This Is Christmas South of the Equator

This may explain why I feel like it cannot possibly be Christmas:

Yep, 85 degrees and sunny every day.  Not sure that Santa will survive in this heat!

First Week at Site: I’m a Celebrity!

I am incredibly lucky to have been placed in the Piura region where people are incredibly friendly and welcoming.  My new host dad actually shed tears when speaking about how fortunate he is to have a gringa coming to live with him for two years, and the municipality organized a ceremony for me with speeches and dances and songs and poetry – and very high expectations of the work I will be doing!

There are about 300 people living in my new little dusty town, consisting of one paved road about 10 blocks long and located in the middle of lush agricultural fields.  The cool, hazy mornings and hot afternoons under blazing sun reminds me of California – especially the coconut trees, mangos trees, corn, rice and cotton growing nearby and the hint of cool ocean breezes in the distance.

On my first day at site I woke up at 5am to loudspeaker announcements that a volunteer has come to town and there will be a ceremony to welcome her.  People lined up in the street with signs they had made to welcome me.  On my second day, I was actually paraded house to house while my host dad introduced me to everyone who came out of their houses to check out the new gringa in town.

The townspeople are so excited to have me here that I have just about attained celebrity status.  I can hardly walk down the street without people inviting me to lunch, inviting me to celebrate a baptism, giving me food grown on their farm, children wanting to play with me or teach them English, being curious about where I’m going and what I’m doing -- OR wanting to borrow money from me or receive gifts.  (Many poor Peruvians see a foreigner and expect handouts because of past experiences with foreign aid organizations).  Even when I’m at home, there is an almost constant stream of people coming to my host family’s home to greet me each evening after the workday is over.

It is absolutely wonderful to see so many people excited to have me working in their community – there was even a confrontation between two district council members over who would show me the outlying neighborhoods – but it is definitely daunting to think about the issues facing the community and how it won’t be possible for me to help everyone in need.

However, the residents of my district are better off than some other communities, given the level of services provided by the municipal government.  They have their trash picked up regularly, they have fairly consistent electricity throughout the day, they have filtered (but non-potable) water from 6-9am every day, there is a waste-water removal system, and they have a health clinic that provides free basic health care services.

While residents receive many free or low-cost services, it doesn´t mean life is easy here.  Just imagine what life would be like if you only had one working faucet in your home and the water runs in the morning for only 3 hours each day.  You would want to use water at other times of the day, right?  Then, you would need to save water in buckets or drums for later use (preferably in covered recepticles, so that you aren’t encouraging dengue-carrying mosquitos to reproduce), and you would need to transport the water to fill up buckets located in various parts of your home – most likely in the bathroom and the kitchen -- and repeat the process throughout the day as you use the water.  (I know what you are thinking: ¨How do you take a shower?¨  Let me introduce you to the phrase “bucket bath”).

Imagine trying to wash your hands with water from a bucket - - how would you do it?  Dip your dirty hands into the clean water?  That would make the rest of the water dirty.  Pour the water over your hands?  That would be super-awkward to do with a full bucket of water.  You could get a smaller cup, dip it into the clean water and pour it over your free hand.  How would you soap up your hands without getting soap in the clean water?  It’s kinda hard!

It is so sad to come across a lethargic 2 year-old knowing that they could be suffering from a parasite or bacteria due to poor hygiene.  Recently, there was a parasite testing day at the local health center and 40 kids were brought in by their moms to be tested.  Guess what the results were?  Over 90% of kids tested positive for parasites.  

Hopefully that gives you a sense of the challenges I’ll be facing when I teach people about proper handwashing and then go to people’s homes get exasperated when I find they aren’t doing it.  I have not seen anyone wash their hands properly yet, which makes me feel like I’m taking my life into my hands every time I eat food prepared by other people.  It’s like I’m living life on the edge!  (Or, at least my stomach is). ;-)

?QUE PASO?

Wow, so much has happened in the past few days I can hardly believe it!

 

All of the health volunteers (about 30) were taken way up into the mountains of the Huancavelica region of Peru, southeast of Lima for field-based training exercises.  We had a lovely drive along the coast and then we ascended thousands of feet on switchback roads into the Andes mountains.  After living for a month in foggy, polluted urban Lima it was refreshing to be out in the gorgeous countryside, which alternated between rocky, barren landscapes to lush, green scenery.

