I ran into Yurlin, 13,  this morning.  We were all running to the corner with our garbage to get it on the truck.  She had her little cousin Julia, 3,  running behind her, shoes on backwards and a bag of trash in hand.

On the way back to my door, we stopped and chatted.  Yurlin, her sister Josi Leidi, their cousin (who is also their brother — yes figure that one out, but it is true) Edwin, and their younger cousin Michael all attend the library. Yurlin and Josi have been coming for about 4 years and it has been incredible to watch these two sisters grow.

Yurlin is the older of the two yet having been left back, the two are in the same grade at a national high school within walking distance.  Josi is the stronger of the two and I don’t worry about her, despite their poorer upbringing.  But Yurlin makes me worry.  In the past you could find her walking in our street in nothing but plastic wrapped all over her body, and no shoes.  Sometimes she had run through in just a towel.  Often she could be found crying over something her sister had just done.

But, in spite of her school failings, I discovered that Yurilin has a flair for creativity and seemed to have a higher comprehension level for some of our books.

She is a much calmer girl now and comes to the library regularly after school (about 6:15 she arrives) to do her homework and read.  She in the morning seems to be in charge of Julia and is affectionate to her little cousin.

We talked about her schooling and her need to do well.  She seems to understand that it is the only way that she will get ahead.  When I asked her where she would like to be and what she would like to do when she “grows up”, she answered, “I am moving to Lima and going to be an actress.”  She was quite enthused to know that we have a few plays on the shelf of books at the library and looks forward to reading them.

Sharon has grown over the last 5 years as a child, person, young lady, and as a reader! This is her first year that she must go to school, high school, in the afternoon turn, which is from 1PM to 6PM each afternoon. This has not prevented Sharon from still attending the library. She rushes to the library straight from school. She does some homework and then gets in some reading before the library closes.

It is typical of the national schools here, due to overcrowding, to set up school into turns. The morning turn is from about 8AM until 1PM. The second turn is from 1PM until 6PM. And there are some schools who even have a 3rd turn — high school only — from 6PM until 10PM. Some of the schools have their elementary and primary classes in both the first and second turns. Other schools have primary school in the first turn and then secondary school in the afternoon.

Many students who attend school in the afternoons find themselves working in the mornings — helping their parents in the market, selling souvenirs in the plaza, taking care of younger siblings, or doing chores such as laundry (hand-washed) and cooking, around the house.