INFOCIMA Nº 22 – OCTOBER 2022

Smile of the montH

ISAAC ROCA, 14 years old

I arrived at CIMA in March 2022, when everything seemed strange. I felt lonely and weird (it turns out I’ve always felt weird); the first person I met was the technical initiation teacher: Felipe Quispe and later, my tutor Miguel Fiestas came to meet me. When I entered Pavilion C-3 (San José) I met those who would be my new companions and brothers. That’s when my life and behavior changed. Thanks to CIMA I feel loved. CIMA, you understand me and help me and I love you. Infinitely with a feeling I had never known before, Thank you so much for the beautiful mornings you give me, with my new siblings. Ah! Believe it or not, you are my favorite place where I can feel happy. When I was lost on the street, I didn’t care about anything. I stole several times and started taking drugs. Nothing made sense to me; I was always alone and often felt rejected. My family hated me (I think they still hate me… and it’s true). I wanted to change but couldn’t. Something was holding me back. They took me to the psychologist of the Hermilio Valdizán Hospital for psychiatric treatment. Nothing changed in my life, everything went from bad to worse. My family’s hatred kept growing, so one day I decided to commit suicide. Nothing mattered to me at the time. Just as I was about to commit suicide, a friend found me and saved me from death and loneliness. He told me about CIMA, where his cousin had also changed his life. I still don’t understand how he convinced me, but I thank him because here at CIMA I can express myself and learn. Thank you all.

Workshops and various activities

Maintenance of the biodigester

At CIMA, we have a biodigester that produces biogas and biol. Thanks to engineer Elvis Flores from UNALM for managing the installation of the biodigester. A biodigester is a hermetically sealed container containing organic waste of plant or animal origin. A group of microorganisms present in organic waste produces a reaction known as anaerobic fermentation, from which energy can be obtained. Biogas is a renewable, sustainable and affordable energy alternative. It is used as fuel in the kitchen for cooking and food preparation. Biol is also a natural fertilizer that greatly improves crop yields. We use it to grow vegetables. The biodigester is fed daily and consists of a mixture of water and manure from the animals on our farm. This activity is carried out by Professor Sebastián Franco with the help of our children.

Erick Pachas, Testimony – EX CIMA –

My name is Erick Jesus Pachas Sanjinez, I am 26 years old and the father of a beautiful girl who will soon be 8 years old! I’m going to tell you a little bit of my story at CIMA Home. Before coming to CIMA, my life was not rosy. At that time, my mother, like millions of Peruvians, did not have enough food to feed us. To get a kilo of rice we had to make long queues at the market. While our mother was going out to get us food, my brother and I escaped and went to wash cars on La Molina Avenue. Every day we got home very late and each time we received a good beating. We always brought some money. One afternoon, a nice lady came to our house and offered to take our mother and us to CIMA. My brother and I agreed. It was Sunday when we arrived at CIMA: I was 6 years old and my brother was 9. We decided to stay, and were at CIMA for 6 and a half years. What did I like and what did I learn during those years? I did my primary education at the Guillermo Wagner School and my secondary education at the Huarangal School. When we came home from school, we attended workshops and did our homework. We learned a lot from the workshops, starting with the farm, where we learnt how to cultivate the land, including planting, watering and weeding. In the painting workshop, we learned drawing and painting on canvas. The teacher made bags, backpacks, wallets, etc. and we did the artistic part. I also participated in others workshops: computer science, carpentry, technical initiation, crafts. We had access to the library and the study room to do our homework. I was very involved in the music workshop, where I learned acoustic and electronic percussion. During all these years I was part of the musical groups Wayra Marka and Kusy Marka. We gave a lot of concerts where we promoted our albums. These were very special moments for me, I had beautiful experiences during my stay at CIMA. Thank you for everything I have learned. Now I am a disc jockey in different nightclubs around the country. I am also a technician in industrial production management. I graduated from the Tecsup Institute where I studied in the years 2017 – 2019, thanks to the Pronabec 18 scholarship. I worked at BACKUS and PEPSI. I am currently studying networking and computer security at the SISE Institute. If I can give one piece of advice to the young people who are currently at CIMA, it is to make the most of everything that is available to you. Later, you can build on what you have learned and practice what you’re good at. Follow the path of good, not evil. There will be good times and bad times, but your teammates will always be there to help you. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes, but we have to get back on our feet. Good luck.

Florentyna’s Testimony: volunteer from France

When I arrived in Peru, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought I was just coming to help with daily tasks. I was aware that I was going to meet many children, but I did not realize that I would leave with forty smiles etched in my memory and in my heart. CIMA is much more than a center, it is a home for young men and for the volunteers who come here. Every day was a great experience and brought new discoveries. Even though I thought I was teaching the children, they taught me a lot. I will always be grateful for the month I spent at CIMA and will never forget it.

Birthday of the month

Newcomer to CIMA

Rafael Ruiz, we give you the warmest welcome to your new home. We wish you a happy stay.

News:

Our German friend, Jonas Pfauter returned to stay with us at CIMA. As always, his contribution was invaluable. Thank you Jonas.

We were visited by Benjamin Back and Sofia Bruni from the KINDERMISSIONSWERK foundation. Thank you for visiting us. We are very grateful for the support of the foundation.

We also received the visit of Vanessa Lecointre, founder and president of the Spanish foundation ANQAS. This foundation offered us a virtual course on project presentation. Thank you Vanessa and all the friends of the foundation.

Elvis Flores has maintained the biodigester he installed last year and built a second biodigester. Thank you very much Elvis.

We held a garage sale where we offered items given to us that we do not need. It was the first such event since the pandemic.

After a two-year break, we allowed the children to return and visit their parents