Ultimo el Blogo for April 18, 2009
We did it! The school isn’t finished by any means, but in our two weeks in Huancayo, we got a lot done! On our last day our Contractor, Allahandro, brought in a small cement mixer, mucho 45 kilo bags of cement, a dump truck load of true gravel and some workers who know how to handle cement. We got to work making concrete while some of our team members touched up the painting we had done earlier to the upstairs classrooms. Rotary President Sean McKenna, his wife Jennifer and Dr. Ben Anders went with Violeta, our super helpful Arguedianos contact to pick up and deliver the six white boards, markers and coloured chalk for the three schools we visited. They reported shock on the faces of each Principal at the generosity of our group. They graciously accepted our gifts and it is truly gratifying to know that we have improved the learning environments for mucho, mucho children!
Back to the concrete making!! Here’s a recipe for you do-it- your-selfers: 45 shovelfuls of gravel, of 45 kilo bag of cement, a container or so of water from the 5 litre old vegetable oil can with a handle welded onto it (hey, whatever works!) Put this all into the cement mixer, mix and then pour into wheel barrows, then walk the w.b.’s into the Admin Building and pour out the concrete! Well, two hours and twenty minutes later, we had some tired team members, seemingly unfettered cement workers and a beautiful cement floor for the Admin building! I have to say, we were all proud of ourselves. I think we surprised our hosts with our very strong work ethic and determination!
With our work at the site completed we shared hugs and congratulations with the one another and our now “amigo” workers!!! It was an emotional, joyous moment none of us will soon forget!
On Friday night, we were treated to another example of Peruvian culture. Our friends from the Rotary Club of Huancayo hosted a marvelous dinner at Past President Juan’s beautiful home. We were entertained by a delightful trio who sung traditional Peruvian songs in a very passionate way. At this point, we all agreed, it would be nice if Canada could adopt some of the passion this country exhibits so freely. We don’t shake hands, we hug and kiss on the cheek to say hello and good bye. We dance because the music is so inviting! We ate Peruvian favourites, drank sweet Peruvian wine (everything can’t be perfect) and danced with our Rotary Amigos and Amigas! It really was a delightful evening that again, we will not forget!
It’s Saturday and we are on a bus on the way back to Lima (ahh…sea level)! It has been great sending these blogs but like our work on the site, we are finito!
See you all back in Kamloops!
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
Monday, April 20, 2009
Peruvian Smiles, Gravel, and Pancamacha
April 16, 2009
It’s been four days since we last wrote. And boy, what a four days we’ve had! Two new members arrived and have helped immediately. We’ve been working very hard and have finished painting the upstairs classrooms. Next, we cleaned out the floor of the Administration building and then a big Dump Truck dumped a full load of what some might call gravel, but gravel with grandé rocks is what we called it! Our job was to transfer this gravel onto the very rough floor of the Admin Building. Our Contractor told us afterwards, this should take two days but we did in one hard day! The next day they brought in a tamper and we flattened the rough gravel. Pretty tough work but we got it done! At the same time, half our members finished cutting lines in the paint to truly finish the classrooms.
All this week, we have had visits from the delightful children who live next door. Both Anette and her brother Beckham (yes named after soccer hero) brighten our day each day with a visit including hugs, “Buenos Dias” and a huge smile. Certainly helps keep us going! This leads onto the very pleasant part of our week: visiting the young children in their schools! What a treat for us all to see the children and see their smiling faces! It’s amazing to us to see the conditions they are taught in and the contentment in their eyes and the gratitude they showed us! This is what these trips are all about! With money we raised at Rotary Daybreak, we are buying white boards (2 for each) markers and coloured chalk (yes, they only have white). This will be delivered on Friday before we leave!
On a very pleasant note, we took in some local culture when the Arguedianos (the local group we work with) prepared a traditional festival meal for us-called Pancamacha! This is a meal dated back to the Inca days and it involves roasting of rocks for many hours over a big campfire. After many ours, you take of the rocks, empty the ashes and then put in the pit the following: sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole chickens, pork, sheep (lamb) broad beans and corn tamales with sweet corm meal. Then the red hot rocks are put back on top followed by burlap sacks, plastic and then completely buried with earth. 45 minutes later, we were served a delicious roasted meal that we all loved, if if it was way too much food! Our hosts were so gracious and very hospitable! It really was a great cultural experience!
