How do you say…..

I have a confession: I’m not that great at speaking Spanish. A friend once told me that, for her, learning another language was like trying to run uphill, in three feet of snow, in the dark. I would have to agree, only would venture to add that said runner should probably be afflicted with a stomach ache, too. Although maybe I’m just biased, since some new form of bacteria  hit me yesterday. Fortunately no one I know in Huancayo speaks English, so I have no option but to continue improving. It’s a frustrating process, full of highs and lows - one day I’ll be chatting to my heart’s content, slipping in a few slang words, and hardly thinking twice about the fact that I’m speaking Spanish, and the next day find myself forgetting how to conjugate one of the most basic of verbs!

Break in blog: I have to pause to eat the  french fry, egg, and hamburger sandwich someone just handed me.

Needless to say, the process of learning another language is accompanied with some humor to alleviate the frustration. You can’t help but laugh upon realizing, hours after the fact, that when trying to say that your mother hates jasmine tea, you accidently said you hate your mother. Whoops. Why was I talking about my mother’s tea preferences? I have no idea. Luckily when you sound stupid 60% of the time you get used to laughing at yourself, and learn how to put aside your ego. Sometime after my first month of living here I realized I was so used to making language errors, sticking out, being yelled, whistled, and stared at in the streets, and being dependent on other people in the process of getting to know my new world, that it was practically impossible to be embarrassed by anything! I should admit that I had this realization after dropping a bottle of water on a guest speaker at one of CEDEPAS’ conferences…in front of about 100 people. Oh well.

The other day a new found friend asked me whether I felt uncomfortable walking around the city because of the unwanted attention. I told her that for me, uncomfortable was just the new comfortable. The truth is, in just one year of living here, I won’t manage to blend in – I look different, I sound different, and I have different cultural norms. The beauty of this, however, is that it’s okay. The common bind of humanity is far greater than our differences. In the words of Dutch priest Henri Nouwen, “it is good to be and especially to be one of many. What counts are not the special and unique accomplishments in life that make me different from others, but the basic experiences of sadness and joy, pain and healing, which make me a part of humanity.” He wrote these words while living Peru. Here in Peru, I, too, have found people with whom I can laugh, tell secrets, contemplate the state of the world and of God,  and share dreams. So what I’m really trying to say, is that I’m happy here with this new life of mine, despite the days that I speak Spanish like a 5 year-old.*

*That being said, I can’t pass up a rare opportunity to brag…the other night I was informed that I had been talking in my sleep – in Spanish!!

Wait, what am I drinking?

Some of the CEDEPAS girls in front of our anniversary flowers

Organic Farm in Chupaca

The last few days I’ve been mulling over what to write about next. So this morning, as I found myself grinding eggshells between two rocks alongside a path in an impoverished village, 12,000 or so feet up in the Andes mountains, I thought to myself: “well, I’ll just write about my day.”

After an hour of navigating dirt and rock roads with hair-pin turns so tight that at one point the driver had to back the truck up to the end of the cliff in order to make the corner, my co-workers and I arrived at the village of Cochangará. Today we had arranged to prepare organic fertilizer with the ECA in the community (definition of ECA in my previous post), and prepare the plot where we will be planting potatoes. In typical Peruvian fashion, we showed up about 1 1/2 hours late, hiked our supplies up the path to the field, and found the campesinos already at work. To till the soil the they use two steers, yoked together and hooked to tool which tears up the ground. I’ll post a photo soon.

While some people continued to work, we started the process of making the fertilizer- stepping through the animal dung to mix in crushed eggshells, yeast, molasses, and a number of different ingredients you can buy at the local market in Huancayo. After finishing the concoction, we began to haul water from the nearby stream, and to mix the 20-some large bags of poop together with the one shovel that had been brought to the field. 11 sets of steers, one shovel – some things I have yet to understand. It should be noted that in much of this work, I am only allowed to participate to a certain extent. My official job is to take photos of the process for the sake of CEDEPAS’ promotional materials, to take attendance, and to give assistance to my co-workers when they need it. Being 1) a gringa and 2) a woman, it takes some convincing that I can really get my hands dirty, but my co-workers (mainly 30+ year-old males) are starting to get used to the idea.

