Teenage Mothers

Every Tuesday and Thursday Bruce Peru organize a group for young pregnant girls. These girls are between the ages of 14 - 18, and live on the outskirts of Trujillo, in an area called Alto Trujillo.

The group is held in one of the NGO´s schools, actually the best out of the three schools. 'The best' means that there is a concrete floor, instead of the dirt floor in my school, and there is electricity and even a bathroom! The area is still very poor though, and the girls are all single. They have either been raped, or got pregnant by accident, by "boyfriends" who come and go as they please. Peru has a very machista culture, which is so evident everywhere you go (the comments, stares, the way they talk, even the way the children talk!) and so this group is strictly women only. This means that none of the male volunteers can come along. This wasn't always the case, but the girls didn't know how to react to a male presence, and either tried to come onto the male volunteers or were just plain scared of them.

It just goes to show how bad a relationship these girls have with men. To be honest, after a few weeks in Peru, in these particular areas, I am not surprised by this. The norm is to see a group of men sitting outside from nine in the morning, drinking beer and talking. When we leave school at around 12 these same men are still drinking, to the point where they can't even stand up. Some of the kids in the schools here have drunk dads, or live next to drug addicts, and while I am sure it can't apply to every man, it seems to be all too common. So from the start, these girls face a difficult situation.

Ruth, one of the embarazadas. She had the most beautiful smile, but as soon as the camera came out it disappeared (nobody here smiles for photos) so I had to take one when she wasn't looking!

One of the girls with a baby blanket she knitted, after lessons with Bruce Peru.

The idea of the group is to teach them some skills, such as knitting or making sweets, so that they can then try and have a mini-business, to make some extra money. They also teach them about how to care for their babies, what they will need for them and how to spot signs of illness. They also throw each mother a baby shower when it is nearly time for them to give birth. So, last week I went to my first Peruvian baby shower! Actually, my first baby shower anywhere!

We bought some fizzy drinks and chocolate and spent the afternoon playing games. One game involved guessing what length of paper you would need to wrap around the pregnant girls stomachs - whoever got closest to the right amount won. For the record, I lost. Badly. There was also a race to see who could put a nappy on a plastic doll fast enough, but luckily that was only for the expectant mothers. I have no idea how to even put a disposable nappy on a giant barbie doll, never mind a cloth one...

Playing one of the games!

The girls all seemed to be good friends, and there was a really nice atmosphere there. It was one of the best afternoons I have had in Peru so far, and good to meet some older people from a similar area to where I teach. One girl, Flor, was particularly friendly. She is only 16, and due in October. She loved having her picture taken and wanted to know all about England, and she reminded me so much of some of the older girls in my school. This scared me actually, as she could well represent what some of these girls face in just a few years.

Flor

Although, with the work that Bruce Peru is doing, this actually might not be the case. It is good to see the difference this organization is making, and to see the fun that it can be for everyone involved!

All of us together (notice that only the gringas are smiling).