community | perusing peru...

14/06/2013

home, túcume

mi casa es su casa.

back in april, i put together a video for my world wise school that i am partnered with, and also for my presentation that i gave in the states. i don’t know how i did it, but i forgot to share it with you all here! let’s just call it, getting caught up in work, shall we?

anyways, here is a video that gives you a glimpse into my home, my site and its culture…featuring the accompaniment by the none other…talking heads (if you know me, then you know of my love and adoration of a band that was way before its time)!

Tagged community, culture, home, peace corps, peace corps volunteer, peru, tucume, video

31/05/2013

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camp ALMA

camp ALMA.

the whole camp!

this past weekend all of the volunteers in my department and i had our first camp of the year: camp ALMA!!!! it involved a lot of preparation, teamwork, a lot of support from our communities and especially from you guys back home!!!

camp ALMA is a yearly camp that we as volunteers put together for young women (ages 13-18) in our communities. for many, it’s their first time of sleeping away from home, and for all it’s their first time to camp and sleep in tents. each volunteer brings 2 girls that have demonstrated great leadership skills in their communities, and they have an opportunity to build long-lasting friendships with other girls, and also learn about what the realities are of other people’s homes. for many of these girls, it’s also an opportunity to build a new support network with other girls their age who can support them in their goals to attend university and other career aspirations, as quite often this type of support is not found in the home. the camp also strives to empower the girls to be in control of the decisions that are going to be making in their life. and finally, the camp is just a lot of FUN!

activities included:

team cheer-off contests
team rojo’s chant.
teambuilding exercises
trust falls…because camp would be incomplete without them
belly dancing lessons
creating community maps to share about the communities
self-esteem, values and decision making
environmental awareness
group discussion with an obstetrician
cuy farming
mural painting
telenovela play
volleyball tournament
campfire with s’mores
peruvian women who made history
yogurt making
career assessment exam
career fair
team rojo!
sexual education: condom use, abstinence, finding an ideal partner
talent show
question and answer time
condom race
talent show
…and so many other fun games!

the amazing lambayeque volunteers! and apparently too much work has made us crazy…

and to think we packed all this into 3 days is crazy! but the girls and all the volunteers had quite the memorable three days. when we left, all the girls were writing down their emails and other contact information so they could keep in touch with their new friends. numerous hugs were given. and for a few, even some tears of goodbye. and let’s not forget, that these girls walked away being empowered with new knowledge of self-awareness and a sense of capability that they can accomplish their goals, and that numerous before have done so, and so can they. and that is a mission accomplished.

always fun and games with us! thanks again for your support!!!

Tagged alma, arts, camp, camp alma, camping, community, community map, culture, desarollo humano, environment, food, nature, outdoors, peace corps, peace corps volunteer, people, peru

30/05/2013

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adventure, artisans, birthday, campo, caserios, family, friendship, happenings, happiness, home, love, mp, pyramids, sex ed, túcume, update, vacation, youth group

the great may escape.

goodness gracious. my, oh, my how time has escaped us…or really just me.

after celebrating the most incredible peruvian birthday, i hopped on a plane to visit friends and family in the us. i was overwhelmed in general, but also by the love of those closest to me. bu seriously, i was pretty overwhelmed culturally as well. being in the peace corps, you get so used to a certain pace of life, a very slow one, and also that about 90% of your time is spent independent of all other americans and in solitude in your country’s culture. another 5% is spent with any volunteer that may be near you, who you may see with varying frequency (once a week or once every month or so depending on schedules). and the final 5% is with other volunteers once or twice month, who are all living the same life of solitude as you, so really we are pretty not self-aware of how strangely awkward we have become. so, to put me in a situation where i was constantly interacting with people, by the end of the 3rd day in a row, i slept for almost a full 24 hours to catch up. though, i am not complaining. it was so wonderful to see all of my family. and i am so blessed that my brother and close friend both flew in from nyc to see me.

