Next week the volunteers from my training group have In-service Training in Lima. Angelica (who went with me to the last training and is a great counterpart and good friend), recommended a man who lives in Madrigal that used to be a teacher to go with me. When we knocked on his door last week his toddler and 6-year-old answered. As they ran to get their dad we could hear his voice over the tin scrap door. Before seeing him I was filled with soothing hope. He spoke to his children so kind and attentively (not the norm here) I had a quick vision of him and I developing the library space together over the next year. His compassionate face lit up when Angelica and I explained our plans for the after-school program and library. He was delighted with the idea of working with kids again instead of construction. We told him to talk to his boss and wife about going to the Peace Corps training with me and would come back this weekend for his confirmation.
I was bubbly with the idea of working with an individual so perfect for the position of counselor/librarian.
Upon returning to site today I received notice from Angelica that Hermes’ wife had told her Hermes had to go to Chivay to look for work. Not only would he not be able to attend the training because the family could not afford to lose a week’s worth of income, but he might not be returning to Madrigal for a while as this job in Chivay was higher paying than what he had previously.
What broke my heart more than anything was that such an affectionate father was being pulled away from his children.
I set out on a quest to find someone to go with me. The first primary school teacher I talked to is a little, smart 4th grade teacher. She clapped her hands and jumped a little at the thought as her husband said over her shoulder, “She doesn’t like to travel”. Her energy died and she tried to help me think of other people I could invite. I went to the preschool principal and she said she can’t leave her cows or her son for a week. I went to the woman who teaches carpentry and sewing and she said the Ministry of education won’t let her take more than two days off at a time. I went to another Primary school teacher and she asked an aunt to take care of her 10-year-old son for the week and the aunt said she was going to be in Chivay one of those days and couldn’t. I asked another primary school teacher and she said she was already traveling to Lima that week for an important doctor’s appointment that could not be rescheduled. Now, I was in a quandary. The training is in a week, and Peace Corps needed the name by today. I asked Hirma again if her doctor’s appointment could be pushed back a day and Peace Corps would be paying her transportation to Lima. “Perhaps,” but she had already booked her flight for Wednesday and the training started Tuesday. She called her husband who lives in the city to see if he could sign online and change her flight. He did it in less than five minutes and Angelica and I were dancing around the room.
What a long day.
No comments:
Post a Comment