14 Mayo 2012

Burried a mother today.

She drank herself to death in the Mother’s Day celebration.

Her children that I know are what the community would call “ya, adultos”, late teens and early twenties. They will continue tomorrow, like yesterday: feed the chickens, feed the pigs, irrigate the field, cook, eat, sleep. 

13 Mayo 2012

I never knew it was possible to feel two conflicting emotions so strongly at the same time.

I can’t stay here, but I can’t leave either. This is why…

mercedes (meche) myself and hirma at the "peruanas poderosas" conference

"women farmers club" mother's day tournament soccer team in jerseys purchased by monica kline, our american woman farmer friend

12 Mayo 2012 take two

Last night I attended a meeting to plan a traveling book/game/puppet library.

I met Katarin, a woman who has worked with the french NGO Villages des Andes for about a decade, a couple weeks ago as she brought some donors through the canyon. Steven told me she had this idea for a mobile library and thought I might be interested in helping.
The gypsy in me is all over it.

Last night we all got together to brainstorm and see how feasible this idea could be. Could we develop a mobile after-school program using the concept of old carnival or gypsy caravans?

borrowing this image from google

I say yes. The thought is that two people would travel around the canyon in 2 month cycles, spending two days in each village. One French volunteer (that would change each cycle) would be responsible for working with the kids and the books/puppets/games, the other person a Peruvian responsible for the horses, food, and maintenance of the caravan. Upon arriving,  one wall of the caravan would unfold into a puppet theatre, and the steps would be connected so the kids could enter to read and play games inside the carriage itself. 

It is such an exciting idea, it makes me want to stay here to be the guinea pig teacher for the first round. We are working with my friend Wilbur on the horse details, and because of this I have been using horses as my main mode of transportation... loving it.

12 Mayo 2012

This morning I travelled to a neighboring town to give a nutrition talk to the soup kitchen of Sister Antonia.

Sister Antonia is known throughout the canyon because she was a New York Maryknoll nun that moved to the canyon in 1971 and stayed here until her death in 2010. For 60 years she had a significant influence on feeding and educating the youth and elderly of the pueblo de Yanque.
Every morning she, and two other sisters fed about 500 people breakfast. So, when she passed, my friend, and director of Quechua Benefit, Mike Safely promised to make sure her soup kitchen continued.
You might remember when I wrote about translating last year for the meeting that facilitated this transition from the church funding the project to the NGO funding it (tiff was here then, and made me take a bath before going to the meeting).

I was translating for Mike again on a visit to the kitchen, and we had the realization that they are serving a very traditional peruvian diet to about 70 families every day. Aka, high in carbohydrates and other sugars, low in protein and vitamins. The funny part is they have awesome green houses, and are almost completely self sufficient. The only things they purchase are sugar, rice, soy powder, and carrots. So, Tim and I paired up to try and figure out how they can use what they have more efficiently (planting wise) and feed the families more nutritiously.
While one of the nuns is  a bit older, she was was resistant to changing what they do, but polite. The younger nuns and the gentleman who helps manage the fields were extremely receptive, especially when we talked about them possibly making money off of planting things like beets and quinoa. The young Sister Victoria really perked up when I mentioned pickling vegetables. Apparently Sister Antonia did that too, and I think she felt a connection to her as we discussed the recipe for pickled cucumbers and beets.

It was a very good day.
Tim and I were only facilitators. We told no one what to do, only presented what foods are more nutritious, and had the marker and paper ready as the locals themselves developed their plan of action, then hung the plan in their kitchen next to their "my plate" breakdown.

10 Mayo 2012

Agua Salá - Bomba Estereo

Liliana Saumet, Bomba Estereo Vocalist

Song: Agua Salá
Artista: Bomba Estereo
Albúm: Estalla

(Lyrics)
Dejame llora, dejame llora
que ya estoy cansaa de baila y baila

Dije que estaba perdida
dije que estaba en mi cama
teniendo una larga noche
entrando a la madrugada

Me cogi los brazos y empece a sudar
y repeti mil veces hay que soledad

no puedo pensar, no puedo llorar
no puedo, no puedo ni canta y baila
apenas el sueño puedo conciliar
y entre mas me duermo, mas voy a soñar

Soñe que estaba dormida
y que tu me despertabas
en plena luz de la noche
entrando a la madrugada
y me converti, en aguasala
y ahora soy del mar una ola mojaa