At some point during this process the community’s school teacher showed up with a snack of yogurt, and a large bottle of…well, of what I thought was water. After taking my first gulp out of the communal disposable plastic cup, I quickly discovered that it was a hard alcohol called Caña. I managed to hide my surprise – of course I knew I was about to throw back a shot at 11 in the morning. Only a naïve gringa would have thought it was water! 2 or 3 rounds later, we headed back to work and a group of teenagers continued their performance of  traditional Peruvian music with the well-polished saxophones they had lugged out to the field.

By the time all had been properly tilled and the fertilizer mixed, it was time for lunch. While I normally look forward to sharing meals with people out in the field, today was a bit of a challenge. You see, the digestive system takes a while to adjust to life in another country. So although I’ve been eating the same thing, more or less, for the last two and a half months, indigestion and its correlated problems have simply become a part of my every day life. Today, however, was worse than normal. By the time we were sitting down for lunch, I had been stifling the need to use the bathroom for, oh, about 7 hours. Yes, it’s amazing the things one’s body can put up with when given no alternative. Luckily I manage to sip my way through a bowl of soup, and my co-workers were only to happy to eat my share of the potatoes. After overcoming the post-lunch urge to curl up in the fetal position and groan, I said good-bye to the community members, snapped a photo with some guy who said he wanted to a “reminder of the gringita (little white woman),” and headed back down to the truck. After a short inspection under the hood,  it started up just fine and we wound our way back to the city.

It’s now evening here in the office, and soon I’ll be heading home. I’m dusty, or more accurately, covered in manure, and my usual sunburn has settled quite comfortably once again on my face.  It has been a long, but good,  12-hour day.

Note: this was written at a different time than posted – I didn’t actually do these things today. Just an explication for you skeptics who may be looking at the clock and saying ”please Anna, it’s 11 in the morning - you didn’t just finish a day at work…” Well, you’re right.

What I’m Actually Doing Here

Changos Bajo, Mantaro Valley in the region of Junín

Changos Bajo, Mantaro Valley in the region of Junín

“Social justice work,” “development work,” “organic farming” – just a few of the phrases I’ve thrown out there in an attempt to explain what I’m doing here in Peru. Now it’s time (and I’m finally able) to be a little more specific. I’m working with two organizations – CEDEPAS-Centro, and Red Uniendo Manos Contra La Pobreza. My work with Uniendo Manos, which is in fair trade, is still in its beginning stages, so I am just going to focus on CEDEPAS for now.

CEDEPAS has 4 different departments: 1) Farming and Agroindustrial Production, 2) Theological Formation, 3) Local Governance and Development, and 4) Human Promotion. I am working primarily in the agriculture department, and doing some side work for Human Promotions (which I’ll write about some other time).

The agriculture department is currently working with a number of different programs. In some communities we are focusing on the organic production of local medicinal plants and herbs and promoting their consumption in the local market.

Many of CEDEPAS’ programs are funded by outside financiers. One such is the project we are collaborating on with Heifer Project International. The intent of this project is to establish food sovereignty, or, more simply put, food security. In many villages malnourishment is common, which can greatly detract from the development of children. This is due both to a lack of resources, and the unfortunate practice that many people have of sending their best agricultural products to the market, and keeping the poorest products for their own consumption. (Sidenote: Before judging people for the tendency to do this, take a moment to consider that many of us are also guilty of this - giving the best of our years and most of our energy to our jobs, and giving what is left over of ourselves to our families.) We’re combating this by both raising consciousness of the need to first secure your own nutritional needs before sending goods to the market, and by injecting additional nutritional resources into these communities. There is a 4-year plan in place to promote the production of agricultural animals (guinea pigs, sheep, and cows) as well as food crops (corn and potatoes). The logic is simple and functional- we give a person 10 (this is just an example, not the actual number) guinea pigs. Over the course of a year, their guinea pigs reproduce, the numbers grow, and at the end of the year they give back to us 10 guinea pigs, plus one additional one, which is added to the project’s supply bank. This person continues to grow their animals, and in the meantime we give those 10 guinea pigs to another person, and the cycle continues. Guinea pigs, by the way, are not pets here, but rather a traditional food source, and incredibly nutritional. There’s also a high market demand for them, so once a family has enough with which to feed themselves, they can sell the excess as a means of additional income.

