A Little Collaboration

Hi all and happy Thursday. It’s a beautiful day here in Huancayo and I am taking advantage of the faster internet to give you a blog post with pictures today. Hooray.

So as the title implies, today we're going to talk about collaborating. If you've been reading for a while (and I hope you have) then it might seem like I am the only one responsible for anything I do in Laraos. And in some ways that is true because I am the only volunteer in my town and because travel between towns is somewhat difficult. But in the last few months, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with my fellow volunteers on a few projects. So I thought I would use today to tell you about them. Here we go.

1. Tomas Verde

This was the project of my "site mate" Alex (check out her blog at http://lexwritr.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html) who lives about an hour's drive away from me but really only 30 km. She's been working all year doing environmental art projects with her kids and as a culmination, she put on this event to showcase the work of her students. There was a contest among the high school students where they were required to demonstrate one of 5 themes (earth, water, wind, fire, flora/fauna) in a poster using natural materials in addition to markers and paint. The contest among the elementary school kids was in chalk art. I must say, I was impressed with their knowledge on how to shade and blend the chalk colors. It was a one day commitment for me but I know that Alex had been working on it for a while and I was there to lend a hand and to be (dun dun dun!) a judge in the contests. This was the first time that we volunteers of Yauyos had a work-related reason to get together and it was really cool to spend my day with these guys.

And to see the creations that Alex had encouraged out of her little soldiers. Though it wasn't my event, I feel justified in declaring it a success. Kudos to Alex.

2. Laraos Despedida

I think we technically designated the two days that my site mates came up to visit Laraos as the goodbye event for one of them, Mark. And we had a good time just hanging out in my room and spending some last moments in Peru together. Little did they know that they were coming over one of the days that I teach my weekly class to the 5th and 6th graders. So being the good sports that they are, they helped me talk about the food web that day.

And since they seemed to have it covered, I just sat back and relaxed.

3. Campamento Runa/Huarmi

You might guess by the name that this is a camp, specifically, two camps - Runa for boys (because Runa means men in Quechua) and Huarmi for girls (Huarmi means women). The camps were held in Junin, a solid 8 hours of travel from Laraos and took place on two consecutive weekends. Alex and I were able to bring two boys and two girls from each of our towns. And once in Junin, we met up with the 6 volunteers there who were also bringing students from their towns!

So let's start with Runa:

8 volunteers, 10 campers and 3 youth helpers attended this camp the last weekend of October. In the photo above, we are at the top of our hike, the activity that I led. As part of the plan, the lady volunteers fulfilled more behind-the-scenes rolls for this camp. The boys got did a team building activity, row in a boat, make environmental thank you cards, learn about the 3 R's, make music with recyclables, go on a hike, watch a movie, learn yoga and more. Two nights, two days and a whole lot of travel for us from Yauyos but as we were leaving the camp the final day, the boys I had brought commented to me (totally unsolicitied) "Este fue bien chevere. Seria mejor que sea un dia mas." Translation: This was really cool. It would be better if if were one day longer. Ah yeah, nothing like some unsolicited props to let you know that you are doing something right.

On to Huarmi:

The next weekend, these girls got together for their eco-camp experience.

The girls got to do a lot of the same activities as the boys but we had learned from the past weekend's experience and this camp flowed much more smoothly. This time we had the same 8 volunteers, 21 campers, 2 helpers and 7 Peace Corps volunteers in-training participate in this camp. For the girls, we girl volunteers got to play the more prominent role and I got to lead one of the teams. Here I am with my team, the Pink Panthers.

All weekend as we participated in the activities, teams could win points for skill, spirit and eco-conscientiousness. The last day a team was declared a winner and although it wasn't us, I think we had the most fun. I, personally, was so glad to be able to be a leader to these girls if only for a weekend. We also got to meet the new volunteers who would be coming to our region this next year and see them in action as they gave a talk on composting. As cool as it was to begin getting to know these people who will be working with us next year, we knew that as a result we would have to say goodbye to the volunteers with whom we had worked all of this last year. In a way, this camp was a good last hurrah while simultaneously a good "welcome to the region" activity.

As the girls and I left this camp, they gave the same feedback that the boys had. They wished it could have been longer and they hoped to keep in touch with the friends they had made while at the camp. We value these camps as a way for our students to come to know other realities, other regions of Peru and people beyond their own town. They expand their worldview and encourage them on their path as leaders in their own communities knowing that there are youths just like them doing the same thing in other communities. So, if you are one of those people who saw the link I posted on facebook asking for donations to make these camps a reality, thank you.

So I wanted to write about these events for a couple of reasons. The first being that they have taken up a whole lot of my time in the last month and for many of you, you read this blog to know what I am up to. But the other reason is this:

I think that a lot of people have an image of Peace Corps as a solitary person working in their community far removed from any sort of civilization. And historically or in other countries this may be the case. But in Peru, we are lucky to be able to collaborate with other volunteers and other communities and for me, that is when true development can begin. After all, what good is a highly developed community that isn't interacting with the rest of the world? The point of Peace Corps is to aid countries in development by providing volunteer professionals and to PROMOTE PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP. What better way to promote peace and friendship than to bring together people who would not be brought together under other circumstances? What better way to promote peace and friendship than by expanding world views and growing confident leaders? And I think in some small way with these activities, we have done that. So. Here's to working together.

Blessings.