Friday, December 9, 2011
A day in the life.
So, last week, I had to give a presentation about costs and prices to a group of farmers near my town. I walked to the main road and waved down a milk truck to hitch a free ride. There were about 10 Peruvians on the back of the truck but I managed to squeeze in. While I’m standing in the back it starts raining and I have to start ducking because of the tree branches. I also take advantage to cover my handouts I had prepared. An hour later, I arrived to my meeting right on time. They took me to a really old adobe house and walked me to where I’d be giving my presentation. There were exactly four really old beds in the room. What can you do? At least there was electricity! I connected my projector, told everyone to take a seat…on the beds…and that’s the day in the life!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Living through it.
I remember hearing from several people in my town that there was going to be a strike on Thursday, November 24, because of a gold mine project here in the area. I didn’t really give it much thought or think it would be a big deal. Boy, was I wrong. I was in for an interesting and unforgettable experience.
After months of anxiously waiting, on Thanksgiving Day, I was expecting a shipment of 2000 books from the States for a library I’m helping start. I was bummed to hear they wouldn’t be making it on time. I was told to wait until that Saturday. So, Thursday comes along and all roads going into the capital city of where I live were blocked. No one could go in or out. Thanksgiving was very uneventful. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and still no books. During this time, local business owners were starting to become affected. A person that relied on their daily income by selling their milk was out of luck, any person that relied on selling fresh fruit or fish from the coast was also out of luck, food prices went up 200%. There was a scarcity of food, every road was blocked and business owners were suffering badly. Nestle or Gloria milk trucks were not allowed to enter the area. There were protestors camping out on every single entrance to the city and if you tried to go through, it was a risk of getting hurt. Wednesday, November 30, they decided to have an even stronger protest. Here in my town, every single store was closed and school was cancelled. You couldn’t find anywhere to buy water, groceries, make copies, etc. It felt like a ghost town while everyone went to protest. The two main roads in my town were blocked with huge burning tree trunks and tires. There was no way to go in or out. The whole region was paralyzed and as the government called it, “being held hostage.” Locals have every right to protest but on the contrary the mine has given thousand of jobs to Peruvians and is a huge source of investment for Perú. By this time, as a volunteer I was not allowed to go anywhere for safety reasons. This went on until Sunday evening, when at midnight the President declared Cajamarca in State of Emergency. Thousands of troops and police have arrived since and protestors would be arrested if this continued. Helicopters have been roaming the area. The roads finally opened up, protestors are starting to die down and the gold mine project has been temporarily suspended.
It makes such a difference when you live through it rather than reading about it. My heart goes out for locals who are opposed to this gold mine project because lakes that will be exploded is the source of water everyone relies on here (even me). Then again, the mine explains how they will build new lakes, although it will not be the same. There are many arguments to both stories. What I did learn form all this is that one needs to be informed to dialogue and come to an agreement. I made sure to keep my opinions to myself considering I’m an American and the gold mine is from the United States.
Here are a few articles about the situation:
http://www.economist.com/node/21538788
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15884119
On a brighter note, we are going to pick up the 2,000 books tomorrow to the capital city! Also, I’ll be visiting the States this Christmas and New Years to spend it with my family in Arizona!!! There is so much to look forward to. I have 8 months left of my Peace Corps Service and many new and exciting projects I will soon share with you all!
Happy Holidays and thanks for reading!
After months of anxiously waiting, on Thanksgiving Day, I was expecting a shipment of 2000 books from the States for a library I’m helping start. I was bummed to hear they wouldn’t be making it on time. I was told to wait until that Saturday. So, Thursday comes along and all roads going into the capital city of where I live were blocked. No one could go in or out. Thanksgiving was very uneventful. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and still no books. During this time, local business owners were starting to become affected. A person that relied on their daily income by selling their milk was out of luck, any person that relied on selling fresh fruit or fish from the coast was also out of luck, food prices went up 200%. There was a scarcity of food, every road was blocked and business owners were suffering badly. Nestle or Gloria milk trucks were not allowed to enter the area. There were protestors camping out on every single entrance to the city and if you tried to go through, it was a risk of getting hurt. Wednesday, November 30, they decided to have an even stronger protest. Here in my town, every single store was closed and school was cancelled. You couldn’t find anywhere to buy water, groceries, make copies, etc. It felt like a ghost town while everyone went to protest. The two main roads in my town were blocked with huge burning tree trunks and tires. There was no way to go in or out. The whole region was paralyzed and as the government called it, “being held hostage.” Locals have every right to protest but on the contrary the mine has given thousand of jobs to Peruvians and is a huge source of investment for Perú. By this time, as a volunteer I was not allowed to go anywhere for safety reasons. This went on until Sunday evening, when at midnight the President declared Cajamarca in State of Emergency. Thousands of troops and police have arrived since and protestors would be arrested if this continued. Helicopters have been roaming the area. The roads finally opened up, protestors are starting to die down and the gold mine project has been temporarily suspended.
