Peru, Ayacucho - Volunteer Work in la Casa Hogar Los Gorriones

The power of dreams and hope within the future

When I entered it was already dark and I didn’t have the perception of the space. I was meeting Gil, in the orphanage that him and Chantal had created 6 years ago.
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Months before departure to this adventure in South America I had contacted several institutions regarding doing some volunteer work, some answered and from the Casa Hogar Los Gorriones the answer was negative, the time that I was planning to be in Peru, they had enough volunteers. Everything changes and nothing has changed more than my travel plans…

In Gil´s negative answer was a lot of positivity with a passionate description of the project that him and his partner Chantal had developed in Peru – an orphanage where besides abandoned children, they also received children with handicaps and special needs. The story of these two beings is worthy of mention especially as a story of courage, determination and love and what you can achieve with these!

Gil and Chantal are a French-Belgian couple who lived in the French Pyrenees in a idyllic existence with their little sun Aaron, however, that existence started to fill with emptiness because they felt it wasn’t shared. Inspired by Madre Teresa de Calcutta’s teachings they decided to start a project in France, due to barriers imposed by French bureaucracies it didn’t go ahead. They were determined to pursue their dream and went to India, once again, emigration bureaucracies, only allowed the couple to stay 6 months, or else to pay an illegal sum to the authorities for the extension of their Visa. They didn’t want to be accomplices of this corrupt practice and after following a friends advice, they packed their things and went to Peru, were they found out about the extreme poverty lived in this country.

In 2001, without speaking a single word of English, they arrived in Lima and in March 2002 the dream finally came true and they opened the doors of the Casa Hogar Los Gorriones in Ayacucho. In Peru these projects are not supported by the government and soon they started to run out of money, they had to sell their house in the Pyrenees and with that act deciding that their lives would be forever linked to these children and to Peru.

The Casa Hogar los Gorriones is a humble home where love and hope are everywhere. The children who live there were affected buy severe sub nutrition, traumatic experiences and physical and mental handicaps, many of them weren’t accepted in other orphanages due to the difficulty and the cost in dealing with these issues. Some of the children in Casa Hogar are for adoption, but many have parents and the philosophy of the orphanage is to promote the recovery of the family balance and the reintegration of life in family, when possible. They also promote the studies and the preparation of the children for a better future, many attend private schools as that will enable them to have access to better education. There is a new house being planned so they can receive more children and develop ambitious projects such as family planning, especially amongst teenagers, and fosting homes, so children can stay within families.

And maybe these are things of destiny, but for some reason I kept contact with Gil, informing him of the progress of my trip and of my movements in South America and one day I received an email from him inviting me to spend a week in the Casa Hogar so I could see the project and meet the children.

Once again I changed my travel plans and put my bicycle inside a bus and headed to Ayacucho with true willingness to meet and participate in this project.

When I arrived to that Andean city with over 93 000 inhabitants, stuck between the ample valley of the Sierra Central Sul Andina in Peru at 2761 meters, the sun was shinning and the quietness of the urban routine hid the scars of the past that only slowly revealed itself as I was getting more involved with the inhabitants of that city.

Ayacucho get´s its name from the junction of two quechua words (language spoken by the indigenous people and that originates from the Inca culture) – “aya” meaning dead our soul and “cuchu” meaning corner. One can read “corner of the deads or the souls”, and this is an allusion to the many battles fought there and of those who perished as consequence. In fact it was Simon Bolivar who named the city after a decisive war against the Spanish, which lead to the independence. Before it had the less morbid name of San Juan the Huamanga. And maybe it’s the destiny of a name or perhaps that some places are destined to tragedy, Ayacucho was the main stage to an event that shed more blood in the already bloody history of Ayacucho. Reading these details in my guide I didn´t have the notion how these scars are still open in the lives of the people in this city.

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I was told to wait, Gil would come and talk to me. In the middle of the darkness I felt a little body approaching me and who asked my name. She then jumped into my lap and nested in my arms playing with my hair. It was Noemi. And as all the stories, that these children’s past tell, the story of Noemi is a sad one marked by a recent event that the Peruvian government prefers to ignore and take no responsibilities – the recent years of terrorism by the Sendero Luminoso (Shinning Path) a pro-Marxist group, who seriously affected Peru in the Ayacucho Province in the 80´s and 90´s. This terrorist group may not have received the media attention that other terrorist groups receive, but the number of deceived and people that disappeared as a consequence of their acts and of the counter actions of the Peruvian government were devastating for Peru and for the already impoverished region of Ayacucho. And the numbers speak for themselves: 69,280 deaths of which only 22,507 are identified – this leaves a shameful number of 46,773 of Peruvians who are missing.