it was especially nice to get to spend time with mp, who was my main reason to visit the us. when mp last left, we went to cusco and lima, and now it was my turn to pay him a visit. though, he kept me quite busy and even gave me a second birthday surprise! he coordinated with a local animal sanctuary to do an at-home visit with a SLOTH and FENNEC FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i think it should also be noted that i got my hair cut for the first time in almost a year, and saw it straightened and cleaned, and i felt like a new woman. but obviously with the animals above i was on another level of excitement that was out of this world. eventually all good (read: great) things have to come to an end, and a very reluctant to leave girl was pushed on to her plane by an amazing mp to return to peru.

i arrived back to peru in one piece, and had a few days in site to remind everyone that i was still here and wanting to work, and also coordinate and prepare for our PEPFAR (president’s emergency plan for aids relief) training. with this training, my socia and i were able to take away a number of great new resources and statistics to share with our community, and now have the opportunity to receive aid money for our project.

doris and i after she received her certificate of completion!

the following week, we jump started our 6 classes of our sex ed leadership training program, but unfortunately later that week, she received news that she was being transfered to another post far from my site, so now i am still spearheading this training, but more so solo-style, since my health post is dramatically understaffed, and have them help out when it needed. but if anything, this motivates me even more to get my youth promoters trained, so they then can be doing this part and alleviate some of the stress from the health post as well.

i have been terrible about using my camera lately, so i will succinctly describe the other activities that have been keeping me quite busy:

i have been giving business charlas to the artisans, and helping them figure out what the costs of their products are and how to determine what they should be setting as their prices. and goodness, they were in need of this. one artisan had been selling these beautifully embroidered bread covers for only 10 soles, when the cost alone to make them was 35 soles.
6 classes of pasos a week keeps a girl busy. let’s just leave it at that.
i have been working with my youth leadership council (ADEPZORT) on helping them with their community diagnostic. we have been visiting the most rural caserios and my goodness, you never get used to seeing the amount of poverty that exists in this country, or in any country, but you can’t help but want to give so many more opportunities to these people.
celebrated dia internacional de los museos with other volunteers, and finally visited my museum’s pyramids.
weekly youth group meetings with my mochumi young women’s group.
coordinating a 5-pueblo job fair for september
coordinating an environmental awareness event with my colegio for next week.
working on a website for the artisans
working on a video for the museum
and of course, camp ALMA!!!!!!!!!!! (which will be covered in it’s own post)

so i have been busy, busy girl and for that i am grateful. i have also been able to watch all of the new arrested development…superb! as a parting gift, here is a picture from the top of one of my pyramids:

Tagged ancient burial grounds, animals, birthday, birthday surprise, caserios, community, community service, culture, environment, fennec fox, fox, foxes, health post, home, nature, outdoors, peace corps, people, peru, poverty, school, sloths, travel, tucume, vacation

23/04/2013

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birthday, earth day, family, friendship, happenings, love

(b)earth day.

where to even start? yesterday was an incredible (and long) day, and i felt love from all over the world. a birthday is quite the holiday in peru. in fact, legally, people are free from all work for the day…unless you are a peace corps volunteer.

it all started the night before where mp presented me a video of all those i love and have loved throughout my life wishing me a happy birthday. there were friends from high school, college and beyond, and people fro seattle, nyc, boston, utah, all over texas and everywhere in between. within seconds of seeing hans dialing the phone (the opening shot of the video), i was left in tears. tears of feeling so much love from back home. for those four minutes, the usa and all those i love there no longer seemed so far away. it was the best way to start the day.

samia barged into my room to show off her new brigadir uniform, which then followed with my host mom running in to hug me and sing happy birthday to me. i then worked on finalizing the details of my earth day event for the morning, and i learned with about 10 minutes in advance that the ong that was coming to speak about reforestation in the bosque was not going to make it…so i had 10 minutes to come up with an hour-long charla about the environment.

luckily, you learn to get pretty creative on the fly in peace corps. additionally, i was greeted with 70 students at my colegio singing happy birthday to me!

say, what?!

for the charla, i had an environmental youtube video i showed, then spent 30 minutes rambling about the ecosystem and reforestation. i also had us play a game outside…which went…well…let’s just say i was able to tie it all back in.

afterwards, we planned a pasacalle in conjunction with the primeria, and my students followed behind and cleaned up trash on the streets, while the primary kids, ironically, used more resources to look cute in earth day costumes and posters…and was burning trash to show the consequences of doing so…i still haven’t figured that one out yet…

me with some of my alumnos ready to pick up the litter!

