Home Sweet Home

On the evening of December 23, 2010 I left Peru for the first time since arriving in June 2009. I got to the Miami airport and was immediately in heaven with all the options of food available to me. Arriving in Cincinnati I literally had to pull myself away from the Bruegger’s in the airport (there are no bagels in Peru), but it was totally worth the wait. After a teary-eyed reunion with the fam, we had the best brunch I could have asked for: LaRosas pizza. Flavorful, cheesy, hot, delicious, FREE REFILLS included. I spent 2 weeks at home and had an amazing time. My bed was actually my size and my feet didn’t hang off the end. After getting over the initial jitters of driving for the first time in a year and a half, cars made transportation so easy and comfortable! There was an abundance of all the foods I’d been dreaming about just two steps away from me in the refrigerator and this same miracle device allowed me to be able to SAVE LEFTOVERS to eat later! I could lie on the couch or on top of carpeted floors all day without feeling like I was inconveniencing anybody. It was such a relief to be in my own environment, eating American foods, speaking the English language, dressing in American clothes. Shopping itself was incredible… the clothes were actually my size. Dresses that I bought here didn’t show my entire butt. SHOES in a size bigger than an 8 existed for women! Perhaps most notable to me was the rhyme and rhythm to everything. There are reasons people do things in the States and these reasons make sense to me. We don’t do a lot of pointless things or add extra steps to make things more complicated. To buy toothpaste in Peru at a pharmacy, you go to a cashier and tell them what you want (all products are behind the counter), then this person gives you a ticket. With this ticket you have to go to a window and pay and then you receive a receipt, with this receipt you have to go across the pharmacy to another window where you have to wait for them to give you what you asked for. In America, you pick out the toothpaste and pay for it. Simple, easy, genius. Other differences: the streets are not loaded with trash and NO ONE litters, people throw toilet paper in the actual toilet (took a while to get used to that one), things are A LOT more expensive, people talk on the phone for hours just to pass the time, dogs do not wander the streets and you can actually pet the ones that your friends own, there is hot water everywhere (including sinks in department stores which is just insane), people work out, internet is accessible in restaurants, and girls buy and pour their own drinks, just to name a few. I realized, being in the States, how luxurious the life is. Home was amazing, filled with fun nights out, reunions with family and friends (including out of town visits from Christina and Kara!), great food, and lots of relaxation. That’s why it kind of surprised me that upon leaving I felt excited. Instead of being sad to be returning Peru, I felt incredibly thankful for having a life in two different countries and I was looking forward to the final 6 months of Peace Corps service and the work it would bring.

New Government
My biggest worry coming back was the change in municipality officials. Last October Peru held municipal elections and in Vice a new political party was coming to power with a new mayor and new regidores. My counterpart, Don Lazo, wasn’t sure he would be able to keep his job (despite 11 years of working for the municipality without benefits) because he was from a different political affiliation. This was a big blow to me because Don Lazo supported me a lot and helped me get oriented with life in Peru. Well, after coming back, I tried to meet several times with the new mayor without a lot of luck since everyone in Vice wanted to talk with him. However, one day while waiting in the Municipality some of the workers invited me to judge what would be my dad’s worst nightmare: a traditional Peruvian food contest. For me, it was so much fun! It was the first time I got to be a judge of something besides an artisan contest. My goal is to be one of the judges for the Miss Vice competition in June. I will keep you all posted hehe. I ate ceviche (raw fish cooked in lime juice which is way more delicious than it sounds), other types of fish, causa (a potato dish), baked chicken and duck, and drank lots of chicha, a fermented corn drink that people drink from wooden bowls on the coast of Northern Peru. Anyway, full and satisfied, I met with the Lt. Mayor who happened to attend the contest. Her name (yes, a woman!) is Gladys Gutierrez and she worked as a nurse before getting into politics. She has actually been a huge help to me, getting interested in my projects, coming to artisan meetings, and helping me out when I need it. So in the end, although I lost a great counterpart in Don Lazo, Sra. Gladys has stepped right in, and in a way it’s been a great experience to start all over again, but this time knowing what I’m doing.

