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Andrew Pelikan
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My Time in Quito |
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Friday, 15 May 2009 |
Andrew is a parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is currently volunteering in Quito, Ecuador with a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, or “The Center for Working Boys.”
 Hello from Quito! I hope you all find yourselves well and are enjoying the springtime. The year is beginning to wind down here and I am already, and I constantly find myself wondering how to make the most impact with what little time is left. I was really hoping to stay down here for another year, but unfortunately with applying for medical school and not having the financial means I will be returning to the States in late July.
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Pictures from Ecuador! |
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Tuesday, 07 April 2009 |
Andrew is a parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is currently volunteering in Quito, Ecuador with a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, or “The Center for Working Boys.”
Hello everyone! I have long promised pictures to many people from my time here in Ecuador, and here they finally are. Thanks again to all of those you who helped me with donations over Christmas. I used the money to take my kids on a field trip to go ice-skating and they had a blast. I have really appreciated all the encouraging e-mails from many of you. I hope you are all having a great week and you enjoy some of these pictures.
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Hello Again From Ecuador |
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Tuesday, 03 March 2009 |
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Andrew is a parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is currently volunteering in Quito, Ecuador with a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, or “The Center for Working Boys.”
Hello again from Ecuador! I apologize for the long absence in my entries. I have now been back for 7 weeks since my visit to the US to visit my new nephew. Part of the reason I have not written has been due to illness. Never have I appreciated being in good health as much as I do now. I passed most of January and the beginning of February viewing every class as a challenge to get through while waiting for the weekend where I could sleep until Monday and start all over again. My view towards what I am doing was considerably pessimistic during that time. When the students here have more energy than I do, it feels like an impossible task to manage a class, much less teach them and make progress. I was angry with myself for not being able to do a better job, angry at my immune system for taking such a long time to recover from an illness, and just frustrated in general with life here and the cultural differences.
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December at the Working Boys Center |
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Wednesday, 31 December 2008 |
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Andrew is a parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is currently volunteering in Quito, Ecuador with a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, or “The Center for Working Boys.”
Feliz Navidad from the Working Boys Center! I apologize for the long absence between entries. December is a crazy month around the center and these updates were put on hold for a while. Now I am back and have much to catch up on.
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Families in Ecuador |
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Friday, 07 November 2008 |
Andrew is a parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is currently volunteering in Quito, Ecuador with a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, or “The Center for Working Boys.”
Hello again from Ecuador. These entries are getting harder and harder to write as I usually try to remember all of the week’s past events and summarize them into an interesting entry. Life has remained unchanged here since my last entry, which I feel like will be the case for the rest of the year. What I have noticed is the development of deeper relationships with many of the families here. All of the volunteers have their favorite kids and families in the center, and gradually they have begun to trust us more and more. The people here are so stoic. I feel that when we have visitors who come for a week or a weekend they only get a small impression of the lives of the people here. I remember my first week here thinking these were all the happiest people in the world. Everyone was so friendly, always smiling, and the kids would always run up to hug the new people. This initial affection for the new gringos is in part because they are not their teachers (they often avoid us for a while if they misbehaved in class, then run to find us after a couple of days to make sure we still love them). The kiddos also are partial to the new gringos because they think they will give them caramelos (candies).
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“When You Pray, Move Your Feet” |
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Wednesday, 08 October 2008 |
Andrew is a parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is currently volunteering in Quito, Ecuador with a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, or “The Center for Working Boys.”
I feel bad that these entries may be getting shorter and shorter as our schedules become increasingly more and more full. We started classes with our adults this week and I feel like it is going to be one of my favorites here. I am working with some of the more advanced adults. We did a diagnostic writing sample, asking them about their hopes and dreams, and the responses were all centered around their kids. They all hope to study so that they can help improve the lives of their children. Many of them hope to one day start their own business. I think the classes are as much a chance for them to take an hour each day to reflect upon themselves away from their families and jobs.
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Quito: Law, Volunteers, Classes, and Mountains |
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Monday, 06 October 2008 |
Andrew is a parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is currently volunteering in Quito, Ecuador with a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, or “The Center for Working Boys.”
After the initial craziness of the first week, week two started with a near robbery on the bus. I caught a team of pickpockets after I realized my wallet was gone and they had opened my backpack (which I had resting on my lap). They were actually really embarrassed to be caught in the act. After yelling at them for about a minute (and having them give me their wallets), I got mine back from them. Law enforcement here is not exactly what it is in the states, and after the robbers were escorted to the front of the bus they all just walked off past police officers despite the protests of other passengers. Luckily that experience was the low point during the week. I am slowly getting used to getting up before dawn (which is around 6 AM here) for the twelve-thirteen hour days here.
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Hello From Quito |
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Monday, 22 September 2008 |
Andrew is a parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is currently volunteering in Quito, Ecuador with a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, or “The Center for Working Boys.”
 Hola from Quito! This is my first entry of many, in an attempt to accurately explain what I am doing and also to persuade those on the fence about volunteering abroad to go ahead and take the plunge. I have been in Quito, Ecuador for only a short while, but it already feels like much longer. I am working in a Catholic community center called El Centro para el Muchacho Trabajador, which translates as The Center for Working Boys. It is unique from other missions and community centers in that they only accept entire families as members. The idea is to break the destructive cycles which often plague poor Latin American families. For example, during the mornings the boys go out on the streets and shine shoes while the girls are instructed in a variety of trades. At noon, there is a short mass followed by a community lunch for the children as well as for the adults. After lunch, the children have a short recess and then have more school. During the evening, the adults come and take classes in a variety of classes depending on their education level. Some come to the center not being able to read or write their own name, and some of the new families have to be taught how to eat with a knife and fork because they have never seen them before. The men and women are separated into different classes, as they respond best to different styles of teaching. Many of the women are middle aged and have been told their entire life that women cannot learn. From my personal background this seemed absurd, but then again I have had a life much different then the families here. The men are taught separately largely because they have been raised in a world dominated in all aspects by men, so women who may learn faster than them create an environment that is not conducive to learning for any parties.
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Archdiocese of St. Louis: Mission Office
20 Archbishop May Drive, Saint Louis, MO 63119 • missions@archstl.org
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