vida en peru

July 1, 2011

27 Junio 2011

The elementary schools received 11 small white miniature computers from the Ministry of Education.

They have games and puzzles on them as well as an encyclopedia, paint, and a chat program.

They have Bluetooth, which allows for file transferring between the tiny machines.

It has its own operating system distinct from windows, mac, or any other operating system out there.

They didn’t come with directions.

Today I was asked to come meet with the teachers to help figure out how to make the machines work in the way that the teachers imagined they could work in their classrooms.

Do you see the problem in the sentence above? These computers, nor their programs, were designed with any knowledge of the teachers or students here. And, having no computer knowledge, these loving teachers have absolutely no idea how to implement them in the classroom, but they have funny ideas from word of mouth and movies on what computers can be. These computers came not only lacking training sessions on how they are applicable in the classroom, but a general instruction manual on how the processing system works as well.

In all likelihood these expensive but tiny systems will be exciting for a few weeks and then sit on a shelf for the rest of their existence.

26 Junio 2011

Just as my cousin Henry was leaving his visit in the canyon I began to shift my attention to anther visiting friend. Paul is a caballero I met on vacation in Northern Peru, that set out on a mission to share the lifestyle of the people of colca canyon with the Limeñan population. After discussing this article idea with the director of a popular Peruvian magazine and receiving his blessing, Paul headed down to the canyon to see and feel with his own eyes and camera lens.

As this extremely educated and modern individual shuffled through conversations with the extremely traditional families here in the Canyon it was easy to see his eyes and heart fall into a love and respect. Something happened that even creamed his voice into a more smooth affectionate tone with everyone he interacted with.

In my experience in Peru, I have come to see that in developing countries one needs to be firm and do everything in their power to get what oneself and/or family needs because there are few to no programs or government to protect you. This leads to interactions with strangers being harsh and defensive. It was apparent to me that this wealthy gentleman accustomed to maids and hired cars saw something new here. A couple days ago Paul sat next to his driver on a tree stump used for a chair in our kitchen. They both munched on the meatiest bits of guinea pig provided by my family. As I served a lettuce and tomato salad with American Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, these colcañans and single limeñan asked questions of each other’s lives and made fun of me together. The intimacy and familiarity in the hut is not something I can elucidate through text. The rapidity with which Paul came to love the locals’ open arms seemed to be as foreign to him as was the culture of his fellow Peruvian.

Paul took part in everything from the anniversary celebration at the high school, to tending to the cows, to cooking on our tiny stove, to eating lunch with my clique of local teachers even when I had to run to Arequipa city for a day for work. He is such a beautiful, open individual that he took every experience with grace and the potential to learn.

Paul will walk away from the canyon having appropriated much to bring back to share with his friends and family. But, what surprised us both, is that through his observations, Paul helped me calm my frustrations and find my humility at the perfect moment. Through his eyes and experience he was able to reinvigorate me in my work here even when it was already going strong.

Thank you for that, Paul. Safe travels, and I hope to see you again someday soon.

Paul, I invite you to share you experience in the comment box below if you so desire.

21 Junio 2011

Last night I came into Chivay to head to Arequipa for the day today to give a presentation to an NGO. We are looking for economic and human resource support for the greenhouse project. When I arrived, Chivay was in festival for the anniversary of the region. The buses were cancelled because the majority of their riders had decided on staying the night to celebrate.

I rescheduled by bus for 4 am and shivered through the 5-hour ride (yes, it should have been 4 hours, but we ran out of gas halfway and had to wait for a refill to arrive). 9am I hopped in the shower at a Peace Corps hostal in Arequipa, put on the high heels, and scarfed down a croissant while John and I edited the Power Point and budget for this project and jumped in a taxi arriving at the door right on time.

Solaris is an incredible NGO, and speaking with and presenting to their representative was not only refreshing due to her obvious high educational level, but informative. I have to admit, the entire meeting I kept fighting my brain from daydreaming into the image of me sitting in the desk next to her as a co-worker someday.

Katherine was impressed by the strong development of the project (great work Rocío), and I think she could relate to John and I in our Peace Corps mission here in Peru. All three of us stared at each other all glowy-eyed because we saw great counterparts in one another. This NGO has goals that fall mainly under education and healthy lifestyle development, but they are based out of the city while they have schools and programs functioning in pueblos of villages in the North and South of Peru. We, as Peace Corps volunteers, are educated individuals that live in those villages. In a sense, we need each other.