Artisans and Sustainability
As soon as I hit the ground in Piura I got to work. While I was in the States, my SPA Grant funds (money from USAID that I applied for through Peace Corps) was deposited in the account I opened so the artisans would finally be able to get to work. The project includes money for 3 big glass cases for an artisan store, a sewing and cutting machine, promotional materials, and a course in artesanía marina. So we broke into committees to start organizing and planning. During the process I realized that the artisans still had a lot of work to do as far is unifying. If you remember, last year around this time we formed a District Artisan Association to unite the 4 separate groups we had in the different areas of Vice. I could tell that these groups still were not working together as a team. Some people didn’t understand why Vice would get the glass cases and why the sewing and cutting machine would stay in Chalaco. It was frustrating but we had a meeting explaining everything and I think it turned out ok. There just weren’t enough funds available to buy supplies for 4 separate stores and 4 separate machines. In the end, if the artisans say I wasn’t being fair, I can live with it. I did what I could, and it’s a lot more than anyone else has done with them. The first thing we did was start buying supplies for the artisan store in Vice. The artisans has a workshop that they had been using next to the market in Vice on the main street so it was perfect. We painted and cleaned and bought the cases. Finally, we had to inauguration complete with champagne breaking, toasts, and snacks. The mayor, Sra. Gladys, and another regidor even came to the opening! Next the artisans from Chalaco went to Lima to buy the sewing and cutting machine. This is key to the artisans work to finish their products. Before, they had to pay people in other towns to cut and sew their weavings to make bags and purses. Now, they will be able to do that themselves! We also found out in the process that the association is finally formalized; bringing an group of women into the formal economy in Peru turned out to be a long and difficult year-long journey, but it’s finally done. We just need to finish the last step of registering in Peru’s IRS and we’re good to go. That’s where we are right now, and we’ve come a long way in the last year or so. I’m still extremely worried about sustainability though. I am the main link between the artisans that live in different towns and it gets difficult to maintain communication and participation. Also, trying to work with groups of women that have a natural distrust towards each other can be challenging. In my last few months I am going to focus on teaching them how to communicate with each other and maintain the organization. These 2 skills will be instrumental in the success of my service and the future of the artisans of Vice.

Vóley para Vice
As some of you may know, I applied for a grant through an NGO called Kids to Kids back in November. Kids to Kids gives small grant awards of up to $500 to Peace Corps volunteers who plan projects with children. I have been wanting to start a volleyball camp since I got here and realized that volleyball is the most popular, if not only, sport for girls in Peru. The problem before was, as is usually the case here with social development projects, lack of funding. However, with the help of Kids to Kids, it was simple to get it together. I have been able to buy 18 volleyballs, 2 nets, 4 poles for the nets, 2 ball pumps, 2 ball bags, 12 cones, and 2 whistles with this money. I still have money left over for a ball cart which I am waiting for from Lima and t-shirts for 40 participants. So now, the problem is that I have about 80 participants. I had originally limited the group size to 20 girls between 11 and 16 in Vice and the same in Chalaco (a kind of suburb of Vice). Well, there was just way too much interest and the groups have now grown to about 55 girls from age 8 to 16 in Vice and about 30 girls in Chalaco between the ages of 8 and 22. In the end it was really difficult to say no to these girls who had never played an organized sport (some of them have to play barefoot because they don’t have gym shoes) when I saw their enthusiasm. Each group practices twice a week: Vice, Monday and Wednesday 4 – 7 in the Coliseum and Chalaco, Tuesday and Thursday 5 – 8 on the town’s court. I had to increase each group’s time by an hour because of the amount of girls. In Vice, a local primary school teacher who also plays a little bit of volleyball helps me out which is a HUGE help. We started with two weeks of conditioning. It was a joke. The girls could not even run 3 laps around the volleyball court. They felt awkward and giggled the whole time while we were stretching. Now they are running suicides, and doing pushups, crunches, and wall sits. I have also taught passing, serving, and setting so far. The idea is to eventually split the girls up into teams to play in a tournament in June for Vice’s anniversary. Last week the girls had to form groups to present the information I gave them in booklets about the sport of volleyball. What I’m hoping to do is give these girls skills that they can use later in their lives as students, professionals, and mothers. We are teaching them about living a healthy life that includes exercise and sports, also about teamwork, communication, and leadership. They are learning presentation skills and how to work hard to achieve a goal. These are new things for a lot of them. After our first practice, which was a little frustrating for me, Karina, the professor who helps me, told me that these girls had never experienced something like this before. No one had ever taught them the right way of playing volleyball, they just gave them a ball and told them to hit it. In spite of their lack of experience and formal training the girls are advancing quickly. They are starting to understand discipline and hard work and they like being pushed to do well. The girls stayed an hour after our last practice just to pass the ball in groups. The group in Vice jogs home together after practice. It’s awesome to see the friendships that are forming and how they are coming together as teams. It’s something that is inspiring to me and also just a LOT of fun. I will keep you posted on updates and how the girls are doing as the time goes on.

