Lima, Peru: The richness of the Experience.

We now have nearly three weeks of volunteer work under our belts on this trip. The nine of us have undoubtedly gained insights and experiences that would not have been attainable any other way. San Jose Obrero, the school we are working at, has a strong community and culture that has been humbling to witness, even in the most poverty stricken areas I have ever seen.

While the residents of Villa Maria seem comfortable with their modest lives, from a Canadian perspective it is amazing to think that so many of the world's 7 billion live in similar conditions. Their hospitable and collectivist nature means that we are never short of helping hands, even from mothers with babies on their backs and the keen primary school kids.

Our structure is coming along very nicely. Now in the second half of the project, we are short on supplies so some of the lumber and roofing materials are being reused from old buildings. Today everyone was very busy all day, filling, sanding, priming, roofing and interacting. We have all been challenged in a number of ways, be it our patience, interpretation skills, or dealing with adverse situations such as stepping on nails (that was me).

The language barrier has made it tough to talk to the people about anything beyond the basics. We would all agree that our IFEJANT meetings have provided massive insights about the local slums, because we have had a translator who has provided great relief and knowledge. We have learned that children who work can provide nearly as much income as their parents, and are vital to family wellbeing. Kids may be as young as seven when they start to work, and schooling is just a single important part of one's education. The vast majority of youngsters above that age in Villa Maria probably work.

Even the craziest challenges on the trip have only added to the richness of the experience. We've found motivation through the sunny afternoons we've been blessed with, the smiling faces of the locals, and through each other. I cannot wait to complete our project and share what I've learned about a diverse country, community and people.

Matt Melville

DWC Student Volunteer

Lima, Peru: May 2011 Student Team

Our day started with our journey to villa maria which is around 50 minutes away from Casa Rodas Hostel in the area know as Miraflores, Lima. As slightly cloudy and gloomy as it was we were all filled with energy to start interacting with the locals and the children.

Our construction consisted of building three rooms, which were to be used for school and maintenance purposes. Today we finished the construction of the walls around all the three rooms. After all the barriers we have come across, especially the frustration with the language barrier, it’s amazing to see our hard work for the past week and a half start taking shape.

Today a number of the children’s mothers came by to help and we got to interact more with the locals. Our Spanish has improved a lot since our arrival and we can almost say all the construction equipment’s in Spanish, which is a progress from hand gesturing and signs. We know we are not changing the world with our small acts however we know that we are making a difference in these peoples’ lives and not to mention their influence on our lives.

Witnessing this first hand is nothing short of worthwhile.

Suud Nahdi,
DWC Peru Volunteer Participant

Student Team in Lima for 4 weeks working with IFEJANT

In a blur of the first few exciting and positively challenging days in Peru, many things stand out to me personally. I have adjusted to life here at Hostel Casa Rodas with my new small family, enjoying playing cards, making meals, swapping stories, sharing laughs, trying new foods and fruits, as well as getting some dirt under my fingernails at the school. At times, the nine of us seem to have become as close as the Peruvian cars.

Our work at the school in Villa Maria is extremely eye opening, especially for those of us who have never witnessed this type of poverty. The most interesting part of my experience thus far has been interacting with the children who are so happy with the smallest of pleasures, even stacking bottle caps together to create a pyramid structure can bring such joy. I am constantly learning new things about myself and about the world around me.

The language barrier between our group and the locals has been challenging, but at the same time it pushes us to learn and expand our vocabulary. So far this has been an incredible and enjoyable experience, I look forward to working at the school, playing with the kids, learning a new language, growing closer to my teammates, and to teaching them all euchre! I send my love to family and friends Canada!

Carley Hoja

DWC Participant

Huancayo, Peru: Visiting with the school children was Wednesday's Highlight.

We can see clearly now, the first thing we did was to clean the windows on the ground floor of the administration building. What a difference it made to have clean windows and have that extra bit of sparkle. As the windows were being cleaned Jesse showed up with a surprise for the team. She had brought supplies for Pachemanca, an amazing Peruvian dinner baked traditionally in the ground. Instead of painting the team was set to digging a hole, and washing rocks and then potatoes in preparation of building the oven and supplies still in transit. All the team knew was that they were in for a real treat.

Pachemanca is a traditional Inca dinner, the first step after building the oven is to build a fire and let it burn until the rocks lining the ground oven are white hot. All the rocks are then taken out of the oven and potatoes are lined along the bottom they are then covered with hot rocks. The next layer was a shocking amount of meat, a rack of pork chops, a side of sheep and four chickens, all had been marinated the day before in herbs and spices. Next Lima beans were added and corn husks. Large sacs, plastic and finally dirt was used to create a seal and keep the heat in. We left it for an hour, uncovered it to discover a veritable feast. What a great way to create a lasting bond between the Groupe de Huancayco and the Canadian/ German team!

