March 22, 2010: A Letter from IFEJANT to the High School Students from Kamloops

On behalf of IFEJANT and the children from the NASSAE and San José Obrero schools, we would like to thank you for having chosen to visit our country and for having contributed to the children’s education, which is their fundamental human right. By helping build classrooms and bathrooms, you have expressed your friendship and solidarity.

All children hope to have adequate facilities for their education and regrettably in our country this is not possible for all children. However, you have made these hopes a reality. You have supported these children so they may continue to study and organize continually demand the fulfillment of their human rights.

Thank you with all of our hearts. We hope that this spirit of solidarity grows and strengthens in each one of you. The bridge of solidarity that has been sown with the presence of our counterpart Jess is now strengthened by the connection we find with you. It is our hope that from this connection many other Canadian youth will connect with us in solidarity.

We will always wait for you with an open heart!!!

Your friends from IFEJANT, NASSAE and San José Obrero.

A couple of posts from the High School Students Perspective on Volunteering in Peru.

We woke up nice and early today, ate our regular breakfast of buns and jam, and headed to one of the forty-nine districts in Peru, where we will be working again tomorrow. This trip has been absolutely amazing so far. We have learned that Peru is in serious need of a number of things, besides toilets in which you can flush toilet paper. First, there is a shortage of clean water in Peru. Second, there is a shortage of cement mixers. Indeed, the term “back-breaking” is not to be taken lightly in the Latin-American construction business. The drivers are crazy, the traffic is unbelievable, and the work is long and sweaty, but despite the honking and the polluted air, I think we can all agree this one trip that won’t be easily forgotten.

Among some of the other things we’ve learned is the fact that you haven’t really eaten fries until you eat them in Peru. And it also goes without saying that’s it’s never a good idea to cross the street without looking, ESPECIALLY in Lima. We're not even half way through our trip, and we’ve already seen and experienced more than some people will in a lifetime. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, and in a city of eight million, we’ve met the handful of people who had the potential to change our lives.

Lastly, one the things I’m sure we’ve all taken to heart is that in Latin-America, you don’t mix cement; cement mixes you.

-MACKENZIE



Let me just start off by saying, that this trip has been amazing. I have learned so much and we aren’t even half way through. Working at the first school was so much fun, we worked with some extremely nice people, who were always patient even when it took us awhile to figure out what each other were saying. It was so amazing to see what we have done for them and help them in as many ways as we could. After we had finished everything, we went and played with kids in a soccer game. All of them were so good and pretty much blew me away with their soccer skills. They were all so happy and the laugher was contagious until it hit everyone.

Today and tomorrow we are working at a pubic school that isn’t sponsored by the government. The school hold s200 students and I have no idea how they fit them as the building was so small. With our contributions and donations we were able to start building a bathroom for them so that it is more comfortable for them to be in school. These last few days we have all put a lot of effort into working but I have never felt so satisfied with what I have done. Working with these amazing kids just opens my eyes to all the possibilities of doing more volunteering. They are so gracious of the work we have done and it just makes me feel so happy and proud. I have truly grown as a person and I am so thankful for this experience.

I can see myself volunteering in the near future. The few people that we have met have made this experience one to remember. I will always have the memories and the experiences that I have taken on this trip with me forever. Buenas Tardes!!

-CARISSA

March 9th: The High School Student Perspective

Buenos Tardes!! After a night of the literally-best shopping in-my-life at Largo Mar and a late night, we woke up at 7:00am to get ready for another day at NASSEA School. The bus ride over was a unusually quiet one, everyone was falling asleep and that was the perfect time for bue-meister (Mr. Buemann, Teacher) to take his camera and take unflattering shots of us drooling and sleep deprived teenagers. Once we got there we went straight to work and started painting and getting messy. We had so so much fun getting to know the children but after a few minutes and with the help of a Spanish dictionary we started getting to know each other really well. Brian (a kid from the neighbourhood) and I started having very funny conversations. As I type, we’re finishing up the painting and getting ready for the kids. This trip has been going so well. I’m feeling really good about what we’re doing at this school. I can’t wait to see what we do tomorrow and the day after that. This is the SERIOUSLY-BEST-TRIP-IN-MY-LIFE!!

- Leah !