Noemi, big brow eyes, dark hair, open smile and hand of love is the daughter of a woman who lost all her family in the wave of the terrorist actions of the Sendero Luminoso and the of the not least deadly, counter actions of the Peruvian government. Noemi´s mother lived on the streets affected by fear and trauma, she was hiding. She had Noemi at 15 and ended up abandoning her, she was later received in the Casa Hogar. Noemi has other sisters, one is in another orphanage and the other lives with her mum. Gil told me later that Noemi had a cerebral palsy that made her learning more difficult and her character was could be special as she sometimes was rejected by the other children. For me, Noemi was a sweet child with whom I spent hours doing homework, drawing, playing and telling stories. She was just an innocent being with an open future and with a past that I hoped went away so that its nails didn´t scratch the future.

And in that end of evening I could finally meet Gil. But the hope and the strength in his words were hiding the sad eyes of a being who knew that the separation was close – Chantal, the dynamic strength of the dreams of the Casa Hogar, a mum for those children and his partner was loosing the battle against cancer and there weren’t many days of life left for her.


Initially it was agreed that my volunteer work, scheduled for a week, would consist in me visiting the Casa Hogar and interact with the children as I wished. I would stay in the volunteer house, close to the Casa Hogar. But a week transformed in a month and to Chantal’s request I started doing shift work, after a week. In these shifts we assist the Peruvian professionals who work there and who dedicate long hours (12 hours a day). The children are divided in three groups according to their age and specific needs and each one of these groups has a set routine whereby the senoritas and the volunteers ensure that the children do their tasks and help them with those.


Slowly I began to feel great affection for those children and realizing that in the social and economical context of Peru, those children, despite their traumatic past, receive much more than thousands of other children in the world: they have a roof, they go to school, they have 3 meals a day and are surrounded by people who dedicate their lives to them.

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I woke up with the rays of sun entering the window, I packed my things and put my bags and the bicycle on a taxi and drove to Carmen Alto so I could start my volunteer work: what the darkness, had hidden the night before, the sunny day revealed like a slap in my face. After the almost vertical ascent that the old taxi had difficulty in climbing, the city as it reveals itself for tourists with the Plaza de Armas, 33 churches and cobbled streets, reminiscents of the colonial order, stayed behind and I moved forward to where the Casa Hogar was located, the wholes on the road were so big that they were threatening to disintegrate the car. Carmen Alto was a different part of the city, the streets weren’t paved and the rubbish and the animals roamed free. There was no sewage pipes so a constant stream of dirty water descended the streets. Poverty and privation were everywhere and it was impossible to ignore them!

I left my luggage on the floor of the casa of the volunteers where I slept for 3 weeks, there was 8 of us crammed in one room and it was obvious that comfort would not be a main feature in my stay in that house, but for someone who is camping pretty much anywhere and staying in the most basic accommodation, that would not be a problem and somehow, experiencing life as it is presented to the rest of the people in that area, seemed the right way to fully understand the conditions in which most people live in Peru.

I knocked on the door and one of the senoritas let me in, I could reveal, through the colors of the day the space that hosted those children and those who worked there. It was a simple place where all the space available was used. There were 4 rooms in total, where the children slept according to their ages, a kitchen where food was cooked in a firewood stove, the meals were served outside when the weather allowed, otherwise, there was a play room where the children used to do their homework and used as dining area in the rainy season, there was a playground and a place to keep chickens and rabbits. Gil, Chantal and Aaron had their rooms just upstairs on the same compound. Luxury would not spring to mind, but it seemed to me that the most essential needs of the children were being fulfilled and that the atmosphere was very familiar. It was like being in a big house with a big family.

It was difficult in the first day to know what to do, especially because I wasn’t taking part in the shifts and the children had pretty much set routines, so I entered the room of the Lupe, or the children with special needs, and they are truly very especial children and introduced myself to the senoritas who were working the day shift and felt compelled to stay there for the rest of the day learning about those children, their needs, that due to their disabilities had all the time in the world to receive attention and affection.

The Children

Eberson is partially blind although he can distinguish shadows, he has a cerebral palsy that among other things prevents him from walking, he has 5 years old. He learned to recognize me and he used to call me saying “Iana, Iana – mira la pelota” or “Iana, besos, besos!”. I loved to hug him and take him to play with his ball, or to take him to sleep and sing and play games where he always ended up giving so many kisses that I almost chocked. He loved to do these things and his smile and laughter were contagious however denying them would mean crying time where he would knock his head on the floor as if to call attention and to self harm. His story is sad, is a story of abandon and neglect. Eberson is in the adoption list. He is an adorable child who slowly starts to gain some mobility in his legs, it seems that the therapy is starting to work. Maybe he will be a musician one day, since he seems to be so keen in music and playing musical instruments.

Sheila is a shy girl who expresses herself and her wishes in a soft low voice, typical of a very insecure child. She suffers from a light palsy whereby she has some difficulty in walking and talking. Her mother had her when she was very young and she could not look after Sheila’s special needs so she took her to the Casa Hogar. She visits Sheila regularly and takes her out at the weekends. Her plan is to take her back home when her financial situation improves. Sheila and I were friends, she used to keep little things in her pockets like flowers and seeds that she used to show me. We would then agree that was our secret and nobody but me and her knew about those things so meaningful for her.

