Children at Play in Ventanilla

On Tuesdays and Saturdays the children in this area of Ventanilla come to the Anglican church, San Patricio, for play and Bible class. They arrive around 3 p.m. and stay until 6 p.m.When I visited Ventanilla with Sarah this week, I observed the children playing at the various centers set up around the large room. We had transformed the sanctuary space to a large play area with tables, chairs, and floor mats spread around to accommodate ten play stations. After helping to set up the play centers, the children choose an area and settle in to play, read, or draw. In this picture Freddy is tracing a picture and the others are watching him. Every class has a Freddy--active, short attention span, bright and full of potential. I have always had a heart for the Freddys.
After an hour of play, the children gather for a Bible story. Sarah tells the story with lots of expression and animation. It was the story about the healing of the paralytic, and the children were fascinated.

These children are constructing a marble maze. This same group designed and re-designed this tower a number of times and were quite successful at it. Having studied education for twenty years, I am a strong advocate for this kind of free play to help develop problem solving skills, social skills and learning. The educational gurus would love what is going on here. Sarah and I visited the stations periodically and encouraged.
At this station the children were drawing. What is interesting here in Peru is how the children approach art. They are quite keen on tracing and copying. Some produce lovely pictures of perfectly copied figures or designs, all colored within the lines. The schools place the emphasis on doing it right. I believe that creativity needs to be encouraged, but I am concerned that my American values may be at work here, so I temper what I suggest. According to others I have spoken with, this rote learning also spills over into adult education. Questioning, problem solving, debate and experimentation could be encouraged more. I believe this needs to start with the children. I think ahead to the economic impact creativity and problem solving have.
I loved this photo. These two girls are just lovely and full of spunk. The older sister reminds me of the actress in Amelie, Audrey Tautou. Perhaps she will be discovered as she walks the streets of Ventanilla! I complimented her on her darling haircut, and Sarah later told me that she had been teased about it because girls in Peru wear their hair long. She is a spunky young chica, so I think she will hold her own.
At the reading center, children picked up books and read them. One boy I observed was slowly following his reading with his finger under the words. Next time, I would like to sit with this group and encourage them. This station was empty toward the end of the hour.
This station with blocks and farm animals was popular with this group of boys. They eventually constructed two corrals filled with sheep, cows, some hens and shrubs. Another pen had pigs only. I enjoyed practicing my Spanish with them as I named all the animals. No girls joined this group during the hour of play.
The young girls loved the doll station. Older girls and younger girls played together acting out family behaviors. Sarah had asked me to keep any eye on them because sometimes sharing was difficult for them. They were quite the little mothers. A doctor's kit was nearby and sometimes the babies received shots and bandages.
Sarah worked with one young girl as one of the neighborhood dogs looked on. The street dogs come in a variety of shapes and colors, and are generally friendly. They wander in and out of the room through the open doorways that lead out onto the street and the back yard.
Jonathan and his brother worked together on these flying tinker toys. His patience with his younger brother was delightful to watch. As Sarah and I later walked up the road to their house, she told me that Jonathan had attended the youth retreat the previous weekend and was involved in the worship and prayer time in significant ways. His peacefulness and quiet joy were evident as I watched him. His mother helps Sarah by making up the snacks for the children on Saturday, and his father drives the local public bus. An intact family such as this is rare in these communities. Jonathan and his brothers are blessed in many ways.