Playing Mum
Mariana Gledhill from Wellington, N.Z spent 7 months, in 2005, in Peru doing voluntary work. She shares her experiences.
Hola Chicos
Buenos Dias. Well I am writing this mail about mothers´day here. And my job, which more or less seems to be about playing mum to 60+ kids. A lot of work.
The easiest parts are helping with homework ,taking them to the loo, sewing their clothes together, feeding them, teaching them to sing, playing games with them, pushing them on the swings, correcting the English that the teachers have given them to learn. The hardest part is caring because there are so many with no dreams of their futures and no passion for anything. They think they are worth nothing, and telling them that they are wonderful in a way that they believe seems nigh impossible. Or rather in some cases it is. Maybe is is because they have no parents to tell them that, and for some I know that their life experiences have taught them this lie. Being a mother is never easy.
Here, mothers seem to be appreciated much more and you can see this with mothers day. Every school and church has performances for mothers and gifts are given to mothers… In my country mothers´ day is not a big deal at all. The title housewife is a bit of a copout and women who have this occupation should go to work, the prime minister thinks. At least in my country. If they want to, by all means, the women should go to work, but they are not lazy if they want to be housewife either. Here,the culture is more macho. I experience this everytime I walk down the street. But women can at least call themselves housewives without any scorn. In my country, I played mum to kids for a year and when I tried to find other work, I was told that I had no skills… why is motherhood not appreciated in my country?
It is here and I am enjoying pretending to be a mother, despite its pitfalls. I just wish I could do more for my ´daughters.´ I am just doing what I can every day and hoping that it will make some impact. Every tiny skill I have learned has put me in good stead. I cannot sew well but I can sew up dresses well enough. The kids are extending me.I am slowly learning to play volleyball and table tennis, even though these things are not my strengths in any way shape or form. I cannot do alot of things well, but I am trying and that is enough for the kids.
I did not know that being here would make me question things from my own country but I am. It is hard not to…
I hope all of you are enjoying life on the small islands at the bottom of the world, or wherever you happen to be
Chau chau
Mariana
