2 Agosto 2011

Last night was the going away party for Russ and Jean. A wonderful married couple that had been serving as volunteers close to me in the canyon. A couple words about this lovely pair...
Jean was/is a Small Business Development volunteer. She did a lot of English teaching in the schools. Her main project was called "Warming Wawas" (wawa meaning baby in quechua). In this project she worked with an NGO from the states and the local government to pay local artisan knitters to knit baby blankets and clothes. These items were donated to the health post and given to mother's of babies entering families of the lowest economic status.
Russ, as a Small Business Development volunteer also did a lot of English teaching, but with local tour guides (this is how all of us volunteers got the hook up for testing new tour routes via raft, horse, or foot: good stuff). His primary project was called "Comprale al Colca" which menas buy it Colca. It is a program for artisans to register their work to prove it was maid in the canyon. It keeps people from buying stuff from the outside and trying to sell it as local to unknowing tourists. There was a very large festival celebrating it's beginning in Arequipa city.

They both are incredible individuals that all the volunteers will miss dearly. We will all feel a void in the Russ and Jean advice and support line (which we have encouraged them to make into an actual telephone line once they are back in The States so that we can contact them as needed).



Now, I am back in Arequipa City. Giving the presentation in the woman's convention today. A little nervous. Then quickly hopping on a bus to Lima to give the talk tomorrow on communicating with generational poverty.


Now, it is time to study powerpoints...