 

 

(Photo of mountains in Huancavalica, notice switchback dirt road cutting through the hill in the top photo)

On the first day of field-based training, we stopped in Cañete to conduct a survey of residents who had received improved cookstoves from the volunteer serving in their community (see previous post on improved cookstoves).  Basically, we were simulating a post-test survey to find out if recipients are using the stoves correctly and can demonstrate proper maintenance procedures -- and that they are experiencing benefits from using it, such as lower fuel costs and fewer burns and respiratory illnesses.

Next, we headed to Huaytara, which would serve as our home base while we engaged in activities with the surrounding communities.

In the tiny community of Pilpichaca, we met a volunteer that coordinates health outreach activities with the health center.  This area is one of the poorest in Peru, and has the highest rates of infant mortality, maternal mortality and domestic violence in the country.  Many people cannot read and speak only Quechua, a modern version of the ancient language of the Incas.

One of the most glaring indicators of poor health in Peru is the rate of malnutrition among children, which is often caused by frequent diarrhea (as well as poor diet), which is often caused by poor hygiene.  Volunteers call it “Caca en la Boca” (Poop in the Mouth) because the type of severe diarrhea that causes dire health consequences is almost always the result of getting a bacteria, virus or parasite --normally found in poop -- into your mouth.  Remember those E.coli outbreaks?  E.coli comes from poop and gets in your food because of poor hygiene. (Ewwww!)

The job of the volunteer is to educate the community on good hygiene practices, including hand washing, drinking boiled water, safe handling of animals, proper maintenance of the kitchen, etc.  Some people don’t understand the connection between micro-organisms (magical things that you can’t see!) and getting sick, so they don’t bother washing their hands after using the toilet or keeping their pots-n-pans off the dirt floor of their kitchen where the chickens and guinea pigs have been running around.

 

So, it was our job to investigate people’s kitchens and latrines to make sure that they had soap and clean water for handwashing and that they could explain the signs of dehydration (from diarrhea) and tell us how to mix an oral rehydration solution so that their already malnourished children survive their next illness.

 

Next stop was Quishuarmpampa, where the health volunteers actually built a cocina mejorada (improved cookstove) with the bare hands!  We build it from the ground up using adobe bricks and mud and sheer willpower.  It was a filthy, dirty job, but it was well worth the effort.

 

Following our cookstove construction project, we had fun teaching the kids in the pueblo how to wash their hands properly.  One of the volunteers in our group had the brilliant idea of putting paint in each kid’s hand and them have them shake hands with the other kids to show how germs are passed from one person to another.

 

(Pre-handwashing = sad face)

 

 

Finally, we went back to Huaytara and somewhere along the way I picked up some nasty food poisoning that made me puke all night and most of the next day until there was absolutely nothing more to vomit and I STILL kept puking.  I honestly wondered how I would manage to get myself back to my host family’s home but fortunately the whole gang rallied around me and got me back without incident.  

 

Given the number of people who got sick (about half of our group) it feels like I have earned another check mark on the list of things you have to endure before you are considered a “real” Peruvian volunteer. 

Massive Attack of Food

Please don't misunderstand me, the food in Lima is delicious and plentiful and my host mom makes it just like my grandmother used to cook, especially heavy on meat and potatoes and rice.  Except my grandmother didn't heap ridiculous portions of food on my plate.

Breakfast: Let's consider the first (and most important) meal of the day.  For Peruvians, it definitely takes a backseat to lunch and dinner.  Most often I get a cup of watery oatmeal and a roll with jam, or sometimes with salty cheese or avacado.

Lunch: It's the biggest meal of the day.  And by biggest, let me tell you what I barely managed to get down my gullet (after begging my host mom to put less food on each plate):

--Large bowl of chicken noodle soup
--Full plate of chopped tomatoes and cucumbers
--1/4 Chicken
--Grilled onions
--Sweet potatoes
--Heapting pile of rice

Dinner:  Will probably the same food leftover from lunch, in the same portions.

After downing all that food for lunch, I am in a serious food coma. (Especially after eating fried plantains, fried sweet potatoes, bread, tamale and a papaya smoothie for breakfast this morning).
And I'm completely confounded by the double-down on the carbs -- rice AND potatoes? It seems like carb overkill if we aren't out plowing the fields every day. Why aren't there more obese people in Peru??