The highlight of the day was to visit a school of grade one and twos. The kids were shy at first but soon had lots of questions for us about Canada - questions about “squares” (playgrounds), Canadian children and animals; particularly the type of fish. We brought handmade wooden toys, chocolate, and hair pretties for the girls. Every child said gracias for their gift as their eyes lit up with excitement. Seeing the joy on the faces of some of these kids brought tears to our eyes. One of the teachers thanked the team for coming and for sharing with the school and welcomed us to future visits. As a bonus, the teachers brought out the rest of the students, and as luck would have it, we had enough toys and chocolate to give them all a gift, too. In total the school has 32 students. Just before the team left some of the children gave the team members giant hugs before rushing back to class. It was a moving experience and one the team will never forget.

DWC Participant
Dan

Huancayo, Peru: Tuesday's activities.

After days of scraping concrete, filling holes and cracks, base coats again and again, Maestro Jorge worked his baton and had the team working to finish the project with the final coats of color. Dan was up to his elbows in paint, literally mixing the paint with his hands so that the crew could once again put another coat of paint on the ceiling. It is absolutely amazing how great the final product looks and will brighten up the school and the neighborhood.

Once back at the hotel ,cleaned and refreshed, the team split into two groups one to go shopping for Alpaca blankets and the other to work on their natural beauty (manicures, pedicures and even one hair cut). We will let you guess who was on each team.

Charlotte the Tortuga is always on our minds. Throughout the trip little turtles have been appearing in the weirdest and oddest places. We think it is Charlotte’s spirit reminding us to work hard, have fun and that slow and steady wins the day.

Even though we had worked hard during the day, we were up to learning more Peruvian culture hosted by Jesse and the office staff. Callientitos, Pisco Sours, and new dance moves at a local establishment made for a very fun evening. Connie and Judy were especially good students, quickly picking up the groove.

DWC Participant
Dan

Huancayo, Peru: Monday of Holy Week.

The week started off in a good and productive manner. We arrived at the work site well rested from the weekend and ready to paint. It wasn’t long before Jorge (the painting maestro) had the spatula’s out, and pointing “Aqui, Aqui” It is so hard to believe that we missed so many spots. This is going to be the best finished ceiling in Huancayo. It is amazing to see the workmanship that is possible with limited resources and tools.

It is really cool to see all the pomp and ceremony of Holy Week . Each evening the Church square comes alive with elaborate processions around the square each celebrating a significant event in Christs’ life leading up to Easter Sunday. The streets are lined with families creating and selling elaborate woven palm leaves, sheath’s of wheat and breads to sell to the faithful. It has become a nightly ritual for us to watch the festivities as they occur.

Funny after seven days in Huancayo, we noticed that there are no franchise fast food restaurants in town, or at least none that we have seen. The streets are crowded with vendors selling incredibly smelling treats and tasty food, and little independent restaurants in every nook and cranny but no Americanized “McDonalds”. It seems like a little pocket that North America has not really found yet.

DWC Participant
Dan

Huancayo, Peru: Updates from the first week.

We all arrived in Lima at different times, odd times, early or perhaps late times. Our team leader Tom Fair had everything organized so it was trouble-free travel upon arrival. There was a driver with name cards to identify us at the airport. In no time, he drove us to the Bayview Hotel in Miraflores. Dan and Tom arrived about 1:30 am on the 7th, just in time to have a celebratory beer. Paul arrived about 5:30 am, knocking on Dan's door to get a couple hours shut-eye before starting the Lima adventure. Conny flew in from Germany on the Apr 7th at about 10:00 pm. Finally Judy arrived on the 9th at 1:30 am, bursting through her roommate Conny's door and waking the whole hotel up. Judy's energy continues to carry on through this Peruvian adventure.

Tom arranged accommodation at the Bayview Hotel in Miraflores. It is quaint and very central to the action in the neighbourhood. Miraflores is an upscale part of Lima close to the coast. Staff at the hotel are friendly and helpful. One of the highlights of the hotel is a big turtle in the back patio. The team has named the turtle Charlotte. Dan is deathly afraid of Charlotte and has nightmares of her biting his toes off. However, Dan and Charlotte grown to live in a state of happy co-dependency, as Charlotte is fed fruit daily and in turn acts as a wine caddy by night.

It is unusual to have few days of free time before starting on the project in Huancayo. Some planned for a day or two to get adjusted. However we were set back a day because of the Presidential election, which wasn't hard to miss as every street was nearly covered in campaign posters or graffiti of various parties and their candidates. Everything shuts down for the day including buses to Huancayo and the sale of wine and beer. Given extra time for team building, the first order of business appeared to be to create names for team members.