A second project we are working with is the Swiss-financed project “Mission 21.” It has a number of focuses, but its agricultural focus is the establishment of agricultural schools in rural communities, meant to promote the growth of organic food crops. The logic is this: A group of community members commit to participate in the school (called an ECA) for one season of planting and harvesting. CEDEPAS provides all the supplies for the school, such as the seeds for the crops, and the materials for fertilizer. We use a piece of communal land, divide it in half, and on one half the farmers sow their crop (we are working primarily with potatoes) in their traditional manner. On the other half of the field they sow the crop in the manner instructed by the ECA. At the end of the season the differences in the quality of product is noted. Throughout the season we put on a number of educational sessions about agriculture, but always in a hands-on manner, meaning that we are using the field as the classroom. At the end of the season those who have participated harvest the crop. The amount of seeds which we purchased and gave to the community is harvested and set aside, and the rest of the crop is divided among the farmers for consumption. The seeds that were set aside are then given to the farmers, so that they may use them to individually plant their crop the next season. This is the project I have been the most involved with thus far. It is still in its beginning stages- the 8 communities we are working with are still deciding who will be involved, and what land will be used. The combination of both education and resource development seems to be a good model, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it developes throughout the year.

These are the projects I have been the most involved with thus far in my time here with CEDEPAS. Since these are mainly technical projects, which require advanced agricultural knowledge, I do mainly back-up work, such as the preparation of materials, or giving on-site assistence. My co-workers who are agronomists, animal specialists, and the like, lead the actual workshops and meetings. So far my experience with CEDEPAS has been good- my co-workers are knowledgeable, dedicated, and welcoming. Also, I have appreciated being involved with an organization that works directly with the marginalized populations of this region in a manner that it equitable, respectful, and functional. The point of these projects is not to force a development plan upon a community, but rather to offer technical assistance, the basic capital necessary for this assistance, and a framework within to structure it. Once this has been offered to a community, it is the decision of the community members as to whether they want to work with us, and on what terms.

And so the hours pass

A lot of you have been asking what life here in Huancayo is like. Well, I’m still trying to figure that out. Here’s a litte glimpse into what my Mon-Fri. schedule looks like:

6:30-8:40 am: Breakfast and then leave for work. This varies dependent on what I’m doing for the day. If I’m going to an outlying community, I leave the house early, if I’m just going to spend a day in the office, I leave between 8:10 and 8:40 (dependent on whether I’m giving an English lesson or not). It’s about a 20 minute walk from my house to the office. My host sister, Hayde, works at CEDEPAS with me so we normally walk together. Last week I walked from the house to the office by myself for the first time, and felt way more accomplished than I probably should have. When you’re living in a new place, with new people, speaking a different language, you are very dependent on people. Thus, walking to work by myself was a pretty big deal. I’ll admit I’m still on a high from it, even though I’ve walked alone many times now. “That’s right shopkeeper, I do know that I need to make a right turn at the next corner. I’m just that cool.”

1:30-4:00: Lunch break. If it’s just a normal day in the office and I’m not out in a neighboring community, I walk home with Hayde for lunch. Lunch is the big meal of the day here, so you have to take time for it. Lunch breaks are also long so that people will have time to get things done during the day that they may not be able to do at night. While I normally just use the time to wash my laundry, read, write, or do pilates in my room, most Peruvians are very busy during this time.

4:00-7:30: Back to work.

7:30-8:30: Make our way home. This uncludes walking 10 or so minutes to the panadería to buy bread, maybe stopping by the grocery store, and maybe doing some other small housekeeping tasks. Then we catch a bus home, since it’s night and not as safe to walk.