It makes such a difference when you live through it rather than reading about it. My heart goes out for locals who are opposed to this gold mine project because lakes that will be exploded is the source of water everyone relies on here (even me). Then again, the mine explains how they will build new lakes, although it will not be the same. There are many arguments to both stories. What I did learn form all this is that one needs to be informed to dialogue and come to an agreement. I made sure to keep my opinions to myself considering I’m an American and the gold mine is from the United States.
Here are a few articles about the situation:
http://www.economist.com/node/21538788
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15884119
On a brighter note, we are going to pick up the 2,000 books tomorrow to the capital city! Also, I’ll be visiting the States this Christmas and New Years to spend it with my family in Arizona!!! There is so much to look forward to. I have 8 months left of my Peace Corps Service and many new and exciting projects I will soon share with you all!
Happy Holidays and thanks for reading!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
In the past year.
Finally! I decided it’s time I update all of you on what has been going on in my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It is hard to decide where to begin but I’ll start off saying this: It has been a roller coaster of emotions and unforgettable experiences.
I will share with you three things: My work, my travels and my birthday this year. Also, I’ll include in the end some interesting Peruvian habits I have picked up.
Work:
If I want to have a meeting at 5 p.m., I need to let everyone know the meeting starts at 3 p.m. I am no exaggerating when I say everyone shows up to meetings hours late. That is how it works and I am finally getting the hang of it. If I want to go make copies before a class I have to teach, I know I need to leave 45 before, even though the copy store is 4 houses from mine. The paper always gets jammed if I want to make more than 3 copies at a time. In order for everyone to show up to my meeting, I need to go stalk their homes and confirm they are coming. This is after I call them consistently until they answer and I tell them it’s me again to remind them about the “meeting.” Finally, when I am at the meeting, I call them again to let them know I am there. THESE are the challenges to getting any work done in my town and yet I have accomplished a good amount in the past year! It has been hard, frustrating and there have been times where I just want to give up. Hanging in makes you that much stronger to facing any challenge, struggles, frustrations, etc.
WORK:
1. Savings and Credit Program (micro-lending): After hosting meetings, promoting it to dozens of community members, and being stood up for months, I finally started the first community bank in my town. The bank is called “Banco S.P.,” and has 12 shares, each valuing at S./5 (about $2.50 each). The idea is that each owner of a share has to invest S./5 weekly in the bank, and as the money builds up, they have easy access to credit with a small interest rate of 2%. They have to repay the money in a month to give the opportunity to others that want to borrow, weather it is to invest in their small business or for a family emergency. In the end, the shares are divided with the interest rate they earned for lending their money. It’s an amazing way to teach them how to save and borrow money wisely.
2. Promoting Literature: The first library building ever in my town is almost done being built! I managed to form a committee and we have accomplished so much these past months. We received a book grant of 2000 books from an NGO in the U.S., this was all thanks to two amazing sponsors. They are at sea right now on their way to Peru! It was not easy but will be totally worth it. Right now our issue is transporting the books from Lima to my town. The costs are an obstacle and we are fundraising to cover them.
3. Artisans: I have been working with a group of Artisans for the past year. I teach them basic concepts on business and how to become a more competitive association. We’ve managed to look for local markets and started weekly meetings where they all learn new ideas on weaving. I will post some pictures of their work on another blog. If you are interested in purchasing, let me know! You wont get the tourist price ☺Their work is beautiful!
4. Youth Entrepreneurship: This has been my most successful project, yet. I taught a business course at the local institute. It lasted three months and 40 students learned how to write their own business plans. In groups, they presented their ideas to a panel of judges. In the end, the winning group had the opportunity to travel to Lima to compete at the U.S. Embassy and my group won 3rd place!! They received more than half of the funding for them to start their business. The local municipality is helping with the rest of the money. Soon two students from the Institute will implement a new business in San Pablo! The business idea and plan they wrote was raising Cuys (guinea pigs) and selling them to local restaurants for profit. Fried “Cuy” is one of the most famous dishes in Peru.
TRAVELS:
I have had the opportunity to visit so many beautiful places in Peru but there is one place that I will never forget: Lake Titicaca. We all learn about it in middle school but what they didn’t teach us is that people live on the enormous lake. They build their own little islands out of hay and roots of a certain plant. They literally live on tiny floating islands. I posted pictures below so you can see.
BIRTHDAY:
It was amazing and unforgettable. My town threw me a surprise birthday celebration. My whole English Class was there, friends from the municipality, the artisans, my family, friends, etc. About 70 people were waiting for me at the restaurant. They had a beautiful band playing Mexican music, it was decorated so nice, the cake was delicious and to top it off they served Mexican Tacos for dinner!! The next morning for breakfast my family made me pancakes, eggs and oatmeal! It was the best birthday I could have ever asked for.
