LLI Kids Are Winners!

This week, we're announcing some very special kids winning some very special awards!!

On Saturday, we announced the winners of the Summer Reading Program Contest. TEN winners altogether will receive a shopping spree in "LLI's store" of school supplies, helping them (and their parents) get ready for the new school year beginning in March. Awesome. Stay tuned for photos-- prizes will be awarded on Tuesday.

Additionally on Saturday, we celebrated our Chess Tournament winners (pictured to the right)! We had 15 kids (plus one sub-volunteer, thanks Camille) come from three different zones to participate in the tournament. Congrats to our winners and we hope you're enjoying your well deserved prizes :)

And the winners are...

Summer Reading Program:
(10-13 years)
1st Place: Gabriela (Zone D)
2nd Place: Alessa (Zone D)
3rd Place: Rebecca (Zone D)

(6-9 years)
1st Place: Alexandra (Zone D)
2nd Place: Betsabe (Zone D)
3rd Place: Josue and Maycol (tie, Zone D)

(Raffle winners, those who earned at least 10 points)
Fiorella (Zone D)
Adrian (Zone D)
Eduardo (Zone Z, 232)

Chess Tournament:

1st Place: Jefferson (Zone Z, Los Alamos; pictured to the right with his "PC Trainer" - top prize)
2nd Place: Deysi (Zone D), Gabriel (Zone S), and Franki (Zone S)

Congrats to all the kids! We are so proud!

Stay tuned for prize photos for the Summer Reading Program! We'll be giving out School Supplies to the winners on Tuesday!


Published by Lara DeVries on behalf of Light and Leadership. Special thanks to volunteer Hanna-Leena for managing the summer reading program and to Mariel Feigen for being an amazing chess instructor (and house manager) :)

Who Doesn't Love a Good Compost???

This past Tuesday, Light and Leadership, with the invaluable help of Lic. Gina Marita Tito Tolentino, Professor of Environmental Enginnering at la Universidad Peruana Union, led a composting workshop for our women's group in Zone Z. We learned patience isn't only something to be used with kids...also apparently for composting, as it takes 3-6 months to get good composting going! Despite the wait, our women's group was delightfully enthused. Taking notes, asking questions... it was great to see!

Published by Lara DeVries on behalf of Light and Leadership. Special thanks to Professor Gina and Chelsea Mahan for all their work and coordination. Gracias!

Red Suckers Go Well With Books...

We were treated to yummy, bright red suckers last week after our summer reading program session. So, like responsible adults, we encouraged the kids to stick their tongues out. Made for a great photo :) Happy February!


Published by Lara DeVries on behalf of the Light and Leadership Initiative. Special thanks to Louella DeVries for the yummy, bright red suckers.

LLI's Wish List!

Since LLI's Summer reading program has been SUCH a success, we've decided to extend the program into the school year of March - December! In addition, we'll expand to another area in Huaycan.

This means we'll need new Spanish books ALL year round. Thanks to generous donations, we're good with English books, but will gladly accept with need the following books in Spanish (or other titles!):

Harry Potter Books 3, 4, 5 (in Spanish)

Hunger Games (in Spanish)

Chronicles of Narnia (all but the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in Spanish)

Diario de Greg #1, #4 and #5 by Jeff Kinney (we have #2 and #3 books and it's been very popular!)

Un Principe en la Nevera

Any Dr. Suess Books, Spanish Edition (Except for Hop on Pop)

Curious George Series, Spanish Version (Except for Curious George Plants a Seed, Spanish Version)

Crumbs on the Stairs/Migas en las escaleras

And anymore titles*!! We are in particular need for Spanish books for 6-10 year old reading levels (specifically that would interest boys) and easy chapter books with interesting topics for young readers.

*Thanks to generous donations, we have copies of popular books in Spanish like "Goodnight Moon," "The Giving Tree," "The Hungry Caterpillar," and "Charlotte's Web."

Ready to Order? Ship them to our US address. Email Lara@lightandleadership.org for the address!

About the program: LLI opens up its "biblioteca" or library 4 times a week in Zone D. Kids from all over Huaycan having been coming to read books for a few hours a day. An average of 25-30 children come every session.

Yes, We Work Weekends

One of the biggest changes LLI volunteers have to get used to is working the weekends... Saturday and Sundays are no longer days to relax, but instead are jam packed with LLI's program activities! Between Saturdays and Sundays, LLI offers the following classes:

7 English classes
4 French classes
Physical Education
Chess (2 sections)
Art (3 sections)
Math
Summer Reading/Library
Computer Skills (2 sections)
Woodburning Class

It's busy, but a good busy!

Art Class with 6-9 year olds

Collage Day!

Kids sprawl out anywhere to read a book :)

Published by Lara DeVries on behalf of the Light and Leadership Initiative. Special thanks to Clare Donovan for the photos and to our dedicated LLI Volunteers who work the "weekends."

Looking for an Internship?

Light and Leadership offers several long term internships within our organization... check out which one is right for you and apply now!

Community and Program Development Coordinator

House Manager

English Education

Thanks and we'll see you in Huaycan :)

Reading Success!!!

We're celebrating our first week of our Summer Reading Program at LLI's main classroom in Zone D, Huaycan. We've received an ASTOUNDING number of kids in the program, which offers library hours four times a week. Kids anxiously wait outside of the classroom waiting for the program to open up.

It's been SO good, we've had to cap the number of kids that can enter during the scheduled hours. Reading time is given as an hour and a half, with an additional time to write up book summaries or listen to stories read aloud in English and Spanish.

Thank you to ALL of those who generously gave books. You've made this possible!!!

Published by Lara DeVries on behalf of Light and Leadership. Special thanks to Hanna-Leena for all the hard work in coordinating the program, and the additional LLI volunteers for pitching in. :)