Community Service: Peru B 2011

Above, Ben and Chris get to work early in the day by spreading barro, sifted dirt and water, on top of adobe bricks to act as mortar. It is a messy job but the students have been working hard to complete as much of the health clinic as possible. When not mixing barro, other students are moving 40 lb. bricks and stacking them according to the local traditional methods. The room divisions are visible and an entryway is taking shape.

Above, Caroline, Michelle, and Maddy pose with new friends after the First Annual Pachar Field Day in Pachar! We took on one grade level at a time and played a mix of both American and Peruvian games. We learned Chapa-chapa (tag) and Pato, Pato, Ganso, (Duck, Duck, Goose). We also taught the children how to play with water balloons and egg races. It was a lot of fun and we will be sad to say good bye to our friends at the school.

Above, Alex T. races around the circle to catch Jaino! Nicole clearly thinks she won’t make it while Maddy sits patiently awaiting her turn. Having a soccer field right outside of our bedrooms has been amazing! Valentina, our canine mascot, makes an appearance in the back, right side of the picture. Caroline T. and Ben R. were responsible for her meals and overall health as their independent project, while the entire group took turns giving her lots of cuddles and a place to sleep at night.

On Saturday, we took a mountain biking expedition to Moray and Salineiras. On the way to the site, our guides told us about the Incan terraces as an agricultural laboratory. Each steppe is a 0.5C degree difference from the center ring. A large white stone is buried under the center and absorbs heat from the sunlight during the day. Our students continue to be amazed by Inca architecture…

The mountain biking experience was amazing. We started at 3,800 meters and rode down to the city for a picnic lunch. Fresh cheese, ham, avocado, and tomatoes with bread awaited us–  it was delicious! Many of us had seconds or thirds. After lunch, we hopped back on our bikes for our ride to Salineras, the Salt Mines. It was mostly downhill and aside from a couple of minor falls and scrapes, we made it!

Many residents of the city come down to work the Salt mines. Each farmer has about 10-12 basins from which to gather salt. A major canal and smaller arteries connect the whole network to the natural source of salt water. One taste proved it was much saltier than the ocean!  Amidst a ridge in the valley, it was an incredible sight. After we checked out the salt mines, we had a 10 minute bike ride down the face of the mountain before crossing the river to meet Valentina, Rebecca, Kolbey, and Emily for our drive home.

That’s all for now.  All is well here!

-Jamie and Evan

Construction of the poste de salud, or community health clinic, in Pachar is coming along great. First, we leveled out the construction site, which involved breaking up and moving massive amounts of old adobe brick.  Recently we have been digging trenches for the foundation and now we are getting ready to start on the walls. Our foreman Victor has really livened up the group, and the group loves his dog and her new pup, who come with him to work every day!  Hundreds if not thousands of adobe bricks are drying out in the area surrounding our worksite.  Mixing the adobe involves hopping around barefoot in knee-high mud to create the perfect mud and grass.  Thus far we have left this work to the pros, the locals.

Tomorrow the students start teaching English and Physical Education classes at one of the local primary schools.  Everyone is excited to begin this work with the children!

Saludos!

Evan and Jamie

Here is the entire group posing at the top of La Fortaleza overlooking Ollantaytambo. The Incas designed this fortress in the shape of a llama, one of their sacred animals, and the 21st of June the sun casts direct rays into the llama's eye.

Here the boys pose on some of the ruins strewn along the hillside

Kolbey and Rebecca getting down to work during the Faena.

Our Shaman ritual was fantastic! He was really interesting and talked a lot about bringing together the aguila (eagle) and condor, the two birds that represent our respective cultures. He also told us that it was up to us and our generation to make the changes to save the pachamama, mother earth. Near the end, before we burned the offering to the pachamama, we each picked from a bag a rolled up piece of paper that contained a gift inside. Ben R. got gold and silver sequins. The sequins symbolized wealth but only if he shared his earnings with others and helped his community. Maddy got chickpea seeds and she was told that all that she harvested would be bountiful and good. Chris got salt and he would act as our rock of health. Each of the gifts also represented what our students would contribute to the group during this trip. We ended the ritual with a bonfire and a circle of hugs. It was a great way to set the tone of the trip!

