New youth employment scheme provides hope for our young people

Last Tuesday, I went to visit Bilela at her new job at Colegio Euroamericano, Pachacamac.

Bilela has been one of our more difficult young people because of her severe lack of self-confidence and self-worth. Dumped in a care home at the age of 7 and neglected by her family throughout most of her young life, it's not surprising that she's still suffering from the symptoms of rejection. She has a speech impediment which, in a country where anti-discrimination laws are seldom exercised, makes finding work much harder.

But a couple of weeks ago, Bilela was overjoyed to find out she'd been accepted at Colegio Euroamericano (Euroamerican School) as a kitchen helper. Sr. Aldo Lazo del Carpio (pictured right), owner of the school, is supporting The Colour of Hope by giving jobs to some of our young people. Bilela is the first to benefit from this new scheme. It is a great opportunity for her financially speaking and will also give her excellent work experience. So far she's doing very well and really enjoys the school's friendly atmosphere.

Thank you very much Sr. Aldo for all your support, and thank you also to the staff of Colegio Euroamericano for giving Bilela such a warm welcome to your team.

Wall Internship Program Peru

This video is about Wall Luxury Essentials Internship Program in Peru and The Colour of Hope's involvement. Natali, one of our most promising young people, talks a bit about her past and how much her life has changed thanks to Wall and The Colour of Hope's help.

Local Peruvian volunteer runs drama classes for our young people

Last training session, (Tuesday) our fourth group of young people were able to enjoy their first drama session with local volunteer, Katherina. Although shy at first, they all opened up eventually and were able to put themselves into the mindsets of the roles they were given to play.

The Colour of Hope is very grateful to Katherina for the time she is dedicating to the young people. It is very important that they work through past and present conflicts in order that they continue to grow and prosper as healthy and successful young adults. Drama is an excellent way of expressing hidden emotions, thoughts and feelings and really helps the young people to give voice to their fears within a protective environment.

Welcome Gathering for our Fourth Group of Young People

Yesterday afternoon, six of the young people who have already completed their training got together with our two psychologists, Juan Pineda and Eduardo Cabos, and me (Project Director) to welcome four new project participants to The Colour of Hope.

José Trinidad, José Luís, Katherine and Tany, from San Francisco de Asís and Reina de la Paz care homes, will be starting their training phase on Thursday. Despite initial shyness, they seemed to enjoy themselves very much yesterday, and listened carefully to what their peers had to say.

Hugo, Natali, Abraham, Bilela, Edinson and Gaby gave an insight into the problems they came across when they left care and the ways in which they went about solving them. Their comments served as very pertinent advice to the new group, as well as testimonies that there is "light at the end of the tunnel" and that difficulties can often be overcome, even they seem impossible at first.

More news about the new group's progress coming soon.

"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.

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.

Theatre and Arts Workshops with Healing Hearts

Alongside their regular lessons, our second group of young people has been doing some theatre and arts workshops with a group called, Healing Hearts.

The Healing Hearts group worked for years with victims of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, visiting schools, kindergartens, orphanages, hospitals and homes for displaced people, promoting reintegration and reconciliation between different ethnic groups and helping minority groups to overcome their sense of isolation. They have recently moved their mission to Peru, and kindly agreed to run some workshops with our young people.

Yesterday afternoon the young people learnt how to be clowns, dressing up in an array of costumes and acting out short skits. It was excellent for strengthening friendships between group members, raising their levels of self-confidence and esteem, and simply for having a bit of well-earned fun. But more than that, it was a type of therapy for our young people. When you put your clown costume on, you cease to be “you”; for a moment you can do what you like, act the fool, the wise-guy or the joker and no one knows it’s you behind your costume. You’re suddenly liberated from all the prejudices, criticisms and stigmas of today’s society.

For young people who have grown up in a world of violence, abuse, criticism and rejection it’s very important to be able to “act the clown” and escape from reality sometimes.

Thank you to Healing Hearts for the time and effort they dedicate to our young people.

Health & Nutrition Advice for Young People

Chronic malnutrition affects one in three Peruvian children under five, with much higher rates in rural areas. Over time, malnutrition can lead to stunted growth and diminished intellectual capacity.

A volunteer from Lima's D'Gallia Catering College has kindly designed a course in Health & Nutrition for The Colour of Hope, which he is now teaching to our first and second groups of young people on a voluntary basis.

Topics include eating a balanced diet, water safety and hygienic food preparation and storage. The course will not only help the young people take care of their own health, but also that of their children - three of the group already have babies and toddlers to bring up.

Thank you to Andy for his dedication to The Colour of Hope's work and the health of our young people.

English Classes for Disadvantaged Young People

English teacher, Heather Thomas from the UK, has kindly put together a course in Basic English, which she has now started teaching to our second group of project participants. They are all thoroughly enjoying the lessons so far and are beginning to pick up the basic phrases already. As you can see from the photo, one of the participant's 6-year old, who joins us for training occasionally, is also enjoying himself!

The course will not only help them to develop a new skill and boost their confidence, but will also be very valuable for them on their CV's.

Heather will leave the course materials with us when she returns to England so that future volunteers can teach it to later groups. Thank you Heather for all the time and enthusiasm you pour into The Colour of Hope and our young people.

Young People take a Course in Chocolate Making

Last Saturday The Colour of Hope project participants and volunteers learnt the fine art of chocoteja making.

Chocotejas are typical bite-size Peruvian chocolates filled with "manjar blanco" (a sticky fudge made from condensed milk and sugar) and nuts or dried fruits.

The Colour of Hope invited a professional choco-teja maker to give a course to some of our young people who are particularly interested in pastry and dessert making. They learnt to produce 5 different types of filling - coconut, pecan nut, raisin, peanut and fig.

This new vocational skill will come very much in handy if they decide to look for work or set up their own business in this line.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and went home with bulging pockets full of chocotejas.

Special thanks goes to Mervi Vera Buitrón for the time and enthusiasm she poured into preparing and teaching the course.