Oh my goodness! There is so much I could say right now; it’s so crazy! It’s been such an amazing experience already, and we’ve only been here three days! The things you find here are very…different. Driving, first off, consists of no seatbelts, 4 people in a back seat, and no turn signals or traffic lights. Like none. It’s literally chaos. Also the fact that we get stared at wherever we go is a bit weird, but it’s really amusing. There’s something new around every corner, and it’s so surreal to really be here after waiting for this trip for so long. I say on behalf of everyone that we’ve already learned so much about Peru and the people here. The past two days at the school have been such a whirlwind of activity – everyone has been working super hard, and it feels great to be able to contribute to a cause like this. Everyone around us is so positive, and it’s really great to get to be around the kids while we work. We’ve whipped out the dictionary numerous times today to try and communicate with them, and it’s actually really fun! We learn a lot by speaking, and there are a lot of phrases that we’ve picked up on already. Though, I am still not able to decode the conversation Jess, DWC Team Leader, is having on the phone on the couch across from me…lots of ‘hoolio’ and yelling and laughing…muy loco. Haha! Everyone is also getting along really well – definitely a contributing factor to all the fun we’ve been having. So many good times have gone on, and there are some pretty sweet insiders that we’ll be remembering. My abs are so sore from laughing its not even funny. It’s been so amazing though, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the experiences!

‘Jess, this has been like the best trip of any trip in the entire universe of all trips ever taken in my whole entire life. Like ever!’

- Maddy H.

At the risk of sounding cliché and repetitive, I fist want say that this trip is amazing. It’s hard to find the words to describe what you’re seeing and what you’re feeling unless you are actually here, working, learning, and travelling. We learn about Peru: geography (“which is actually very fascinating!” – Mr. B) culture, language and most importantly we learn about ourselves. We came to Peru expecting to help the people here by volunteering in their schools and by bringing donations: which we have done and its’ not hard to tell that what we have done so far is so greatly appreciated. But what I did not realize to such a great extent was how much this trip would help us. I truly believe that in these long three days, all of us have truly grown as people and as members of the international community. Our eyes and our hearts have been opened… as cheesy at that sounds. So what have we learned exactly? Personally, I think that this trip has really clarified for me what I want to do in my life and the direction I’m headed. I know I want to experience more cultures and I know I want to go into a career where I can travel, learn new languages and help people all over the world.

Jess said I should talk about the differences between Canada and Peru… and there are so many its unbelievable, but if there weren’t, this trip would be no where near as interesting. Firstly, obviously the difference in language is huge. A Latin-American phrase book and Spanish-English dictionary is always close by. Mostly, at the school and when we’re around Lima, we speak Spanglish: an odd combination of two different languages cobbled together, and most of the time no one has any idea what anyone else is saying. It’s frustrating, but when you can finally understand what someone is trying to communicate to you, the feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment is so overwhelming. Another difference is the driving, as other bloggers before me have mentioned.

When travelling by taxi we split up into three groups of five, meaning there is four of us squished in the backseat of a tiny taxi speeding down highways and little roads going 80 kilometers an hour when the speed limit is only 50. (if you’re reading this mom, don’t worry we’re quite safe… Peruvians are the best bad drivers you’ll ever come across).

Another difference is food, no where else will you find lime that is so acidic it can actually cook fish. And I’ve eaten an unbelievable amount of potatoes and rice. As for the bathrooms, when we have flush toilets, you can’t put the toilet paper in it or it will clog. And when there aren’t flush toilets, you can find a small hole in the cement the size of the base of a small water bottle. That is an experience I will never forget. Of course there are so many differences I could write about, but for times sake, I’ll just mention a few: architecture, clothing styles, schools, city layout, diversity and the overall culture.

As excited as I am to experience the rest of this trip, I wish I could slow down time and make it last longer!

- Claire

March 5th, 2010: Kamloops High School arrive Lima, Peru.

After a long day of travelling yesterday, we woke up to the sound of car alams and Jess’ voice…

Our grumpy moods were soon taken care of though, when our breakfast time came. Breakfast was not only delicious, but also caused a flurry of conversations with all the new fruits and jam’s. We then made our way to our host partner’s headquarters where we were introduced to the crew. We met two Peruvian girls and two boys and one of them played his bamboo flute for us which was INCREDIBLE.

