An off day at Caritas Felices

Yesterday I was at Caritas Felices with the group with which I volunteer, DB Peru, and I was reminded of why it is so difficult to combat the poverty endemic to this country. Every time we go there, the staff of Caritas has overtaken the school building with trash or any other manner of things, which we must then move or take care of before we can even begin work. They show no pride of ownership.

I have a story. One of our volunteers, who is visiting from New Zealand, is staying at the home and working with our contractor to finish grouting the tile floors, installing the toilets, and wiring the electric. While he's been there, the staff refused to allow them to work for several days because they were working on another project and were using the school building for storage. Then, when they finally got into the building, one of the things they had to remove was a bucket of piss. That's right, a heavy, full, sloshy bucket of PISS. Because here in Peru, pissing in a bucket when there are plenty of functioning bathrooms available is apparently acceptable.

When we were there yesterday, there was less junk in the classrooms and toilets than there was last week, but they had moved all the little girls' beds into the classrooms because they were installing new flooring in the girls' room and painting the walls - a project that clearly took priority over the completion of the school.

We also had to replace US$1,000 of materials that had magically walked off of the grounds or been broken beyond repair. Moreover, a staff member had backed the home's van up into the school and broke one of the windows, which isn't likely to be fixed (DB Peru cannot afford it anymore and the Caritas staff don't seem to care). And of course, the whole place was FILTHY.

I am trying to remain positive about this project, but it is difficult. DB Peru has been trying to build this school for 2 years now, with little to no support from the staff of Caritas Felices. I can't tell you how much money has gone into the project, but I can tell you it is costing more than it's worth because tools, materials, and anything not bolted down or locked up routinely becomes victim to the five-fingered discount. The contractor is so fed up with the stealing (some things that have walked include some of his tools, which the home has not bothered to replace) that we have to beg him to complete the job. And, at the end of the day, I have very little hope that Caritas will actually hire a teacher. Instead, the school will just become a series of 4 rooms that will be used as a general dumping ground (kind of like they are right now).

The sad thing is that the girls who live at Caritas Felices will be the real losers. The home is supposed to offer specialized care and services to girls who are victims of sexual abuse and removed from their families by the court system, but it is failing miserably to achieve any discipline or routine. Many of the volunteers who cycle through the home are there because they care about these girls and want them to have a stable, loving home, but... BUT. It is a wonderful idea, but the follow through is really lacking.

Being really honest here, I have to admit that it is very, very disappointing.