By Diana Rae Lewis | Founder & President
CW girls are back in class with their friends
CW girls are back in class with their friends after 2 years of home school - gratefully successful - our girls were only 2 months behind on their assignment and are catching up now. Thank you all for your support to keep us on track academically. We were able to do one-on-one tutoring as needed and girls benefited – no-one failed.
The latest Peruvian school requirements:
All reopened schools in Peru are forbidden to serve food to students, per the ministry of health and ministry of education. Our girls come from the poor rural community with work scarcity and lack adequate food at home. After 2 years in lock-down, malnutrition is again showing up in our girls. Therefore, CW is repeating the same emergency packs of food basics that families can cook at home, same we provided the last 2 years of the Pandemic. Ruth is also providing hot oatmeal upon arrival to school in cups to the classroom (under the Ministry radar) and keeping the distance between girls. It is bitter cold as winter arrives in Cusco.
This year with few jobs available to parents who do not earn enough to feed families- this problem is now a crisis. The rise in gas costs and the related rising cost of food has worsened our family food shortages. Example is the cost of bread in Cusco: 1 sole (1 sol=$ 0.26020usd) would buy 5 bread rolls, now only buys 2-3. A small whole chicken is totally unaffordable in Cusco today costing approx. Peruvian Sol 32.61875 = $8.50 usd each. (Conversion rate today is $1 USD = 3.8375 PEN sols and changes daily.)
This crisis not only affects the students and their families but also our team of teacher’s (1/3 are single mothers) ability to feed their families. Because of this we must think of the girls, parents and CW team and help them get through this food crisis and potential resulting health decline. CW teacher’s pay is being increased.
Ruth’s recent visit to California allowed for many in depth discussions between Ruth and I of the post pandemic return to CW in-class education, and the subtle changes teachers are noting in the girls after 2 years of home school. Really happy to be again in the classroom, teachers are focused on the return to classroom education and the emotional changes in our girls. Gratefully CW girls are already back to a near normal routine. Our teachers are alert to problems that our families might have had in crowded living situations the last 2 years. They recognize the need for extra patience, to watch and listen to each girl share home time, shower them with much love, and to watch and try to resolve the frustrations, pain, and home realities of each child. Slowly after 2 weeks, our girls are smiling, laughing again and deepening the teacher/student trust.
Ruth tells me that all are very happy to see each other, share stories and when a girl is too quiet with no smiles - their eyes tell a bigger story. The team will get to the bottom of those stories. For CW team, this is the stimulus to keep plowing ahead.
Exciting new teacher: With joy and much pride, we celebrate FlorDina, graduate from CW’s first graduation in 2013, with much personal effort to rise above her many family difficulties, Flordina has pushed ahead to study for a career in Education and finally graduated last December from a Cusco teacher’s credential program. This school year (post covid), Flordina has returned to CW once again, but this time for her primary grade level teacher practice. Her dream was to become a teacher at CW school – CW celebrates her success and example for other girls with great pride.
The Maria School: CW business plan to support the (tuition free) Chicuchas Wasi School and at the same time the (tuition based) Maria School with the tuition income that is generated, now that schools are allowed to open again. This has been the focus of much of Ruth and my CW work in California the last 2 weeks. The best way to attract parents/students is to carefully publicize it after covid. In spite of the Ministries chaotic 2022 school opening, we plan a quality co-ed school with focus on preparing students for the best Universities down the road. Ruth is back in Cusco today actually working on the best way to attract parents to our school with radio, TV and a billboard ads. We have much to lure them to us, namely the 25year successes of CW school, our values and empowerment style of education. Parents are understandably still worried about the Cusco economy and slow recovery and fear that Covid will return and put their children at risk. Tourism is back and international travelers have returned to visit Machu Picchu and the city of Cusco. The main Cusco economy, tourism is already making a big difference with the city economy with new business and job security for everyone. The Maria school will be popular and is needed but parents still have a wait and see approach to signing a contract for their child’s education. As children return to school and remain healthy this will open the doors quickly to our Co-Ed school Maria.
Here are a few photos for you to enjoy. “A picture speaks a thousand words”
Many blessings to us all for a brighter, pandemic free new reality.
Report by:
Rae Lewis, CW founder 1987, President in California
Ruth Uribe, CW school co-founder 1997, President in Cusco, Peru
Email: Chicuchas_wasi@sonic.net
Links:
By Diana Rae Lewis | Founder & President
By Diana Rae Lewis | Founder & President
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