After lunch, we bused our way downtown to catch a tour bus to Mt. St. Christobale which had an amazing view but the ride up was a little windy. Then, after purchasing our own bamboo flutes, we returned downtown where we went into an amazing church where the bones of 25 000 people are!

An adventurous day it most definitely was, learning lots about to be in Peru. For example, one should always look both ways before crossing the street and one should not point at people with your finger. People stare at us because of the colour of our hair. Tonight were going dancing, it should be a blast!

Anne Simpson
Developing World Connections Participant
Lima, Peru
March 2010

Peru 2010: Kamloops High School Students - March 2010

Kamloops High School Students will be working with new host partner, IFEJANT, in Lima.

Friday, March 5^th, 5:03 pm, Lima, Peru

It’s Jess here checking in just before the rest of the team arrives tonight. Everything is ready to go and I can’t wait for the team to arrive as I know it’s going to be an incredible experience for them. We will be volunteering at two schools in the “cones of Lima” which are on the fringes of the city. Here people live in densely populated areas in very precarious and marginal conditions. In both schools, we hope to get a head start on the construction of bathrooms which at present are non-existent. At first, the bathrooms will be like outhouses, but we are building them in the right place so that eventually they can be connected to a sewer system.

It’s going to be a busy schedule as we are packing a lot into 10 days. We will be meeting and working with the members of IFEJANT (host-partner in Lima), working children, students, teachers, and many other Peruvians. Tomorrow, the group will hit the ground running – after the orientation and a welcome lunch, we are going to tour the centre of Lima and view this massive city from atop a hill. After dinner, we will experience tradition folklore dancing and music and hopefully test our Peru legs by doing some dancing of our own! On Sunday, it’s straight to work throughout the days and it’s going to be hot, humid and dirty. At nights, we will continue exploring other parts of Lima that contrast extremely with the marginal areas we will be working in. After a community celebration on Wednesday, we are off to Cuzco first thing Thursday morning to explore the wonders of the Ancient Incan Empire and the beauty of the Andes. On the last day we will return to Lima and go 40 km’s south to rest and relax on the beach before flying home to real life.

Lima, “City of Kings”, is a diverse place with extreme contrasts. The grip of extreme poverty, sprawling population and pollution does not surpass Lima’s incredible history, lively spirit, incredible vistas, savoury tastes and, above all, it’s inspiring people.

I am very excited because I know the students are going to have an unforgettable experience – this will truly be a life changing experience offering them a new and valuable perspective. It is my hope and sincere belief that their experiences and, above all, the people they meet, will inspire them; I hope this inspiration will serve them well in their personal development and create in them a lasting personal commitment to global citizenship, solidarity, sustainable living and service to others.

Jess

DWC Team Leader, Development Coordinator

The Students Last Post: Saying Good-bye to the project and partners.

A lot has happened in the past couple of days. Work ended last week with little incident; the waterline trench was well on its way to completion, and some tiling had begun. We then moved into one of the best weekends of the trip thus far.

Saturday started at 7:00 am when we were picked up by Nancy and Senor Elies (save three group members who were sick), and began one of the most amazing, most uncomfortable bus rides I have ever experienced. We travelled across the Mantaro River Valley, and then ascended an extremely steep, extremely bumpy gravel mountain road. It crisscrossed across the mountain feet as we slowly climbed over a thousand feet. The road was barely wide enough for our small bus, and 95% of the ride involved one side of the road ending in a drop off to valley floor below. Many times there was barely eight inches between the van and certain death (to be dramatic). As harrowing as it was at times, it was also very exciting, and I never once felt in danger. Half way up the road the bus pulled over, and we all filed out to enjoy the phenomenal view (we could see the entire Mantaro River Valley). We stayed for about 30 minutes, took many photos, enjoyed the breathtaking view, and listened to the silence. After that, it was back to more bus riding, which eventually leveled out.

