away totally FREE donations!

For example, Vodafone will donate £45 to The Colour of Hope for anyone who switches to Vodafone Broadband or to Vodafone Pay Monthly Mobile! Other generous retailers include HSBC, Egg, O2 Broadband, BT Broadband and Blockbuster. Just click the link above to view the full list and start raising funds for free!

(Please note that The Colour of Hope will only receive a donation if you visit the retailer's website via the corresponding link on Easyfundraising. Please visit the Easyfundraising homepage for more information.)

Balloon Modelling

Last Thursday afternoon, the Healing Hearts group ran a balloon modelling workshop for our second group of young people. Everyone enjoyed themselves, learning how to create dogs, hats, swords, cats and other animals out of the balloons. Angelica was especially skilled at it, despite never having done it before. José, Angelica's little boy, took home two bursting bags full of balloon shapes for himself and his younger sister and cousins. These manual activities help our young people to get away from the problems and stress of their daily lives and also to develop new skills.

Update on Easyfundraising & Easysearch

The Colour of Hope's Easyfundraising and Easysearch totals have surpassed the £100 mark, currently totalling £132.80!

A big thank you goes to all those who've been shopping online and searching the internet. Don't miss Easyfundraising's special Fathers Day Section, and keep those internet searches coming in - remember, a penny goes a long way in Peru!