We also were able to explore the Ollantaytambo fortress with an English-speaking tour guide, Alberto. He showed us so many secrets! There was one fountain, where priestesses bathed, and we learned how to turn the water on and off. Caroline T. was best able to control the water speed. We took a break for lunch and send the students away in small groups to get lunch and finish up their shopping. They found some interesting things! Chris and Benji have nice alpaca ‘old man’ cardigans. Alex F. got a hand beaded hat and Nicole has a beautiful puma tooth necklace.  Rebecca is our resident bargainer!

Wednesday afternoon we traveled to Ollanta’s stadium to play ultimate frisbee. Kolbey and Michelle adopted two little girls along the way. When we got to the stadium, we found another volunteer group to play soccer with. Allie is our champion soccer player… she seems unaffected by the altitude and has no trouble keeping up with the boys. Kolbey and Michelle taught the girls frisbee and were able to practice their Spanish. For dinner, we ate an amazing meal of soup, salad, chicken, and chocolate cake! Wednesday was a solid day and we headed to bed to rest before heading to Pachar the next morning.

On Thursday morning, we packed our bags, had a bit of free time to explore, and then ate a picnic lunch in the garden of the hostel. It was delicious! We ate chicken empanadas, apples, and chips prepared by Hearts Cafe, a local cafe and NGO. We departed for Pachar.

Our adventure has truly begun, best exemplified by the cow that greeted us at the school gate when we arrived!  We are living at the school where the girls are sleeping in a nursery classroom and the boys are in another classroom at the other end of the school.   We have all settled in quite nicely into our routines and sleeping conditions, although our bathrooms are quite rustic!  Our students are adapting well though and many new jokes have emerged! Our cooks, Feliciano and Edarr, are amazing. They keep us so content and our bellies full. We have explored lots of types of Peruvian cuisine and everyone has been ecstatic about the food.

On Sunday, we gave the cooks a break and made our own lunch. Jamie, Kolbey, and Allie made whole wheat macaroni and cheese (they were able to find 7 boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese in town).  Needless to say, it was a nice way to mix up the routine and it satisfied everyone! Ben R. and Rebecca did a superb job of cleaning the dishes and getting everything clean with tubs of water. Impressive.

On Saturday night, we attended the local church service at 6pm. We were invited by one of our main contacts in town. The service was not very long, but we definitely felt like we were on stage as many of the local children couldn’t help but glance our way! We met most of the town’s youth and even got invited to a birthday party.

On Sunday we had a faena and the entire community came out to work with us. on our project site. We worked hard during the morning and made incredible progress! After lunch we took a hike along the railroad tracks to reach an Incan temple for the gods of the moon and lightning; The Ministry of Culture had begun to restore the temple but due to the elections and change of government, it has since been left aside.   The terrain was flat until the last 20 minutes, and then we hiked straight up the mountainside to get to the temple, which was buried inside the mouth of the cave.

This week we are working in Pachar until Thursday when we will head back to Ollanta for a long weekend. Spirits are  high and we are really enjoying each other as a group!

Saludos,
Jamie and Evan

Our early leader, Jamie, met the rest of us in Cusco with a big red bus, lots of hugs for everyone, and yummy croissants! Everyone was doing well, although incredibly exhausted, and we set off on the bus headed to Ollantaytambo, our home for the next 3 days and weekends.  Most of the students fell asleep as we passed through Cusco and made our way to the far end of the city of Chinchero, where we briefly stopped at a look out point to see the Andes, freshly capped with snow, and the Sacred Valley.