me with some of my alumnas ready to pick up the litter!

blanca with her cutiepatootie students!

seriously. i don’t get the burning things to make a point act, but it’s peru…so it does kind of make sense…

taking over the pan-american highway…it’s what we do best.

you know, if one’s peace corps service was determined by the number of pasacalles one does…then i would be the pcv all-star…only because my site loves them, and is pretty reluctant to try something else…pero poco a poco we will see what we can do about that…

after an exhausting morning of corralling the alumnos around town and cleaning the streets, i came home and watched samia all afternoon. and she really demonstrated what it means to be four…tears…all day…for no reason…well, honestly, it was because she was exhausted, but i felt the consequences of that. for 3 1/2 hours straight it was just tears. at about the 2 hour mark it just became impressive.

also, our pesky chanchito has gotten bigger, stronger and smarter and keeps escaping. so i had to run after him a couple of times yesterday and redo his stake in the ground, which resulted him in getting his piggy-ness all over me…gross…

hammering the stake back into the ground…he was too close for my liking…

later that evening my family returned home, and they surprised me with my favorite meal: pollo a la brasa and of course, some birthday cake!

mi mama, yo y samia!

millie did such a great job on picking out the cake

i gave samia the reigns on my camera. i look like a giant in a 4-year-old’s eyes…not complaining…

the johnsons wished me an extra special birthday with a special blog post on cat’s website. it still makes me smile!

later, i went to mochumi to visit with my branch president. sunday, after church, a lady there randomly asked me when my birthday was and so i responded with “tomorrow.” this caused my branch president to run after me in the street and invite me back the chapel the next day for “something.” i figured it was going to be cake, and when i was walking up i could here some of the kids say “ella viene!, ella viene!” but then the lights went out and it was just my branch president. he then proceeded to pretend to “interview” me/have a birthday chat. we then went downstairs, and they hit the lights, and i was greeted by everyone in my branch for a surprise party. it was great! there was a saxophone. and decorations. it was the best. they made me dance in the middle with every male in the room (per tradition). they pushed my face into my cake (per peruvian tradition). we danced to the saxophone some cumbia, huayno and marinera. everyone gave some palabras (per peruvian custom).

my branch president and family. love these people so much.

listening to the wonderful words of people in my branch.

danixa giving her palabras.

seriously. love this girl.

lourdes, jasmin and their sister. some of the girls i work with.

making my wish and getting ready to blow out my candle…

lucho wanted me to play his saxophone in our picture. seriously. this man has some great talent.

not an awkward picture with the elders. ha.

the leftovers.

it was just so incredible. my heart was so full. in fact, it is still so full of all the outpouring of love i received yesterday. i wish i could stress just how small the world felt yesterday, because i truly felt love from all those all around the world. i have been less than enthused about turning 28 (for the first time in my life i feel old…), but i couldn’t have had a better day…including the chasing down our pig. also, i realized that birthdays are really just days to celebrate your relationship with all of those around you in your life, and i am grateful that i was able to do so!

peru. i fell more in love with you yesterday. every one else, thank you for making me feel so loved and cared for. i am so blessed.

Tagged birthday, birthday cake, church, community, culture, earth day, environment, family, food, home, host mom, love, nature, outdoors, parade, peace corps, peace corps volunteer, people, peru, pig, tucume

25/03/2013

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adventure, friendship, happenings

farewell to samuel (read: sam-well).

despedida group lunch: ceviche on the beach-e.

one thing that should be noted about peace corps. each of our experiences is unique. no two services are the same. even those of us who serve so closely together. there are numerous reasons why this is, which i won’t go into. but just as no two services are the same, the length needed to serve also varies from volunteer-to-volunteer. some volunteers feel the need to serve the maximum 5 years of service, and others it’s just mere months, but normally most people complete 2 full years of service. the experiences we gain here are so unique, yet we form a strong bond of unity with one another, because on some levels we do understand the challenges and accomplishments we experience.

casey, sam and steve at lunch.

oh heyyyyyy ladiesssss.

