success stories

This update I want to focus on a few of my and my co-working volunteer success stories. First, I should explain that I live in a town called "O" which is a gigantic town made up of literally hundreds of "caserios" or "pueblos" which are mini-towns but are all governed by the O local government. O is like the city and the towns are the suburbs. It is so big that there are actually 7 of us volunteers living in O. Six of us do environment work, and one does work with youth development. My little town is called S but it is part of this larger town of O.

So my success stories therefore come in two parts: S success' which are more my own projects, and O success' that I share with my fellow volunteers. When I arrived in O we were only 3 volunteers in total. It was a small group and I worked mostly alone. Now, we are a like a unified force and the influence is obvious in our joint project progress.

I mentioned in my last email that I was working on getting running water to the local school in S. Well, I am happy to report that the water is now flowing! It makes me over-joyed to go to the school and watch kids run to the taps and rinse their hands and faces and wet their hair. They no longer have to care bottles of water to the school, or leave class to go to the river to carry buckets of water for their classrooms or for plants they are growing. It was a difficult and lengthy process, but through a few lucky connections and a little bit of charm, I found someone willing to install the pump and even buy the missing parts for free! So, I got the pump donated by an American non-profit group that donates to Peace Corps volunteer water projects called Appropriate Projects. I got the installing and missing parts put in for free and only had to spend the day hanging out with the men installing it. Not really that hard of a job now is it? But I cant even tell you how happy I was to see the water start to flow. The teachers are already starting up all kinds of tree planting projects on the school grounds. You can find pictures and a description of the finished project here: http://appropriateprojects.com/node/738

Also, a personal project that I recently completed was a recycling contest in the S School. I got all the classrooms to compete against each other in who could collect the most Kilo's of recycled goods. The younger kids got more excited about winning because the winning classroom was told they would have a party if they won. I gave them all a week to bring in recycling, suggesting they go for batteries for three reasons: 1) Because they weigh more, 2) They sell for a pretty good price, and 3) To get the batteries full of toxins off the ground and littered all over town. The whole project was very successful. In batteries alone the school collected about 30 kilos. I sold a couple sacks of bottles and paper the other day for the school and got 10 soles for the school (a little more then $3). I loved that the kids got into it and it was fun weighing all their items and watching them get excited about winning. The celebration party is planned for this Friday.

The next success story is a shared one. In O we do a radio show every Monday called "La Hora Ecologica" or the Ecological Hour where we talk about environmental issues of our choosing for half an hour. Surprisingly, we have gained a lot of popularity and we all get a lot of comments about people enjoying the show. We try to make it fun by writing environmental song lyrics to n*sync songs like Bye Bye Bye or having poetry contests amongst students in which the winners get to come to the radio and read their poems on the air. Last week, we decided to mix things up by inviting the only two male volunteers in O to do a show about woman's rights. It was an amazing show where the boys explained how we culture woman to stay in the home and be cooks by teaching them the ways of the kitchen early while young boys are given toy cars to go out and play. They mentioned how whistling to girls walking by is disrespectful and that men should imagine those girls being their sister's or daughters, and how they would feel. All things that seem obvious or at least ingrained in us in the U.S. However, I talked to my host Dad about it afterward and he said it was the best show we had put on. He said he had never thought about whistling at girls like it could be his own sisters. And the next morning, he got up at 4am with my host Mom to help her prepare breakfast that he would bring to work at 6am. He was very proud and says that he really liked the topic. That story about my host Dad has touched my volunteer friends, because sometimes we don't realize that we might make an impact on our listeners. But, I feel like our small little radio program really has the potential to share interesting and important information and at least make people think about different issues that are not normally presented to them.

The last story is also shared, and it is about the upcoming Festival de Limon. It is the Lime Festival which is basically a month long party in June in O. There are dance parties, beauty pageants, famous actors and actress presentations (from a famous novela!), moto-cross, bike races, etc. It is a big deal. This year, Peace Corps volunteers will be participating with our own float in the parade that will be decorated with recycled goods. We will also be trying to convince the mayor to install trash cans in the entire city for all the trash that will come of the giant, month-long party. We were lucky enough to somehow find ourselves invited to a live broad-casted meeting with the mayor about the festival in which Peace Corps was mentioned several times and we had the opportunity to mention the trash problem in the city. Side note: right now, O has no trash collection and only has trash cans in the plaza. Trash is generally put in sacks and carried out to the smaller rural areas (like where I live) and dumped on the sides of roads, or burned. We are trying to fight that, hopefully with a large landfill. But, we are taking baby steps and using the festival and the incoming tourists as a reason to deal with the trash problem.

Personally, the things I have coming up in June are the Festival de Limon that I just described and a boys Leadership camp in the department of Lambayeque. That means all the volunteers in the region, about 25 of us, bring two or three young boys from their towns for a three day and two night over-night camp in which we discuss leadership, goal setting, future job opportunities, play games and do a significant amount of sexual education. I have probably mentioned these camps before. Here in Lambayeque we do two camps a year, one for girls and one for boys. It's one of our biggest joint efforts and always is an enlightening and wonderful experience for the volunteers and kids involved. Also this month I am hoping to start up my very own youth program that will work with only upper level high school kids. It will be an integrated program in which the kids will learn about goal setting, job prospects and realities, they'll have to read book and keep journals, reach certain fitness goals and again, sex ed. A volunteer friend of mine is starting this program in her school and calls it the "Iron Man/Iron Woman" competition because it has fitness goals (like running a 5k) as well as educational goals. I decided to present it to the principal at my school and if she agrees, I will be in the school running this program, teaching classes a few times a month.

On a more personal level, June is my last month of training to run a marathon on July 3rd. So on the 4th of July I will be hopefully be celebrating America's independence by sipping beers on a beach after having run a ridiculously long time the day before. My dog, Botas Blancas, is still doing really well and is growing to be strong and a joy in my life. He follows me everywhere in town, going so far as to run with me when I bike places and jumping in moto-taxi's when I am getting rides to O. My volunteer friends in O are a blessing and keep me grounded, motivated and relaxed all at the same time. We often have "ladies nights" that involve a lot of popcorn eating, dancing and wine. And lastly, My host family continues to be a joy for me. We've had our ups and downs of getting to know each other, but we are now at a comfortable place. I get along really well with all of my host siblings and my host parents. My host Dad and I talk more openly then before and I feel more like a family member then a guest in the house.

One last story I'd like to share is a little about my host sister, who is 15 years old and inspiring to me because despite all she has against her (poverty, a so-so education, no free time) she has forged ahead. She is always getting her school work and her house chores done, has a positive attitude and has now convinced her parents to allow her to take computer classes on Sunday's so that she'll be technology savvy. I was so impressed when I heard she was taking these classes on her own initiative. She lives in a land where woman often drop out of school between the ages of 13-17 because of demands in their homes (someone needed to cook and clean), or because they decide to get married, often from early and unwanted pregnancies. Ericka for that reason is incredible because she doesn't let boys or peer pressure waver her from her ultimate dreams of leaving S to study and having a career. And while she is asked to do a lot in the home, she is fortunate to have a Dad that believes in woman's educational rights. She is one of my closest friends in town, despite our age difference, and she is always there to help me when I ask for advice or even just someone to edit my documents written in Spanish. She is really a shining star in the town and even in my host family and I feel lucky to be a part of her life.

For those of you who read my emails and updates, thank you for your support and for keeping me updated about things at home! I miss you and love you all.