The rest of the day was incredible. We travelled through the mountains and visited about a half dozen small towns. We had the privilege of seeing where Senor Elies grew up, and each small town presented something new and interesting to us. The little towns were amazing, hidden amongst the hills and mountains; it felt very secluded and peaceful. We visited a colonial town where a Spanish church from the 1600’s still stood, and we stopped at another town for one of the best meals we have had yet. The last major stop of the day was at a local dairy farm where we were able to purchase delicious yogurt, and were given a small tutorial on how cheese was made, and the social program the dairy farm had underway. After the dairy farm, it was time to begin the long journey back to Huancayo. By that time in the day everyone was exhausted, so the drive back down the mountain was not as fun as the drive up. We trudged through the doors of our house around 5:30 pm, tired, sore, but altogether still excited about the wonderful day we all had.

Sunday started even earlier than Saturday for a few of us: 5:30. We took taxis to the bus terminal, met Eric there, and hired cars to take us out to La Merced and the jungle. There were only six of us; the rest of the group wanted to sleep in and spend the day at the Sunday market on Huancavelica Avenue. After another crazy drive through the Peruvian countryside, we arrived at the town of La Merced. Once there, we hired a tour guide to take us to the jungle. This was one of my most favourite days of the trip so far. The tour began with swimming in the river underneath a beautiful waterfall. The water was very warm, and we never wanted to leave; it was too much fun. However, our guide had other ideas. After a brief walk and tour of the jungle there, we filed back into our van and headed out to go and catch a ride on a riverboat.

The riverboat was interesting. We got in, put on ridiculous orange life jackets, laughed a ton about that, and then the boat was off. We travelled across the river, then up a little ways, then back down a little ways, and then we docked. It took all of ten minutes. Amusing as that is, it was still a fun ride, and we took lots of pictures. After docked we were herded back to our van and told we were going to visit an “authentic” native village. Instead of authenticity we got a tourist attraction. Upon our arrival, we were garbed in “traditional” clothing, our faces were painted, and we were sat down for a little speech delivered by an elder with a bow and arrow, a parrot, a drum and a rattle. We all thought it was quite hilarious and enjoyed the little speech (which none of us understood). Due to time constraints, we had to leave before the elder’s performance was over. However, that wasn’t until we got to take some pictures of us holding the parrot. Our way back to Huancayo was another long journey, and we didn’t walk through the doors until 9:30 pm. However, we were all still smiles as told the others about our day. Those who remained home had a wonderful day that began with pancakes, involved lots of market purchases, and lots of relaxation. It was a pretty great Sunday for the entire group, regardless of what each person did.

Monday marked the beginning of the end of our work at the project site. The trench was complete, and rubble clean up began. Tuesday was our last official working day. I spent the majority of the day tiling wit h Kelsey, and the others continued the clean up and making sure everything was in order. Wednesday was our last day on the project site. However, it wasn’t spent working. Instead we helped prepare the pacha manka that were going to enjoy with the Arguedianos members. We visited, had refreshments, and engaged in the whole process of the wonderful traditional meal. While everything was cooking, we walked over to a concrete soccer field where the DWC men played the Arguedianos men in an epic soccer match. The girls sat on the sidelines and cheered on our guys. At the end of the 45 minute game, DWC was victorious with a 3-1 win over Arguedianos. It was a great, good-natured came, and everyone was ready to enjoy the pacha manka by the time it was over. The meal was absolutely delicious (especially the umitas for dessert), and we were all groaning with full stomachs by the time it was over.

At 3:00 pm our ride showed up, and we had to go through the difficult process of saying goodbye to the jobsite, our ever present site dog Snickers, and all the wonderful people we have met and come to love here in Huancayo. It was a bittersweet affair. While we are all excited about our cultural tour, and eventually making it back to Canada, we weren’t all ready to leave the project behind. We have all had such a wonderful experience, and it is astonishing how the time has flown by. With our last farewells to everyone, we piled into our work bus one last time, and went home.

Here we come Machu Picchu.

Students in Peru: Another Perspective

After travelling from Vancouver to Lima the previous day, I woke up on Sunday morning to make the final leg of the trip to Huancayo. It was going to be an 8 hour bus ride, and having never been somewhere like Peru, I had no idea what to expect. All I had to go on was a friend of mine who had told me horror stories about his travels though Central America, where he would have to ride rickety buses that were absolutely packed with people—and chickens.

