Parachute Fun

We were both sat the other day deep in thought trying to think of new exciting games we could play with the kids making use of the large outdoor spaces we have. Then it came to us… ‘Why not use the gigantic parachute we brought with us from the UK that’ll be fun.’ Wow! What a success! We played shark attack, cat & mouse and made the best mushroom ever! We have decided to leave the parachute here with the JUCONI staff so that they can continue using it for camping trips and parties etc.

Clay people & Iguanas

We are both very proud to tell you that we organised a successful outing with our Fertisa art club. We took 15 children to a museum, Museo Municipal, in the centre of Guayaquil where we looked at Pre-Hispanic artefacts such as beautiful clay bowls, vessels and little clay people. We then went to a park nearby which is home to a large amount of Iguanas, Terrapins and scary looking squirrels.
The children had different drawing tasks to do in preparation for their next project with involves making sculptures.
We were so impressed, as the children were on their best behaviour. The museum staff commented on how good they were, which meant a lot to us and the children themselves.

Dusty Days

On our return from Mexico, we found the community center in Fertisa covered in a thick layer of mud and dust. We knew the time had come for a Spring Clean.
With the help of our friend Giovanni, after two hours of scrubbing and hosing down everything in our path the room was sparkling clean with a fresh lavender scent.

Adios Mexico!

Anna & I were both sad to say goodbye to Puebla and Mexico. We had an amazing experience in such a short space of time.
We will miss the lovely friends we made, the children, the tacos, the quesadillas, the mole and most of the the macarones (Pueblano Fudge)!

Salsa

The one thing Anna and I are finding harder than Spanish out here is dancing! Here they don't do the simple nod of the head, two step, or jumping up and down like we do in the UK....they have Salsa, Merenge, Bachata, Banda, Cumbia just to name a few. So we thought we'd give it a try and attended dance classes twice a week.
We found it somewhat difficult being taller than the majority of men in the class, Thank goodness our instructer was one who was tall. This lead to a few accidents for Anna (who is 2" taller than me) including slashing a guy across the neck with her nail and elbowing another in the eye. Poor Anna was mortified but the guys took it on the chin! Literally!

Lovely words

We wanted to share with you some of the feedback from the children and staff.

"Participating in this project has given the boys more ideas, ways of thinking creatively and working with different types of art" - Bibiana (Casa Juconi Educator)

"One boy seems more extrovert now. Before his attitude was always 'I can't do it', now he has more aspirations" - Carla (TRACA Educator)

" Even though the children have spent their whole lives in the market they are beginning to see it differently. One child told me how much rubbish they had noticed on the floor." - Paola (Centro Juconi Educator)

"I liked working with my brother"
" The new games the teachers taught us were fun"
" I learnt to share and not fight with my class mates"
" I like taking photos."
"I had fun learning new things"
-Various children who participated in the project

Lucha Libre

Lucha Libre is AMAZING!!!!!!! Big Beefy men, wearing sparkling masks and tight leggings, throwing each other around. What more could you ask for?! You have the Tecnicas (the goodies) & the Rudos (the baddies). Of course, the goodies always win. People of all ages go to the matches from 1 yr olds to 80 yrs ! We have become die-hard fans and went three times...need I say more!