8:30-9:30ish: Dinner. Food in Peru is a whole post in itself, but I will let it suffice that dinner is traditionally light in Peru, and that’s why it’s so late. That and the  fact that people are working so late.

9:30-bedtime (anywhere from 10:00 to 12:00, dependent on when I’m leaving the house the next day):  I usally spend this time in my room, which is seperate from the rest of the house. Given that I haven’t been accumstomed to having any notable time alone in the last 4 years, the first couple nights I thought I would go crazy within the week. I’ve settled into it, though, and am surprised by how much I normally have to do. Between journaling, pleasure reading, academic reading, doing artwork, and studying Spanish, I find myself running out of time to accomplish what I want to get done every night!

So this is what my week routine looks like right now… it’s possible that much of this will change within the next couple of weeks as my work with fair trade begins.

A Look at Lima

1/3 of the entire population of Peru lives in Lima, so if you want to try to understand Peru, you have to try to understand Lima (disclaimer: I have yet to understand either).  Lima is a bit of an anomaly.  First of all, it’s a desert right on the coast. Hence the humidity is extremely high, and the sky will often spit mist at you, but it almost never actually rains. Because there is so much pollution in Lima, it is hard to tell what is cloudy weather, and what is smog. During my time there I began to believe that the sun doesn’t actually exist, whereupon I went on a hike, got a nasty sunburn, and was promptly put back in my place. Had I been paying better attention when we visited the ancient Temple of the Sun God, I could have avoided this mistake.

There is notable economic disparity in Lima. As a result of the 20 years of internal violence the country experienced, the majority of which took place in the countryside, many people moved, and continue to move, from the countryside into Lima. Many of these people don’t bring much capital with them, and as a result they end up settling on the outskirts of the city. Thus Lima has a number of districts that have been thrown together out of necessity, with populations still struggling to gain access to basic public services such as water. Although these communities are slowly becoming more integrated into the city, many people there remain marginalized and have notably less economic opportunity. Walking through heaps of garbage and past malnourished children only to find yourself peeking into windows of stores selling $150 cowboy boots ( just a 20 minute drive away) is a stinging reminder of  our world’s need for economic justice.

I don’t want to leave you with a negative impression of Lima. I certainly don’t have one. The people of Lima were nothing but wonderful to me, and I look forward to meeting up with some of my new-found friends next time I’m in the city. The coast is beautiful, the culture is rich (there are ruins within the city that have been inhabited by 4 different ancient civilizations!), and the ceviche is tasty.  Most importantly, I met a lot of people who are working hard to make the city, the country, and the world a better place to live in, and they’re doing a good job. I feel lucky to get to work with some of them.

Bienvenidos a Peru

Disclaimer: Some things in Peru are sideways. This cannot be fixed. That or I’m just not that great with technology. Either way, some of these photos are sideways. Sorry.

Well, I’ve only been in Peru for 6 days, but it feels longer than that. My group and I stepped off the plane on Sep. 1st, and will be in Lima for about two weeks, in an attempt to orient ourselves a little before heading to our various placements. We’ve already done so much – I feel a little overwhelmed as I try to decide what to write to you all about. Rather than covering everything we’ve done every day, I think I will just tell a few stories that fit into a theme that has been emerging over these last 6 days – how good and wonderful people can be to absolute strangers. So here are a few examples of the kindness I’ve experienced this far in Peru:

LOST IN LIMA

It’s night time in Lima, a city of 9 million people, and the taxi has rolled to a stop. I look around and think – “I have no idea where we are.” I look at the taxi driver and say, “I have no idea where we are” (but in Spanish this time). He shrugs as he informs us he has brought us to the address he was told, and I shrug as I say, “well, I guess we’ll find our house ourselves.” We must have been quite a sight – three gringas wandering around the streets of Lima, asking fruit vendors and police men how to get home. The old lady selling the mysterious meat dish alongside the road didn’t seem to know either. Being well prepared, as usual, we had no specific addresses or telephone numbers (for the worriers among you, don’t worry, I have since written these things down), and I began to plan how we would spend our night – would we simply loiter in the streets, or check into a nearby hotel? As we stood there, wishing one of us had a sense of direction, an angel showed up in the form of a well dressed Peruvian man. Instead of continuing home from a day of work, he spent the next 15 minutes wandering the streets helping us find our way. Once we found our house, he simply smiled, waved, and walked on. 