I was quite shocked, then, when I boarded a beautiful double decker bus that put Greyhounds to shame. Not only that, but the ride to Huancayo was absolutely gorgeous; having only seen a small, dirty part of the heavily urbanized Lima, I was all the more blown away by Peru’s picturesque landscapes and the many quaint villages that we would pass by. After 8 hours of seeing the country, sleeping, and battling altitude sickness, I was finally finished traveling and could begin my time in Huancayo.

The house that me and the 11 other people (or gringos, as I would soon learn we would be called) along on the trip was also a pleasant surprise. It had all the necessities, like good beds, a kitchen, a shower, and even a TV! Now, don’t get me wrong—it still took some time to adjust. The stove didn’t work quite perfectly (I’m not saying I’ve been expecting the house to explode from a gas leak, but you never know), the shower electrocutes you a little when you touch the shower head, and, of course, all the channels on the TV are in Spanish. Oh, and apparently in Peru you can’t flush your toilet paper down the toilet, you have to throw it in the garbage. As awful as that sounded to me, it really hasn’t been that bad. You just have to make sure not to accidentally drop anything in the garbage, because fishing it out is not an option.

The next morning, Monday, we went to work and I got to see the actual project that we came to work on. It’s a school that’s being built for children who are forced to drop out of school because they need to start working to help support their families. This school has a flexible schedule, and teaches kids skills that will directly help them in getting a good job. The work itself has been pretty standard stuff, but it’s pretty cool to think about how much this facility is going to help children who would otherwise be trapped in poverty with no way to improve their situation.

While the work we do is mostly things like painting and digging holes, are weekdays are anything but boring; incidents such as the “dog-napping incident” keep things very interesting. Basically what happened there was the guy who drives us to and from work in a little bus/huge van, was accused of stealing someone’s dog one day when he came to pick us up. I believe the exact words of the person who witnessed and reported the incident translated to something like “the van of gringos stole that dog!”

The day of the incident our driver was late, as usual, and in what I imagine was an attempt to make up for his tardiness, he offered Michiah, DWC Team Leader, a bag of oranges. That was nice, but after that he also reached down and pulled up a small white dog and extended that out to Michiah as well. Michiah motioned that he didn’t want it—the oranges were enough. Now, the driver may very well have just been showing us the dog rather than offering it to us as a package deal with the oranges, but due to the language barrier, we may never know for sure. He had to bring the dog back a few days later so that the woman who had had a dog stolen could inspect, and it was apparently not the same dog, ridding our driver of all dog-snatching allegations. Now, if he had stolen the dog, I would assume he would bring a different dog for the lady to inspect, so I still have my suspicions… but I was not in charge of the investigation, so I guess the case is closed.

We don’t do a lot of sitting around here, and we’ve been getting to experience the culture of Peru quite a bit on top of working on the school. The Sunday after I arrived, we went to a traditional Peruvian party (or festival maybe, I’m not sure what to call it… you’ll see why in a minute). It began with us travelling a little way out of the city to a tiny little farming community in the middle of nowhere. Arriving at 11 am, we were handed beers, and a fairly large band—maybe 25 people—started to play. It was a mobile band, with trumpets, saxophones, and drums, and they then led us to a second location, where we were served “breakfast.” The meal was some sort of soup, with what I was told was corn (but it was nothing like the corn I’m used to) and meat. I have to say, I thought it was awful. The “corn” was very strange, and the meat was suspect at best. Having said that, I was very happy to be able to try it; it did not taste good, but I guarantee you will never have the chance to try that dish in Canada.

Next came the really cool part of the day. We were led, again by the band, to another location where some of the locals cut down two large trees. We proceeded to carry the trees on our shoulders to yet another location—that seemed very far, but probably only because we were carrying giant trees—and managed to stick them in holes in the ground, standing them up again. Before we stood them up, the tops of the trees were decorated with balloons and blankets, and then we danced around them for quite a while. I will tell you this: you haven’t lived until you’ve danced with a 70 year old drunk Peruvian woman around decorated trees.

Finally we were led to a final location to have dinner. Unlike breakfast, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. It was beans, meat, potatoes, and tamales prepared in underground fire pits. I couldn’t tell exactly how it worked, but it was a big pit in the ground filled with hot coals that cooked the food over a long period of time. It was a long day packed with things I had never done before, and it was easily the coolest experience I’ve had in a long time.

Volunteer Participant
DWC - UBC 2009