Rema su Barco

PRONOEI School in Paita

Ever since our arrival in Peru, we have asked the sisters countless questions about the St. Clare School here in Paita. ¨How many students do you have? Are many of your students on scholarship? What does a typical school day look like?¨ But on Monday morning, we spent the day visiting the classrooms and seeing first-hand the gift of St. Clare School. We were told that over the next three days, we would meet and work with all 21 classes, spending 40 minutes with each one. Now, you may be wondering how we could teach a class of Spanish speaking children for 40 minutes. We had the same concern! But, the children in Paita begin learning English at 3 years old, so we were very impressed with how much they knew. Additionally, we had an English speaking teacher with us the entire day who helped us communicate. First, we visited the PRONOEI school, a public pre-school program for 3, 4, and 5 year olds staffed by St. Clare School. This small 2 classroom campus is located in the poorest area of Paita, where houses are built out of scrap metal and often lack indoor plumbing and electricity. Because the little kids knew very Little English, we taught them the song ¨Rema Rema Rema su Barco,¨ known to us as ¨Row Row Row your boat.¨ We then gave them balloons and reviewed colors and numbers with them in both Spanish and English. And yes, the 4 & 5 year olds know their numbers and colors in English!

PRONOEI Children

When we finished at PRONOEI, we rushed back to the main campus of the school and met with the sophomores and juniors in high school. This is the part I loved! I played ¨Trading My Sorrows¨ on guitar for the students and made them not only sing it in English, but made them stand up and do the actions. I think they loved it as much as I did! The students then asked us questions about life in the US. They asked us if it was true that all Americans loved Hamburgers and Pizza, which of course is absolutely true. They asked us what winter in Wisconsin is like, and they gasped and giggled as we described snow and ice. We ended the upper level classes by handing out a rosary to every student and recited the Hail Mary in English.

  

Since my arrival in Peru, I´ve been moved and changed by many of the things I´ve experienced. But, spending the day with these kids was the greatest gift to me. All day long on the playground kids ran up to give me a hug and to say ¨hello, how are you?¨which they had been practicing for us. Many of these children live in poverty and some may even go hungry. They do not have an X-Box to go home to or even piano lessons or soccer tryouts. But they cherish the life they´ve been given and they live it in a constant state of wonder and awe. They carry a joy and a love that is so contagious, it must come directly from God. And so, it is the children of Paita who have taught me what it means to truly embrace the life and the world God has given you.

-Sarah