IT’S JUST OVER THAT HILL…NO, ACTUALLY, THE NEXT ONE.

Yesterday our group went on an 8+ mile hike – it went from one district of Lima to another, both being some of the poorest districts in Lima. The hike consisted of a series of mountains and ridge lines, and was absolutely spectacular – probably the best thing I’ve done since being in Lima. Due to a number of pauses, the tedious rate at which a group of 11 people pick their way through shale, and the number of times we had to scout out the path, the hike took 8 hours. It was supposed to take 5. Tired, a little battered, but happy, we sat down to eat dinner with the people who had hiked with us that day. As we ate and talked we found out that Juan, one of the men who had volunteered to guide us on our hike, worked as a night security guard at a church. Then we found out that Juan had worked the night before (from 9pm to 7am), and would be working about the coming night (in 3 hours). Despite this he had chosen to spent an entire day guiding a bunch of gringos along a mountain range, and had never once mentioned the sacrifice he was making. 

GETTING OLDER

My birthday has served as yet another reminder of how welcoming and loving people have been. On my birthday all of my new co-workers at the “Red Uniendo Manos” office greeted me with birthday hugs, had lunch with me, and put their various to-do lists aside in order to have cake and spend time celebrating. Today we went to church with our site coordinator, Debbie, and she had apparently informed the congregation that it was my birthday. I, and another lady who had a birthday last week, had to stand in front of the congregation as they sang us happy birthday and prayed for us. Aside from being absolutely mortified by having so much attention thrown at me (not to mention that everything was in Spanish, which made it confusing as well as terrifying), it was incredibly heart-warming.  

 

I hope these stories have served to showcase how wonderful people have been since we’ve arrived here. Despite the fact that we are still new here, and often find ourselves bumbling, lost, and confused, people have continued to love us and welcome us. Being loved when you have done nothing to deserve it is one of the best forms of human kindness and hospitality. It is also a reminder that I too want to be the type of person who freely extends warmth to others.

Packing up, heading out

Well, I’m slowly hitting the road. I left Talkeetna yesterday, and will leave Palmer the day after tomorrow. From Palmer I go to Albuquerque, to visit my brother for a few days. On the 24th I fly from New Mexico to New York, where I will be attending an orientation for the YAV program. THEN, on the 31st I will be on a plane heading to Lima, Peru. I will spend about 2 weeks in Lima and then it’s off to Huancayo!

Thanks (for being just so wonderful)

These last few weeks have served as a reminder of what wonderful people I will be leaving behind in Alaska. At the end of July one of my roommates, Molly came up with the idea of throwing a benefit concert to help me raise funds for my trip. The event was organized primarily by her and Rebecca, another roommate, and was a huge success! The Wildflower Café here in Talkeetna hosted the event and provided beer and pizza (Jerome the owner donated all of the supplies!), which we sold at the concert to raise money. Rebecca and Dane Ueland performed, a bunch of people showed up, and it was a great success all around! The event raised almost $1200 for my trip, which is a huge help. Even more than the money, it was nice to see how many people wanted to come out and support me as I start a new phase of life. I am surrounded by a wonderful community of people here in Talkeetna, and for those of you who were involved in the event, thank you so much.

Just last week I had another fundraiser, held in Palmer and organized by a family friend, Donna Embree. She set up a house meeting for me and invited people from the church I grew up attending on Lazy Mountain. The Gates family agreed to host the event, which was incredibly generous, considering that we had never met. I haven’t lived in Palmer for 4 years and was feeling a little unsure as to how many people would show up. In the end, I was surprised and touched by the number of people who came. It was wonderful to catch up with so many old friends and familiar faces and to meet people I didn’t know who had come to hear about my trip. The meeting provided a good opportunity to reconnect with the community that I grew up in during my years in Palmer, and to be reminded (again) of how many people support me. Thanks to all of you who came to either of my events – if I didn’t have the chance to speak directly with you, please know that your presence meant so much to me!