What is really odd is that I eat MUCH less than most people eat here. I always ask for less food, but my host mom makes so much fun of me for it -- "Karen eats like a little kitty-cat! She eats like a tiny doll! Oh, here is her little teacup!" [host mom dancing around the table with a toy teacup]. Apparently she thinks that she can shame me into stuffing myself silly, but she doesn't realize that she's dealing with a New Yorker. ;-)

(Photo of fried plantains)

My Peppers are Stuffed!

I’ve been crazy busy trying to absorb all of the new information our trainers have been throwing at us in order to prepare us for our field-based training next week.  Yes, we are actually going to a real site in the hills of Huancavalica, about a 7-hour drive south of Lima.  We will be helping the community build latrines, cooking stoves and micro-garbage dumps. 

Proper places to poop and toss out garbage are essential for obvious reasons – to avoid the spread of disease through proper handling of waste – but what about the cooking stoves?  In rural communities in Peru, women still make small fires on the dirt floors inside their homes to cook their food, which:

--requires a lot of fuel/firewood,

--is a fire hazard,

-- fills the house with smoke (contributing to lung dangerous infections for mothers and      children)

--and the women get a hunchback from leaning over the fire for hours

In response to the need for improved cookstoves, some crafty engineers developed a few designs for cookstoves that solve all of the above issues and are relatively inexpensive to build, and in most cases the Peruvian government or an NGO (an international aid organization) is footing the bill for it.

You can find out more about improved cookstoves (cocinas mejoradas):

http://www.cleancookstoves.org/countries/america/peru.html

In addition to preparing for my field-based training, I have also been working with a local family with a young daughter who is almost four years old.  We have been practicing some of our early childhood development techniques on her, including nutrition education.

Remember the old food pyramid?  Peru’s Ministry of Health has tossed the pyramid out the window and replaced it with three food categories:

--Foods that Give You Energy (carbs, fats and sugars)

--Foods that Help You Grow (proteins)

--Foods that Protect You (fruits and veggies)

Makes sense, right?  It re-arranges everything into new categories, so you’ll find veggies in the carbs/fats category (avocado) which make sense, but also you’ll find proteins in the carbs/fats category (peanuts) which makes my head spin.

Since we are already on the topic of food, we made stuffed peppers (rocoto relleno) in our Spanish class:

 

(Photo of me with my rocoto relleno)

 

(Photo of my Spanish class munching on their rocoto rellenos)

Here's a recipe if you are interested in making one for yourself!
http://perudelights.com/rocoto-relleno-fire-in-your-mouth/

La Hora Loca

I have officially completed one week of training in Peru!

YAYAYAYAY!! [Running around in circles with Muppet hands]

 

All 58 volunteers have been gathering each day at a training center in Chaclacayo (about an hour outside of the center of Lima) for sessions on personal safety, Peru’s political structure and history, health issues and poverty issues facing Peruvians, the government’s goals for improving the health and well-being of its citizens, health issues that volunteers may face (more talk about diarrhea), cultural sensitivity training and mucho mucho mucho Spanish lessons. 

 

In addition to the instructional sessions, the health volunteers were given a community outreach project on malnutrition. My project partner and I interviewed local folks about their knowledge of nutrition and we surveyed a market to see if a variety of nutritious food is available for purchase.  Yes, I actually used my bad, broken Spanish to gather information about people’s cooking habits and I actually understood most of their responses!

 

After we finish our sessions at the training center, I take a combi (also called a collectivo for you guys from Mexico, or a minibus) about 5 minutes to my host family’s house in the hills in nearby community of Chacrasana.  Just when I think my brain is too full to stuff anything new in it, my host mom pulls me into the kitchen and launches into her own Spanish lesson for me.  We discuss varieties of potatoes grown in Peru (there are over 1,000) and how to cook different types of veggies.  I try to memorize the names for artichoke (alcachofa), beets (betarraga), yam (camote), and others until my brain starts to feel like it might ooze out the side of my head until finally I excuse myself to work on my Spanish homework.

 

If you are concerned that I’m not having any fun down here while I’m madly preparing for my service to help a Peruvian community, please don’t be concerned.  Fortunately, this week I discovered an interesting phenomenon in Peru called “La Hora Loca.”