Ruth Karina was one of the first children who arrived at the Casa Hogar. She was found in the street close to a dump in the middle of rats and dogs – a scenery hard to imagine but that in Peru, and certainly in many other parts of the world, is the reality of those who are born different, because for many, a cerebral palsy is a curse and the children who has got is a burden for the family, someone they have not got a clue on how to treat, and worse, on how to love. It surprises me, a country so catholic like Peru where people display saints everywhere, seem to go to mass and whatnot, the general disrespect for human life. No one knows where Ruth comes from, or who is her family but the marks that she has in her body, of violence and physical abuse, lead me to think that it is better not to know, she surely wasn’t wanted or loved. Today she is the adoptive daughter of Gil and Chantal, and with patience, dedication and love, she enriches everyone’s life with her smiles.

Nilda is a little girl, 4 years old. She has a serious palsy and a chronic disease in her lungs. She was left to die by the doctors, but once again she was taken to the Casa Hogar and by giving her oxygen almost daily she seems to be surviving. Her health is however very delicate and she gets ill very frequently. Her smile and her cheekiness are the ray of light in the house, and her strength and determination to survive are admirable!

Fermin is a very special boy who appears to be 3 years old although he has 8 in reality. His mental handicap was aggravated by the abuse and starvation he suffered at the hands of his parents until he was 6. He was abandoned and found in the streets in a cold, rainy night. He was so sub nurtured that he used to eat his faeces when he first went to the house. He is an hyperactive and autistic child and his behaviors used to be aggressive. Due to the work of two French volunteers, who developed a recovery program for Fermin, he is a different boy and he is starting to have a more normal behavior. It can be hard to work with Fermin, but it surprises me to see how a being that was so mistreated in his life, can reattribute the love and the affection given to him.

Fredy, smiling boy, or a crying one depending on his moods who had a fascination with the fairytales I used to read to him. Deyse, his sister, is also in the Casa Hogar. After their mum´s death, his dad could not look after them and so he took them to the Casa Hogar, he visits them frequently. They are happy and cheerful children with whom is quite easy to interact.


There are in total 35 children and some of them have stories of cruelty on their little backs, stories of abandon, mistreatment, alcoholism, prison, and the list is endless and gory. The main thing to remove from this, is that although you can not change what happened, you can most certainly direct the future. And I do hope that these amazing children may enjoy a different destiny from their parents and may above all have the emotional balance necessary to walk their steps towards the future.

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Funfair day

We left hand in hand walking towards Carmen Alto fair where there were fun rides. It reminded me of the primary school days, wehn we used to go out on fair day, only now I was on the other side, looking after the children ensuring they didn’t get lost, and that nothing bad would happen to them.

Abel, one of the boys stepped over dog’s poo and all the children laughed. I felt sorry for him and said out loud so that they could hear me:
- In Portugal is a sign of god luck to step on poo.
Abel raised his voice over the general laughter and said:
- Did you hear what Joana said? Everybody stepping on poo, is sign of good luck!

I had to explain that it had to happen by accident to avoid having the children stepping on every poo they’d find in the street. Children have their own perception of things and it can be tricky sometimes to make sense of the things we say. But I do wish from the bottom of my heart that these children never have to go on paths full of dirt and experience bad things in life again, I feel they had their share of that! I wish they can grow with love, that they can grow with care, that they find homes and families that respect them and that they become brave men and women. I hope they can help to change the disorientated path that their country seems to lead, but most of all that they help to break the mechanical pieces of the vicious cycle experienced by themselves and their parents.
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Chantal left us a few days after I left Ayacucho. I will not forget the intensity of her blue eyes even when her illness seemed to take all the energy from her. I loved to give her long hugs in the hope that her frail and thin body could absorb some of the energy. A few days before she left us, she was still doing the rota, making sure that all the clothes were well cleaned, and she certainly gave a lot of life to that house, now more empty and sad in her absence. It is a great loss to all of us who were privileged to have met her and most of all for those children and her family. Her work, her dedication, her determination will live forever! In her words: “Without love I am nothing”, and in this statement lies simple but big truth!

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The Casa Hogar los Gorriones is a project that lives thanks to the kind donations that it receives from many people all over the world, since the Peruvian government has got no programmes to assist this kind of initiatives. But children are always in need of school material, school fees,, clothes and other items. Have a look at their website and find out more about the children. You can also make a donation online if you wish.
http://www.casahogarlosgorriones.org/

If you wish to volunteer, particularly if you have any training for children with special needs, the Casa Hogar is always keen to receive your helping hand. Please contact Gil on gil54fr@yahoo.fr

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For a different perspective on my adventures log on to Nuno´s website and checkout his Photos and chronicles http://www.onetheroad.eu.com/