That’s all for now.
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
It’s been four days since we last wrote. And boy, what a four days we’ve had! Two new members arrived and have helped immediately. We’ve been working very hard and have finished painting the upstairs classrooms. Next, we cleaned out the floor of the Administration building and then a big Dump Truck dumped a full load of what some might call gravel, but gravel with grandé rocks is what we called it! Our job was to transfer this gravel onto the very rough floor of the Admin Building. Our Contractor told us afterwards, this should take two days but we did in one hard day! The next day they brought in a tamper and we flattened the rough gravel. Pretty tough work but we got it done! At the same time, half our members finished cutting lines in the paint to truly finish the classrooms.
All this week, we have had visits from the delightful children who live next door. Both Anette and her brother Beckham (yes named after soccer hero) brighten our day each day with a visit including hugs, “Buenos Dias” and a huge smile. Certainly helps keep us going! This leads onto the very pleasant part of our week: visiting the young children in their schools! What a treat for us all to see the children and see their smiling faces! It’s amazing to us to see the conditions they are taught in and the contentment in their eyes and the gratitude they showed us! This is what these trips are all about! With money we raised at Rotary Daybreak, we are buying white boards (2 for each) markers and coloured chalk (yes, they only have white). This will be delivered on Friday before we leave!
On a very pleasant note, we took in some local culture when the Arguedianos (the local group we work with) prepared a traditional festival meal for us-called Pancamacha! This is a meal dated back to the Inca days and it involves roasting of rocks for many hours over a big campfire. After many ours, you take of the rocks, empty the ashes and then put in the pit the following: sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole chickens, pork, sheep (lamb) broad beans and corn tamales with sweet corm meal. Then the red hot rocks are put back on top followed by burlap sacks, plastic and then completely buried with earth. 45 minutes later, we were served a delicious roasted meal that we all loved, if if it was way too much food! Our hosts were so gracious and very hospitable! It really was a great cultural experience!
That’s all for now.
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
Monday, April 13, 2009
PERU: April 12, 2009
With one week behind us, a full weekend of Easter festivities, and three tours of the Huancayo district, we feel like we are a lot more in tune with Peru, Huancayo and it’s people. Talking about Easter festivities, we saw some great floral displays, busy, busy public markets, and a moving reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ. Not only was this moving, we all had to hike up close to 1,000 ft. to witness this. It took place in the town of Concepcion and was deeply spiritual to many of the locals. Many of us have had a bout of Montezuma’s Revenge (locally referred to as the Peruvian two-step). One of our members has had a particularly hard time of it as he has been down for three days.
In our tours, we climbed many, many steps and got to great vantage points. We could really feel the altitude and the thinness of the air. We saw a beautiful, fertile valley below us; amazing when you realize this is all growing at 10,500 ft. It really was worth the hike up (Peruvian Two-Step notwithstanding)! The weather has been on again off again, but when it is on, you realize you are 11 degrees south of the equator. But when it’s cool, it is cool-36 F last night. Finally our Rotary friends took us touring today and we saw some beautiful gardens, spectacular stone structures and visited a unique village with high spirits and ate Rainbow Trout for lunch.
Our last two team members arrive tonight so as of tomorrow, we will have a full team raring to go! We will have the building painted, ready for the next stage by weeks end.
That’s all for now.
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
Thursday, April 9, 2009
PERU: On the Project Site
We have spent two days at the worksite and we have accomplished the following: sanded the cement walls and ceilings, then applied cement filler to patch any cracks or blemishes. Then we applied two coats of primer and it is starting to take shape! We need to fill in any new cracks that appeared after the primer. It will probably need a couple more coats to finish it off. On to anecdotal stuff: Grant almost sanded a scorpion, which was a little freaky but very interesting. Sean McKenna has taken strong liking to the three dogs of the camp. The one he favours the most, the rest of us question if it really is a dog or some alien creature (ugly pictures to follow-of the dog as well). We have had visits at the worksite from the young children who were here last year. Tom remembers them and they certainly remembered Tom (very cute-the kids; not Tom)! The local NGO and our local contractor have been just excellent thus far and we really look forward to working with them for the remainder of this project. As we now have two days under our belt, our initial fears for the weaker sex have proven to be unfounded. The men are working just fine!