for my dear friend, sam, his time has come to an end. he is the bravest volunteer i know. he has overcome numerous obstacles and made such an impression not only on the lives in his community, but also in his fellow volunteers’ lives. he has such a positive personality that is always ready to take advantage of whatever life has in store for him and to live every moment to its fullest. his enthusiasm is infectious, and he is irreplaceable. also, i think it’s also important to note that he is my fellow texan, and that is bond that i can never be broken.

the three musketeers.

sam. lambayeque won’t be the same without you. peru 19 won’t be the same without you. peru won’t be the same without you. but i am so happy that you get to share your greatness elsewhere (maybe even hawaii?). i can’t wait to be reunited with you again…because it WILL HAPPEN, and let’s be honest, it will probably look like this:

no apologies.

Tagged community, peace corps, people, peru

22/03/2013

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art, youth group

relojes de papel.

buckets of paper soaking.

for our fourth project, we made clocks from paper. the students brought their soaking paper to the museum. then we blended it and strained it and mixed it with glue to make it almost like clay.

the giant paper blender.

some of the guys straining the water out of the paper through some locally purchased mesh.

jair mixing his paper pulp with glue.

forming the clock shapes in the frames.

forming the bird center. where the clock arms will go.

ready to go! well. all that is needed is the mechanical part for the clock…which is easily purchased in the market here for just 10 soles!

Tagged arts, community, environment, environmental arts, paper pulp, peace corps, peru, tucume

22/03/2013

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art, youth group

lamparas.

a third project that we completed was making lamps. we used reclaimed wood that we found tossed aside nearby, and made the lampshades out of twine. the electrical cord and bulb were purchased at a local hardware store. so easy and so fun to make!

saraita working on sanding the base of the lamp.

nilton and shela working on making their lamp shades.

one of the lampshades collapsed so they made it into a ladybug lamp. so creative!

Tagged arts, community, environment, environmental arts, lamp shades, peace corps, peru, reclaimed wood, tucume

22/03/2013

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artisans, community diagnostic, family, food, happenings, túcume, trial and error, update, youth group

a little bit of everything.

oh hi! long time no see! what have i been up to lately? well, that is a great question, indeed!

let’s see…

my environmental arts group ended. this is everyone with all their projects they completed.

this is my part of my world map painting group waiting for my socio to show up with the needed projector, and who didn’t show up for the second day in a row…

third time is a charm. after waiting for 2 hours on the third day, he finally showed. we had a blast drawing the map.

between my day planner and the random plastic bag i found in my bag, it was a pretty sturdy setup….

i hiked all 15k through the bosque de pomac, and it was a nice break from the usual distractions.
this is the million year tree and is sacred to the incans who originally inhabited the area. also, the government is working on the reforestation of the bosque, since many of the trees were cut down to use the wood for pollo a la brasa.

a group of volunteers went camping. this is part of our group enjoying the sunset.

i celebrated carnaval in illimo and joined banda verde. this was my favorite verde float.

though the red team went all out in the decorations.
carnaval in illimo is a big celebration. the day before there was a giant water fight in the town square between the two teams.

originally for international women’s day, i wanted to give a charla to the women of vaso de leche about the importance of being a woman. though, big surprise, my muni said no and wanted to do a parade instead. so, i worked with vaso de leche to organize the muni workers for a parade. this is everyone after.

after giving a little speech on gender equality, the band decided to play more more tunes, which resulted in a mini dance party. i was partnered with a regidor (equivalent to a city council member/officer).

ysabel and i after the parade, with the sign i made.

i finally gave my community diagnostic presentation. it was….interesting to say the least…but it happened and some positive things came out of it.

my family and i went for a night out on the town in chiclayo and dined on the finest pollo a la brasa. seriously. it was DELISH.

the artisans had a number of new products, and so i spent an afternoon taking more pictures for them.

and of course. samia and i are still keeping it real. school has started, so sometimes i help with her homework. or sometimes we just hang out and pretend to dance marenara.

