Preparing Food at the Largest Children’s Home in Peru

Volunteers prepare food for children in Peru: A journal entry by a volunteer serving at PPA, the largest children’s home in Peru.

Today at the PPA (Puericultorio Perez Aranibar children’s home), we are going to help prepare food for children in Peru, and there is much to do. The staff will be fixing food not only for the children, but also for the 86^th anniversary celebration which will take place this morning. So off Mary and Nancy go to the kitchen where we begin our work shelling peas. Then we shuck corn, large white kernels’ which seem somewhat inedible, cut and dice red peppers and finally remove the shells of about 100 eggs. We are told there is nothing else to do, but then we meet the pastry chef, Louise, who is willing to let us help with the cookies. This is a process whereby we put dulce de leche between two cookies.

Volunteers Mary and Nancy helping prepare food for the children at the PPA, the largest children’s home in Peru.

“These goodies are for the children” we are told, and Louise has made 1, 000 of them. Thus the children will have one for today and one for tomorrow. She has baked them herself and when we try one, they are delicious. Finally, we are promised that we will return on Friday, and then work for three days the following week. (Interesting to note that when we first met the nutritionist, he seemed rather concerned about our working in the kitchen, but after seeing what great workers we were, he is welcoming us very enthusiastically.)

We then join Maria and Daniel, the Peru Country Managers, who have been at the anniversary celebration. We are just in time to see one of the groups, the 4^th and 5^th grade boys, perform on of their dances. We also have the opportunity to talk with the psychology interns and a young Japanese man who is teaching astronomy to the children.