One thing that certainly is clear to us, is we are working in the real Peru, not some glitzy, touristy area whatsoever. It’s very different from where we live; we may have much more material goods but they live with great passion, friendliness and sense of family. We really feel privileged to offer our help down here.
On Wednesday night we joined the Rotary Club of Huancayo for their dinner meeting. We were treated to a performance by their Junior Symphony Orchestra as well as performances by some of their members with very great talent. We introduced one another with the aid of our young Exchange Student Ailsa Miller who did a great job translating for both sides. We were really proud of her the way she handled the pressure. It was a delightful evening which opened the door to future partnerships with this friendly club.
That’s all for now folks. Talk to you again soon.
(Jaimie for…) Tom
One thing that certainly is clear to us, is we are working in the real Peru, not some glitzy, touristy area whatsoever. It’s very different from where we live; we may have much more material goods but they live with great passion, friendliness and sense of family. We really feel privileged to offer our help down here.
On Wednesday night we joined the Rotary Club of Huancayo for their dinner meeting. We were treated to a performance by their Junior Symphony Orchestra as well as performances by some of their members with very great talent. We introduced one another with the aid of our young Exchange Student Ailsa Miller who did a great job translating for both sides. We were really proud of her the way she handled the pressure. It was a delightful evening which opened the door to future partnerships with this friendly club.
That’s all for now folks. Talk to you again soon.
(Jaimie for…) Tom
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
PERU: The first several days
We spent one day traveling by air: First flight, Vancouver to LA and second flight, LA to Lima, Peru. The airlines weren’t exactly perfect as both The McKennas and the Anders lost one bag each. As of this writing, still no sign of them yet. We were all pretty tired so we slept well.
Day two:
We headed from Lima to Huancayo by bus. We climbed from 125 ft. above sea level to 15,000 ft in less than five hours. Doesn’t feel too good, we can all vouch for that! Luckily, we descended to Huancayo at 10,600 ft. which feels much better! The highways weaving through the mountains were really spectacular (switchbacks which made Duffy Lake Road look like childs play). Highlights of our bus ride include seeing two full moons: the first was a brilliant bright one in the Peruvian night sky; the second was from one of our team members who will remain nameless, right Debra, entered the bathroom pulled down her pants and then, when the bus made a particularly hard corner, came flying out of the door! Like I say, we saw two Full Moons on the trip.
Day three:
Today started with Jaimie claiming he got pick pocketed. After having a “Royal Meltdown” all morning, cancelling all his credit cards, he finally found his wallet which he hid just a little too well. In the afternoon, we met with some local Rotarians and we will go their meeting on Wednesday night!
That’s all for now folks. Talk to you again soon.
(Jaimie for…) Tom
Day two:
We headed from Lima to Huancayo by bus. We climbed from 125 ft. above sea level to 15,000 ft in less than five hours. Doesn’t feel too good, we can all vouch for that! Luckily, we descended to Huancayo at 10,600 ft. which feels much better! The highways weaving through the mountains were really spectacular (switchbacks which made Duffy Lake Road look like childs play). Highlights of our bus ride include seeing two full moons: the first was a brilliant bright one in the Peruvian night sky; the second was from one of our team members who will remain nameless, right Debra, entered the bathroom pulled down her pants and then, when the bus made a particularly hard corner, came flying out of the door! Like I say, we saw two Full Moons on the trip.
Day three:
Today started with Jaimie claiming he got pick pocketed. After having a “Royal Meltdown” all morning, cancelling all his credit cards, he finally found his wallet which he hid just a little too well. In the afternoon, we met with some local Rotarians and we will go their meeting on Wednesday night!
That’s all for now folks. Talk to you again soon.
(Jaimie for…) Tom
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