PERUVIAN HABITS I HAVE AQUIRED:
I say “YA” after every sentence (means OK in English)
I drink Inca Kola like water
I call someone on the phone consistently until they pick up
I whine when I ask for things
I take a nap after I eat lunch
I consider my birthday a holiday (which is why I have dedicated time to writing this)
If you are interested in helping or partnering with any of my projects, email me. Thanks for reading!
Lake Titicaca
Teaching business
Milking cows on a Sunday morning
I will share with you three things: My work, my travels and my birthday this year. Also, I’ll include in the end some interesting Peruvian habits I have picked up.
Work:
If I want to have a meeting at 5 p.m., I need to let everyone know the meeting starts at 3 p.m. I am no exaggerating when I say everyone shows up to meetings hours late. That is how it works and I am finally getting the hang of it. If I want to go make copies before a class I have to teach, I know I need to leave 45 before, even though the copy store is 4 houses from mine. The paper always gets jammed if I want to make more than 3 copies at a time. In order for everyone to show up to my meeting, I need to go stalk their homes and confirm they are coming. This is after I call them consistently until they answer and I tell them it’s me again to remind them about the “meeting.” Finally, when I am at the meeting, I call them again to let them know I am there. THESE are the challenges to getting any work done in my town and yet I have accomplished a good amount in the past year! It has been hard, frustrating and there have been times where I just want to give up. Hanging in makes you that much stronger to facing any challenge, struggles, frustrations, etc.
WORK:
1. Savings and Credit Program (micro-lending): After hosting meetings, promoting it to dozens of community members, and being stood up for months, I finally started the first community bank in my town. The bank is called “Banco S.P.,” and has 12 shares, each valuing at S./5 (about $2.50 each). The idea is that each owner of a share has to invest S./5 weekly in the bank, and as the money builds up, they have easy access to credit with a small interest rate of 2%. They have to repay the money in a month to give the opportunity to others that want to borrow, weather it is to invest in their small business or for a family emergency. In the end, the shares are divided with the interest rate they earned for lending their money. It’s an amazing way to teach them how to save and borrow money wisely.
2. Promoting Literature: The first library building ever in my town is almost done being built! I managed to form a committee and we have accomplished so much these past months. We received a book grant of 2000 books from an NGO in the U.S., this was all thanks to two amazing sponsors. They are at sea right now on their way to Peru! It was not easy but will be totally worth it. Right now our issue is transporting the books from Lima to my town. The costs are an obstacle and we are fundraising to cover them.
3. Artisans: I have been working with a group of Artisans for the past year. I teach them basic concepts on business and how to become a more competitive association. We’ve managed to look for local markets and started weekly meetings where they all learn new ideas on weaving. I will post some pictures of their work on another blog. If you are interested in purchasing, let me know! You wont get the tourist price ☺Their work is beautiful!
4. Youth Entrepreneurship: This has been my most successful project, yet. I taught a business course at the local institute. It lasted three months and 40 students learned how to write their own business plans. In groups, they presented their ideas to a panel of judges. In the end, the winning group had the opportunity to travel to Lima to compete at the U.S. Embassy and my group won 3rd place!! They received more than half of the funding for them to start their business. The local municipality is helping with the rest of the money. Soon two students from the Institute will implement a new business in San Pablo! The business idea and plan they wrote was raising Cuys (guinea pigs) and selling them to local restaurants for profit. Fried “Cuy” is one of the most famous dishes in Peru.
TRAVELS:
I have had the opportunity to visit so many beautiful places in Peru but there is one place that I will never forget: Lake Titicaca. We all learn about it in middle school but what they didn’t teach us is that people live on the enormous lake. They build their own little islands out of hay and roots of a certain plant. They literally live on tiny floating islands. I posted pictures below so you can see.
BIRTHDAY:
It was amazing and unforgettable. My town threw me a surprise birthday celebration. My whole English Class was there, friends from the municipality, the artisans, my family, friends, etc. About 70 people were waiting for me at the restaurant. They had a beautiful band playing Mexican music, it was decorated so nice, the cake was delicious and to top it off they served Mexican Tacos for dinner!! The next morning for breakfast my family made me pancakes, eggs and oatmeal! It was the best birthday I could have ever asked for.
PERUVIAN HABITS I HAVE AQUIRED:
I say “YA” after every sentence (means OK in English)
I drink Inca Kola like water
I call someone on the phone consistently until they pick up
I whine when I ask for things
I take a nap after I eat lunch
I consider my birthday a holiday (which is why I have dedicated time to writing this)
If you are interested in helping or partnering with any of my projects, email me. Thanks for reading!
Lake Titicaca
Teaching business
Milking cows on a Sunday morning
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