She was the first person, ever, to actually recommend to any Peace Corps volunteer I know to extend the time frame of the project in order to secure sustainability. It is a 6- month program developed to not only bring community members together to help one another build the walls for greenhouses, but to help them find the resources to build the roofs, and on top of that give workshops on how to rotate the crops for optimal production and another set of workshops on healthy cooking habits and nutrition. Katherine wanted us to pull the workshops out to at least a year. Brilliant. And if she can help us find the economic support to make that possible, we are on it.

She even taught us a chart often used by NGOs in Peru to present potential projects in a very readable way for future presentations. John and I skipped out of the meeting and can’t wait to get an e-mail from her about the funding.

20 Junio 2011

A woman from the ranch came down from the mountain top two days ago with a sheep my family had paid her to raise. Her son who is 14, but, due to malnutrition appears to be about 8 years old, came with her. He is a happy, creative young man that Roxana seems to enjoy very much having around the house (he is who I gave the school supplies to a couple days ago). However, he attended school in the village of Tapay, a day’s hike from Madrigal. It became very obvious through casual conversation that there is a developmental retardation as well. I knew the school there was small (5-10 students), and the teachers rarely showed up to teach, but I had no idea of the extent to which the children of Tapay were being denied an education. By the time a child finishes 2^nd grade here in Peru (or is 7 years old), they should be able to read 60 words per minute. Elvis is 14 years old, should be in high school by now, but reads at a rate of about 20 words per minute.

No questions asked, my host father announces to the family and Elvis’ mother that Elvis will be staying with us so he can study in Madrigal. The young, but anciently traditional woman asks no questions, and today, packed up her bags (I mean donkeys), kissed her son, and headed for the day’s hike back to the ranch.

We are now five.

18 Junio 2011

Henry left early this morning.

I popped by Chivay to download some information on an NGO John and I will be presenting to next week. The informative PDF took over an hour to load, then a virus ate it and everything else saved on my USB. Failure #1

I downloaded a handful of e-mails to print off and read when I got back to site, and there wasn’t a functioning printer in town. Failure #2

Having given up, I hopped into a hotel’s shower and it was anything but the heat I was expecting. Failure #3

Shivering, the morning put me in my quiet, stormy mood.

But, Paul cheered me up with a 1 ½ hr. car ride that felt like 15 minutes. There is nothing like conversation with a good friend.

When we arrived in Madrigal we headed for the cows with my host sister. Paul’s nervousness as I handled the bulls was endearing. Such an intelligent man isn’t used to feeling so helpless.

Then we headed to lunch with Angelica y Meche. The lunch proceeded to be three of my best Peruvian friends ganging up on and making fun of me. I laughed so hard my rosy cheeks were striped with tears. Paul did some informal interviews with them for the article comparing Limeñan/Madrigaleñan lifestyle, and I did puzzles with Jesus, Meche’s son, who has finally opened up to me. It felt so good, there are no words. I found my place. This room, these people.

Nervous, I headed to the Municipality to find out why, two months later, they still didn’t have the wall up that would secure the VALE room and future library. Through the grape vine I heard they were going to move us to another room in the back of the municipality, and I was frustrated to loss such a good space. Next to the stairs as I walked up to the secretary’s office I saw a pile of plywood. I gulped the smile and didn’t allow myself to assume that those were for the library space. Of course it was. They set a promise date, the 23^rd of June. I have to say I nearly skipped out of the municipality.

As I headed to a local wedding reception I was greeted by my host father, dressed to his nines, coming home with a handful of his brother’s and sisters. Laughing, we talked in the freezing plaza of Madrigal for at least half an hour.

Having missed the wedding cake, I headed back home to sleep, when Roxanna came in my room,

“Remember how you told me to tell you if there are any kids that can’t afford to buy school supplies?”

“Yes, of course.”

“The friend that came down from the ranch with the sheep for meat this week has a son.”

Having met this family, no more words needed to be said. They are the ultimate of traditional. They live on the ranch and raise sheep, goats, alpacas, and llamas to sell to the families in Madrigal. No electricity. No water but the river melted ice cap streams (that also mans no plumbing). No formal school. Tonight Elvis received more markers, pens, pencils, crayons, and glue than he could possibly use in a year, all donated by Reed Bennet. Reed, he drew a vizcacha for you. This is a rabbit creature with a long tail that are rarely spotted. Elvis says he sees them all the time on the ranch, and was all smiles while he focused on his crayon rendering.