A Mesmerising Experience
The visit to the Casa Hogar San Judas Chico, an orphanage in Cusco.
This November I went on an eyeopening school trip to Cusco. Cusco is a city located in the Peruvian Andes. Actually, Cusco was once the capital of the incan empire. We visited the most enchanting places and experienced the best that Peru has to offer. One of the highlights of the trip for me, was visiting the Casa Hogar San Judas Chico, a little orphanage located about 2.49 km or 1.54 mi away from the Aeropuerto Internacional Velazco Astete. To get there, we took a bus from the tour company we were working with, Harmony Travel. I can imagine that you can also get there with a taxi or another bus. Taxi fees in average are s/.4 starting, and an additional s/.3 for every kilometer traveled, so that would take you to a total cost of about s/.11.47. When we arrived we received the warmest welcome, the band was playing, the girls were dancing looked like they were floating across the floor with their amazing and exciting choreographies, and we even had people clap as we trespassed the gate.
I was paired with Yasmin, an 8 year old girl with a flamboyant attitude and an amazing smile. Talking to her I learnt that a lot. Lots of the things we take for granted are privileges for those kids. For example, most of us are used to coming home from “an exhausting day” at school and turning on the hot water and standing there for as long as possible, for those kids, they get one shower a week, and hot water isn’t always available to them.
Nowadays, we all ask for so much just to achieve the smallest or most insignificant amount of entertainment. Well, Yasmin, the enlightening little girl I had spent the day with, all she needed was a bouncy ball and plastic jacks to entertain herself and her friends for the longest time. This gave me a chance to reflect on what my first world problems are and what are the real problems that I am often not faced to. Overall, this trip to the orphanage was amazing because did I not only learn loads about myself, but also about the society that we live in.
If anybody visits Cusco I think that the orphanage would be a place you wouldn’t want to miss, it does not only allow you to have the most fun with the boys and girls, it gives you a chance to really appreciate what you have.