Happy 50th Peace Corps!
This year marks Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary as an institution and we could not let it pass without celebrating. In Piura, my department capital, we had a small ceremony of about 90 people with the mayors of towns where we work, representatives from the governor of Piura, volunteers, their counterparts, and host family members. I was elected to be the volunteer speaker and had to give a 10 minute speech in Spanish. It was a challenge to write it and make it meaningful and funny. However, I pulled it off and was actually the only speaker of the event to get laughs out of the crowd. That just gives you an idea of how much my Spanish has improved!

Oil Giants in Vice
Yesterday I was at a town assembly called by the mayor. All of the citizens of Vice were invited, including all of the ex-mayors and ex-authorities. The topic of conversation was the involvement of a foreign oil company drilling on the district’s property. Apparently, this company has been drilling in the town of Tortuga (a suburb of Vice) for 11 years without paying a single cent to the Municipality. They haven’t so much as done one project for the people of Vice. The public is outraged. Last year in August they went to physically kick the workers out of the land. Now the company wants to drill in San Pedro, a beach in Vice which contains the famous mangroves of the district which are the pride and joy of all Viceños and an international protected area. They are NOT going to allow it. The assembly lasted for 4 hours in hot sun and the town wanted to stay for longer. Their belief is that the company has taken their resources without compensation. The drilling is also hurting the fishing industry which is a disaster for the working population of the district, half of which are fishermen. I have to be a skeptic listener since no representatives from the company were invited to speak at the event, but I saw first-hand the results of apparent irresponsibility of a big corporation coming to a small town and not giving back to the people. Some of the speakers even started blaming capitalism as the cause of all of their problems. Corporate responsibility is becoming more and more important in the global market place. The people of developing countries aren’t just going to sit back and let international companies take advantage of them.

In Other News
At the end of January we celebrated the fiesta of San Jacinto, the patron saint of Vice, which was a lot of fun. The activities were basically the same as last year but a lot more fun since I am more comfortable now. We went to the fiesta and danced all day and night, Peruvian style.

In the past I have talked about the microfinance projects that I’m working on. Last year I started 2 community banks and we just opened another last week. The number of members of the first bank in Chalaco doubled to 47, and when we couldn’t accept more members, another group of women had wanted to start their own. The banks have been a huge success and have really helped out their members. It still surprises me that I don’t have to go to the meetings for the bank to continue working.

Those are about all the updates I have. Besides the sweltering heat and unbearable sun, life is good here. Carnavales is coming up this weekend and next week, as well as International Women’s Day, and some visits from the States at the end of April. Time is flying and I’m trying to do the most I can with the time I have left here in Vice and Peru. Keep in touch!