the number of mosquitos in my site has increased significantly i now know what it feels like to get eaten alive. i go through insect repellent like it’s my job, but it doesn’t seem to keep them away. also of note, as seen in the pictures above, there are a lot of ups and downs. and that is exactly it. there have been a number of challenges i have been facing work-wise in site. sudden changes with my socia at the health post…i had been working with her for 3-4 months on the preparations for one project, and now she is no longer working there, and other health post employees are overloaded already. my municipality has been more of a challenge to work with than anything else. the school i normally work with cancelled it’s first week of classes, then during the next week, i went to coordinate my program with them, there were zero teachers in the classrooms with kids, and they had yet to make the schedule for the new year, and the schools are just handing out textbooks/curriculum this week. in fact, the official school schedule will not be ready until next week…that is 4 weeks after the school year has started…and even though i am little astonished by this, i can’t say i am anymore surprised by it. in fact, all of it seems pretty par for the course, in regards to the experiences that one has not only living in a developing country, but also it’s just part of the peace corps experience.

the important part is concentrate on the positives and learn from the things that don’t work out. and with that, i am concentrating on the goals and things that i want to get done in site, and if i keep that perspective, i really think some positive changes will happen. and the winds are slowly starting to change in my favor!

…it’s about time…

Tagged arts, community, culture, environment, environmental arts, health post, outdoors, peace corps, peru, pollo a la brasa, tucume

18/02/2013

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happenings, happiness

1/4.

approximately 6 months ago, i raised my right hand and swore-in as a peace corps volunteer. at the time, i only had a slight idea of what was to come, as we are always told “it depends.” and my goodness is that true. when i think about all the things these last 6 months have brought, and all the emotions and frustrations it brought as well, BUT i can say that it has been worth it.

my site is in the desert. you will not find my department featured on a brochure for peru. but it is the REAL peru. and even though i have been brought to tears a couple of times (out of frustration and happiness), i have an INCREDIBLE site with INCREDIBLE people. just seeing small changes in the lives of others has already made it worth it. and you learn that even the smallest things sometimes go the longest way.

how poetic that today my socio at the muni, who is one of my kindest socios but not the easiest to work with, paused our conversation this morning to tell me how much better my spanish is. of course, he emphasized how terrible my spanish was when i first got to site, BUT to hear that i have made great improvements sent me over the moon. or that my socia at the health post is so excited about our plans to work together this year, and how lucky she feels to be able to have a cultural exchange with me and share ideas. those moments remind me why i am here and doing what i am doing. and the filler moments of dancing marinera in my house with samia or dancing the night away at birthday parties, those are the times that i will forever hold in my heart.

so, i am officially 1/4 of the way done with my service. i can’t believe it. the time has flown by, which makes me a little nervous, because i still feel like i have so much to do. i now truly understand why our service is at least 2 years. there is no way that sustainable projects can be achieved in a shorter time frame. also, to celebrate i am going to FINALLY get to do my world map…it has only been 5 months in the making…and finally, i am excited and anxious about what the next 18 months have to bring and have ZERO idea of what comes after the fact…but i am grateful for this time that i have right now to learn about myself…the good and the bad and hopefully make me better and help me become the person i dream of becoming. FINGERS CROSSED!

so thanks for everyone. for reading. for being a great support system. and all of the above. six months could not have happened without you.

Tagged community, peace corps, peru, relationships

16/02/2013

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friendship

the peruvian way.

ready for the feria.

ali and phil came over to see the feria in my town, and it was so crowded that the only way we were able to stick together was making a peruvian chain. here, when youth or family members are walking down the street, either the arms are clasped by the elbows, or it is more common for one of the friends/family members to have a hand simply resting on your shoulder. it is also a sign of affection and confianza with the friend. it should also be noted that this is especially done by youth of all ages, both sexes, and knows no gender norms. it’s pretty awesome if you ask me. i might have to bring this trend back to the states.

bonus picture! how about those dulces?!?!?!

Tagged community, culture norms, gender norms, peace corps, peru, sign of affection

perusing peru…

…through the eyes of a peace corps volunteer.

Tag Archives: community

mi casa es su casa.

camp ALMA.

the great may escape.

(b)earth day.

farewell to samuel (read: sam-well).

relojes de papel.

lamparas.

a little bit of everything.

1/4.

the peruvian way.

…through the eyes of a peace corps volunteer.

Tag Archives: community

yes. please.

yes. please.

yes. please.

yes. please.

yes. please.

yes. please.

yes. please.

yes. please.

yes. please.

yes. please.