Wait, why are you going to Peru? Well, let me explain…

Dear Friends,

As some of you may know, this September I will be traveling to Huancayo, Peru, where I will be spending a year doing volunteer work for two social justice organizations. In an attempt to include you all in this next phase of my life, I have compiled some information concerning the programs I am working with, what I will be doing, why I have chosen to do this, and ways in which you can support me while I am abroad. This post may be a bit dry, but bear with me- I promise they will get far more interesting once I’m actually in Peru!

What volunteer organizations will I involved with, and what my work will entail

 I am being placed in Peru by the Young Adult Volunteers (YAV) program, which is directed by the Presbyterian Church USA. While there, I will be working under a grassroots organization called Joining Hands Against Hunger (Uniendo Manos Contra La Pobreza, in Spanish). Joining Hands Against Hunger places volunteers either with their own programs, or with other non-profits within the country. In my case, I will be working part-time with Joining Hands Against Hunger, and part-time with another non-profit, CEDEPAS.

My position with Joining Hands Against Hunger will entail working with fair trade artisans. Fair trade is a movement designed to promote economic justice by ensuring a fair price for products manufactured by people who are otherwise exploited by unfair wages. Oftentimes small producers in developing countries are forced to sell their products to middle-men, who then sell the products to manufacturers in developed countries. This means the majority of the profits are being received by the middle men and retailers, and not by the producers themselves. Fair trade bypasses this system by establishing minimum product prices that ensure economic success for the producer, and enabling a direct connection between the consumer and the producer. This promotes economic development as well as conscientious consumerism on the part of the buyers in developed countries. The most well-known fair trade movement of recent years has been in the coffee industry. I will not be involved in this, but instead will be working with artisans who produce wares such as weavings and pottery.

The second organization I will be working with, CEDEPAS, is a community development organization. The organization focuses on socioeconomic, political, and environmental development. I have yet to find out what my work in the organization will be.

It goes without saying how excited I am for this upcoming year! What I will be doing is directly connected to what I studied during my time at Whitworth University. Most importantly, I appreciate the manner in which volunteers are placed in the communities in which we will be working. I will be present and working in the Huancayo based upon the request residents of Huancayo themselves. This is important because the programs are designed to work in solidarity with the Peruvian people in ways that they themselves have deemed appropriate. By approaching social justice work in this manner, one may avoid imposing an agenda outside of the community’s own goals and desires.

 

Where will I be living

            I will be living in the city of Huancayo, which is in the central highlands of the country. It is a mid-sized city (350,000). Huancayo is high in the Andes Mountains, which means I’ll be living at an altitude of almost 11,000 feet! During my time there I will be living with a Peruvian family.

Why have I chosen to do this, and in what ways am I qualified

The last fours year of education at Whitworth, and in particular a semester in which I studied and traveled in Central America, have served to open my eyes to the injustices and needs of this world. I believe that with knowledge comes responsibility, and for me this is the appropriate step towards contributing to humanity in a way that is meaningful and in alignment with my skills and beliefs. I have spent much of my time at Whitworth focusing my studies on Latin American issues, Spanish, development, and socioeconomics issues. Because of this, and the five months I spent living in Central America, I feel equipped to spend this next year in Peru.

How can you support me while I am abroad

Any support you are willing to give me while I am in Peru will be welcome! Most importantly, I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers during the time that I am away. E-mails or letters are wonderful to receive when so far from home. My work this year will be unpaid, and I have to raise half of my living expenses for the year, which amounts to $9,000. I am working this summer to help fund this, but any support you would like to give would be very helpful. Even five dollars makes a difference! While you are free to simply send me donations, the easiest (and tax-deductible) way is through an online account the YAV program has set up for me. The website gives the option of making a one-time donation, or committing to a monthly amount. Simply go to http://www.pcusa.org/yav/support.htm#international and select my name to make the donation.

Contact Information/Ways to track my year in Peru

If you have any questions about my upcoming year or would like to receive updates from me throughout the year, please feel free to contact me!