Some how, it is a long story that no one quite remembers (or perhaps chooses to forget) but Dan was given the name red chicken. He didn't like that so much so we changed the name to 'Pollo Rojo' (red chicken). He still doesn't like it but consensus ruled. Since then he has become Senor Atlas. Another long story is how Tom got his name but everyone remembers this one. While eating at a restaurant the first evening in town Tom adventurously ordered a dish he was not familiar with. When the dish arrived, there was a large pile of what looked like chicken livers. Dan and Paul tried a piece each and agreed that one piece was just fine. Tom dug in and eat about half. Turns out that they were chicken hearts, thus the name Muchos Corazones, or Many hearts. Tio Thomas (Uncle Thomas) is Tom's other name. Conny quickly received the name Pequeno Diablo (Little Devil) because of the sparkle in her eyes. She brings really great energy to the team and adds a more international flavour to the group. When she speaks Spanish it is her third language. Judy has few names. Lima is hot and with her fair skin and red hair she was soon known as Frito Camarones (fried shrimp). And day or so later with some attention from local boys Roberto and Alberto she also became known as Abja Reina (Queen Bee). At times she shares the same name given to Paul, which is Momma Sito but hers is the feminine form of Momma Sita, for at they times parent the group. Possibly from missing their children at home. Paul is also known as San Pablo (Saint Paul) he acts as body guard to Conny and Judy when out on the streets seeing as he stands a good foot or two above the locals and keeps an eye out for possible danger. A better name would be Grande Pablo.

On a more serious note, we discovered that Lima has excellent cuisine (aside from chicken hearts), good shopping and many interesting districts to visit. Dan and Paul had a go at surfing. The ocean off Lima has a consistent 5 foot breakers and it was tough even getting out to try to catch a wave. The instructors would yell 'paddle! paddle! paddle!' for encouragement and one time Paul (or maybe Dan) turned back to their instructor and yelled 'But I am!'. Dan successfully got up after a few tries, whilst Paul only managed to get to his knees on the board then toppled over. However they got back to the shore they were both happy with the experience. Dan and Paul weren't the only ones to catch a wave though. Conny, Tom and Judy had stayed on shore to watch the boys surf. Before heading out Paul had prophetically mentioned never to turn your back to the ocean. Well, apparently the ocean doesn't like to be ignored either! During a conversation between Judy and Tom a rogue waved completely doused the two from head to toe. Conny being more mindful of her surroundings managed to jump out of the way and was spared wet clothing.

We took the bus to Huancayo on the 12th and started our project at the school on the 13th. The bus ride was long but comfortable as the bus taken was a double decker tour type. We were able to watch three movies in big reclining chairs and was served a dinner too. The road was twisty and seemed to climb endlessly into the heart of the Andes. At times the bus slowed to a crawl and we were able to watch the Andes 500 as other vehicles would dangerously pass us on the narrow roads; one side at times being a cliff and the other the mountain wall. So there was little room for error. The best way to deal with this was to just go to sleep and hope you woke up still alive.

Our bus driver safely brought us into Huancayo late in the night and the team was greeted at the bus terminal by a large contingent of locals involved with the project. We immediately felt very welcomed and watched our luggage be whisked away by truck to the hotel, Los Balcones. After being on the bus for 8 plus hours a walk to the hotel with Violetta (the project co-ordinator) sounded perfect. We all felt the altitude (Huancayo being 10,500 feet) by the time we arrived. Even after being here a for nearly a week climbing the two flights of stairs to our rooms leaves us out of breath at times and it is not that we are in bad shape or so we hope anyways.

Work started on the 13th and so far the team have put in three full days. The day starts with breakfast at the corner cafe and the van picking the team up at 8:15. The same route to the work site is rarely taken more than once so there has been a great opportunity for the team to see Huancayo. There are many Volkswagen Bugs used as transportation in Peru and naturally the game Punch Bug was started to pass the time during the drive to the worksite. It has now become a death match game between Dan and Judy with Conny and Tom being helpful at pointing out the upcoming Bugs for the two of them.

The plan for the group originally was building desks, unbeknown to group leader Tom the plan had changed. The team was now to paint the upper level of the administration building. Day One had the team scraping and sanding the walls and ceiling smooth for the paint. We are all fast workers and in a couple hours had that done. We felt good about our accomplishment and looked forward to the next day's schedule of painting. Days two and three were spent filling holes and cracks with putty and then scraping and sanding the areas smooth in preparation of painting. The afternoon of day three the team was able to put up the first coat of paint. Day four saw the second coat and then a third coat of paint go up. Week two has been scheduled for working on garden plots which are incorporated into the walkway design in the courtyard area. The walkway was made by a previous DWC team and their team members names can be found written in cement tiles, sometimes accompanied with Canadian pins or Canadian money for embellishment.

Each day the group is greeted at the work site by their interpretor, Jesse. Jesse spends the day with us and helps with communication between the painter and the team members. We tend to make a mess of the Spanish language but no one can say we don't try. Jesse is very patient with our attempts at it. At lunch time the Huancayo home team, consisting of Nancy, Christian and Huan Carlos, arrive with lunch. The meal is always delicious with a lot of variety to choose from. The home team has been very accommodating and helpful.

Jesse has also worked as a tour guide for the team. She has taken the team to see many sites in and out of Huanycayo and helped to explain some of Huancayo's history. One night she arranged for the group to go see traditional Huancayo musicians complete with dancers who performed two dances specific to the city of Huancayo. At one point the dancers picked Conny and Dan to join in on the second dance. The team has also seen how alpaca wool is made into yarn and weaved for blankets.

Come back and read up on the team members various adventures and illnesses!

Collaborative effort by DWC Participants,
Judy, Paul and Dan