We arrived in Ollantaytamba (Ollanta to locals) around 1pm and headed straight to the Plaza de Armas, the center of town, for an amazing lunch at Pachamama Grill. Everyone tried the traditional quinoa soup, grilled chicken, and chicha morada – a drink made from purple maiz! Our students have been amazing thus far trying everything with open eyes and really look for a real cultural experience here. We walked back to the hostel, a quick jaunt from the Plaza, and it was high time for sleep, showers, and unpacking. Some chose to play sapo, a popular game where you throw “gold” coins from a distance and try to get it into a little frog’s mouth for points. So far, Chandon has scored twice!  Eventually, the boys went with Evan for a short hike to release some energy and to get a better view of the town.

Our 4th of July dinner was at Hearts Cafe, where we announced ourselves with great flare. Alex F. donned a bowtie while Greg looked stunning in his starry sunglasses. The food was delicious at this organic and mostly vegetarian restaurant and although tired, the students were really starting to get to know each other and enjoy one another’s company. We, Evan and Jamie, are so excited to get to know the students more as the trip continues. Our first nightly meeting began with highs and lows and a general check-in on everyone. With Tuesday’s schedule in place, we all headed to bed.

Bright-eyed students ate pancakes and got ready for orientation, for which they would travel down the road to use the outside space at Full Moon Hostel.  We played icebreakers, discussed the next month ahead, and watched the resident kitten chase and eat a butterfly until lunch time. We traveled to the Plaza de Armas together, split into half groups to exchange money and call home, and then reconvened to split into 3 small groups to go off and eat lunch!

At 3pm, the group huddled together and set off to hike off to the famous ruins of Pinkulluna, known as a storehouse for the Incas that lived nearby.  It was challenging because of the altitude, but everyone made it to the ruins for some incredible pictures and group bonding time on the face of the mountain. Our students really stuck together and many laughs were had!  While others waited at the bottom, Caroline T. gave a mini-photography lesson to small child, Alfonso. He was quite good at the camera and really enjoyed seeing his dashing young self on the screen. With a bit of time before dinner, the group split up into shopping excursions, hanging out, and walking to a nearby field to play some frisbee.

Dinner was amazing! Ben G. (well, he’s earned the name Benji) tried a rocoto pepper and perhaps learned his lesson about the potential spiciness of Peruvian cuisine. After lots of flailing about and some bread, his mouth returned to a normal PH level. We followed dinner with a nightly meeting where each student and leader got a bracelet made by a really sweet girl in Cusco. The group started with shout-outs, calling out someone else they felt really made the day in some way. Caroline G. made the leaders feel great when she said, “Shout Out to Evan and Jamie for making a great first full day.” Aww…so nice. Lots of warm feelings and laughs were shared. We shared Wednesday’s schedule: a trip to the fortress, the famous Ollantaytambo ruins, some free time, and intense altitude-driven game of ultimate frisbee at 4pm before dinner and a big surprise at 7pm. We will let you in on it: a classic shaman ritual of a blessing to the group before we depart to Pachar tomorrow and a bonfire. Nothing could be more exciting!

We are excited about our project village, Pachar.  The school is amazing, complete with a soccer field, basketball, and tennis court. There is a nursery and primary school and lots of children!  On Saturday, the town of Pachar has called for a faena, a community workday to support our work and help speed up the construction. Things have really fallen into place and the students are excited to see all the activities that are waiting for them: coaching, teaching English and computation, and working on the health clinic.

This group is amazing thus far and the possibilities are endless!

Saludos,
Jamie and Evan

We’ve received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in Lima.

We know that parents love to keep up to date on their kids’ activities during our programs.  While we expect that most of our participants will take the time to be in touch occasionally, we have found that it is helpful to parents for our leaders to post periodic updates on this blog.  Obviously, blog posts will not provide detailed information about your child, but they will let you know about some of the group’s activities, projects, and excursions.

The frequency of blog posts varies from program to program depending on internet access (which can be limited), and each group’s itinerary and busy schedule of activities.  Please rest assured that we can reach leaders at any time and that we will discuss any important issues concerning your child directly them and with you.  As you know, you can reach us by phone at our office during business hours, and on our emergency line 24/7 if necessary.

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Have a fantastic summer!