Dejame llora, dejame llora
que ya estoy cansaa de baila y baila

y corrio y corrio, un rio de sudor
y siguio y siguio y se fue y volo
y se fue pa´ el mar y se enamoro del aguasala
y alli se quedo mi sal y tu sal en el mar quedo
abrazo y suspiro, tambor y folclor, calor o movimiento
de cumbia y amor
abrazo perdido que un dia me dejo
que un dia me dejo

Agarrame la cadera no me dejes respirar
escucha los movimientos, de una mujer de verdad
aprietame lentamente, que no sintamos mas naa
que la manta que nos tapa,
que es lo que sentimos ya

Dejame llora, dejame llora
que ya estoy cansaa de baila y baila

8 Mayo 2012

Very long day of very important work.
Yet another day of very important work tomorrow.

Unfortunately, due to legal confidentiality I cannot post the nature of the work, but I am proud of how hard and important today was and I don't want to forget that feeling.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that all these meetings aren't as torturous as they could be for everyone involved.

3 Mayo 2012

In Lima at my training group's Close of Service Conference.

big deal?!

something special about the peace corps experience is that you "learn to be alone but not lonely... to sit with yourself." -Peace Corps Peru Country Director Sanjay Mathur

some thoughts scrolling through my head today...

'am i harsh on peace corps as an organization because i love it so much? in the history of me, i am harsh on that which i love, because i love them. similarly i am harsh on myself.'

'how can anyone expect me to be able to make this decision about what happens with the Madrigal library? It has such a profound effect on the community, no wonder i feel stress spilling out my ears.'

'i made a mistake. when i told the municipality that they needed to hire a professional to teach the program, that was a mistake. they do need a professional to teach the program. and they do have to pay a high salary to get a professional. but, that is a HUGE step for such a small community so afraid of change. We need to hire a local. for less. that will do the best they can. that person can teach the program, or not. the most important thing is that the community is paying the person (it is their program, not an NGO's), the money is staying within the community, and that person can open the doors to the library. at the very least, the children, youth, mothers, etc will have ACCESS TO INFORMATION. books. encyclopedias. art supplies. even if there is no one teaching incredible activities, at the least, they have access to the information and the tools if they possess the creativity. baby steps. and this is the first one."

moments after this thought passed through my head, myrium came by to tell me the same, exact thing and hand over THE MADRIGAL BUDGET! She got her hands on it, and the Madrigal Municiple Library is included in the budget.  Documented.

"it is in the hands of the community now. You will give them all the contracts and paperwork, and they have to fight for it now. I know how hard that is, but it has to come from them."

--------------------------------------------------

One of the members of our panel of speakers today was G. Michael Junge of USAID. He is the Regional Contracting Officer, meaning he signs all the contracts for the money that US sends to development projects here. An incredibly impressive man: worked on refugee camp in Afghanistan and has served in peace corps mali, togo, eritrea, chad, and bujumbura. I was full of questions for him:

i am not going to put this in quotes, the conversation went something like this...

--I have been here for 2 years and I am tired. I know I want to keep doing development work, but I am very effected by what I see. It eats at me. My question for you is how do you keep going back year after year? After seeing so much pain and suffering, what are the methods you use or have seen to cope and keep giving?

You have to separate your professional life from your personal one. You make spaces and times that are specific to work, and when you leave them, no work allowed. Make sure you have hobbies, things you can focus on when you are not working, that are just for you. You leave at 5pm, you don't stay late, that is you time.

So, you have seen NGO workers, for example, stay late every day, and burn out quickly?

Yes. In only a couple years. But, I leave at 5pm every day, and I can do this work for 30 years.--

It is something to ponder. I have always had this superwoman complex. I can do anything I really want to. I want to be able to work past 5 every day, and do it for 30 years. 

Later, i asked our trainer Kathleen Hickey a similar question (Kathleen has designed the Peace Corps Peru training program for years). 

--you are always so optimistic. you have years and years of not only working in a country that is so challenging, but you have done it while working under the bureaucratic bull shit of the us government. how do you keep doing it year after year and not feel overwhelmingly frustrated?

"better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

"artesana", she says--

'artesana' means female artist

but broken apart: 

'arte' means art

'sana' means healthy