Interview de Carole, the godmother of Ruth Camilla, who went to Peru in September 2022.
How did you know Los Chicos de Cusco and since when are you the godmother in the association?
A friend of mine who is currently the godmother of two children talked to me about the association and about how serious it was. As I wanted to do something to help the children, I took that opportunity.This is how I became the godmother of Ruth Camilla since 2015.
Could you please present your godchild? Have you had the opportunity to hear from her or even to talk with her?
Ruth Camilla was born on November 19, 2009, she was 6 years old when I started to sponsor her. She is an adorable little girl, who unfortunately does not have a father, her mother raises her alone and does not have much money. We corresponded very quickly: she sent me nice drawings and wrote me thanking me for allowing her to go to school.
What made you want to make this trip to Peru?
Camilla was always saying in her letter that she wanted to meet us, my husband and I. It was mutual! We have always been attracted to Peru, we had planned to visit this beautiful country in 2019 but the COVID came and we had to postpone our trip. Before going, we had organized our meeting with the association and the mother of Ruth (I particulary want to thanks Marlene and Anne-Lise from the association for giving us their time knowing that they are volunteers). Camilla was no longer at school in Asvin but at college so we met at her home..
How did it go with Ruth and her family?
It was very touching: Ruth had prepared a welcome poster, we recognized each other immediately (because I had sent her pictures), hugged each other and we all cried, there was a lot of emotion on both sides. Afterwards, Ruth’s mother invited us to come in and offered us a drink. We offered them some specialties from our region and took pictures. Ruth showed us her mother’s cuy (guinea pig) farm. We took a translator so that we could easily talk about Ruth’s studies and their lives. Ruth always stayed next to me, she was so happy to see us in real life! The mother invited us to eat to thank us for everything. It was an extraordinary moment of exchange. Finally, we accompanied Ruth to school in the afternoon.
What will you remember about this moment?
An extraordinary meeting. It is necessary to support these children so that they can have an education. If I had not done so, Ruth Camilla would certainly not have been able to go to college (although her mother works, she does not earn enough to be able to pay for her children’s education, just enough to feed them, life is hard). They are very grateful to us.
It was rewarding, we promised to continue to sponsor Ruth until she finishes her studies, so that she doesn’t have to work to pay for them, like her brother. They are very endearing people and I am very happy to have known the association Los Chicos de Cusco which allowed me to make this beautiful meeting.
If you are interested in sponsorship, Los Chicos de Cusco proposes class sponsorships which allow to support the children of a class in our partner schools (individual sponsorships are not proposed anymore because of the complexity of their organization and the follow-up).