Francesca delivers shoes and smiles to Peru school
By Francesca Di Silvio
High Cloud Dream Team
A work trip recently took me to Lima, Peru, and I was excited to have the opportunity to make a High Cloud mission to the Pronoei Rayito del Sol, a school for children aged 2-6 located on the outskirts of the city. With a simple mission to visit the children, deliver donated shoes, and hopefully capture photos of some smiles, I thought this would be an easy trip to fit in around work commitments. I definitely underestimated how exhausting it would be to arrive, with the trip requiring multiple forms of transportation from Lima including a rapid transit bus, shared taxi, microbus, and tuk-tuk which went as far as motorized transport would take us up the steep and unpaved hill where the community is perched.
Fortunately, I was accompanied on this journey by a Peruvian friend of High Cloud who knew the route and encouraged me up the final tough hike to arrive at the school.
The trip was well worth it to see the children’s excitement when we arrived. Although the school program would not start until the next week, they and their families had been told about the visit, and as soon as we were inside the school building, students and their mothers started to arrive in groups. They were very friendly and eager to tell me about their school, the professor, and other gringos who had visited who they clearly remembered fondly. Most of all, they loved to have their photos taken and then locate themselves in the viewfinder!
Although the school and local community were lacking in material goods, it was clear that these children were happy and well-loved. They also had a ton of energy, so it is great that through the work of the High Cloud Foundation they have a safe building in which to play and learn as a group.
After a brief introduction by the professor, it was time to distribute the donated shoes. I was able to bring seven pairs of mostly athletic shoes, including sneakers small enough to fit one of the boys. The rest of the shoes were given out to the parents present who had been invited so that we could thank them for their volunteer work at the school in the past year. The group was very grateful and happy for their new kicks, though next time it would be great to collect more small shoes for the kids.
Many thanks to the High Cloud Dream Team for helping to facilitate this visit and for those reading this blog post, please think of donating children’s shoes and school supplies to Rayito del Sol!
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