 

Apparently every fiesta must have a point when everyone goes bananas and the party gets totally insane.  I am totally in favor of this concept (but it seemed problematic when it occurred on a weeknight).  Last Wednesday my host family threw a surprise birthday party for my host brother who turned 30.  When the birthday boy showed up, the band launched into song and they played for about an hour while we nibbled on potato snacks and drank a non-alcoholic drink made from purple corn.

 

And then all of a sudden two clowns busted into the house and got the party started.  They gave us Minnie Mouse hats and flower leis to wear, noisemakers and balloons to whack each other with.  The clowns then covered the entire house with silly string, sprayed foam and confetti while we danced madly under the instruction of one of the clowns shouting commands into the microphone (Arriba! Abajo! Limbo!) while a life-sized guinea pig mascot danced around us.  !Que ridiculoso!

 

(Here's a pic of my host sister Ana and the birthday boy Russell with the two clowns and the guinea pig)

Please keep in mind that this was all done without the accompaniment of large quantities of alcohol.  The only alcoholic drink offered to quests was a tiny glass of a pisco drink with milk, ice, cinnamon and a concentrated fruit juice called algorrobina.  !Muy rico!

 

 After the Hora Loca was over and all of the guests were a sweaty mess, the birthday boy was required to have a one-on-one dance with each of the ladies at the party (including myself).  And then we sang “Happy Birthday” (in an odd combination of English and Spanish) to Russell while he blew out the candles on the cake.

 

But there was still more insanity, as Russell busted open the piñata and sent all of the kids scrambling for candy before we were finally served carne asada for dinner around 11pm.  I was exhausted but still needed to get some Spanish homework done so I snuck out away from the party and fell asleep straight away while the band was still playing.

 

Just another day in paradise….:-)

Day 2 in Peru

I met my new host family yesterday and had lunch with them.  There are two boys aged 16 and 29, and a girl age 18 who is studying to be a flight attendant.  She´s kind of shy, but the mother is really friendly and nice, and she talks to me very slowly (in Spanish) and repeats herself a lot, which is very helpful!

After lunch yesterday, my host mother (Senora Nelly) invited me to go with her to a food festival in the center of Lima.  It was the city´s annual Taste of Lima-type event (called ¨Mistura¨) and there were thousands and thousands of people attending.  It was mobbed with people and I felt right at home back in NYC.

The first booth she pointed out was for Peru´s most famous beer.  I didn´t want to look too excited about wanting to have a glass of beer, since I know their family is very catholic and I wasn´t sure if they would think its okay for a woman to drink.  But she apparently wanted to drink so we each had a beer, and then we tasted a lot of different chocolates made from cacao grown in Peru.  She wouldn´t allow me to eat any of the food there because she was afraid it would make me sick since I just arrived and my stomach isn´t used to eating what is essentially street food.  So, we just wandered around and sampled different chocolates and drank beer and shared a pisco drink that was kind of creamy with cinnamon - it was delicious!

(Here's a pic of me standing with an indigenous woman who is hawking food from the Andes)

It was such a funny way to start off my relationship with my new host family, but she really won me over with the drinking on the first day. Some of the other volunteers were jealous.  :-)

I spent all day today in meetings to find out what is Peru´s national health strategy, we had a Spanish lesson, and then we learned all about diarrea from our medical staff.  Apparently all volunteers get diarrea (usually from bacteria in food) and the majority of volunteers poop in their pants at some point - something to look forward to!  Fortunately we have doctors on call around the clock just in case anything funny (or not so funny) happens.

I can´t wait to find out what new surprises are in store for us tomorrow....

Keep Your Eyes Peeled for that Elusive Bird!

Tomorrow I'm on an early flight to meet my crew of fellow volunteers who are heading south to dedicated the next 27 months of our lives to improving the health and well-being of Peruvians.  I feel honored to have been selected to be a member of an elite group of volunteers willing to sacrifice so much to bring our skills and knowlege to people living in low-resource areas. 

Seriously. I cannot wait to teach Peruvian prisoners how to do the Thriller Dance:
Prisoners Do the Thriller Dance





Only three more days until I'm in the land of pisco, ceviche and those guys who play the flute in the subway -- and I can hardly wait!  It's taken over a year to get to this point, and I'm so ready to go it's just ridiculous....Keep your eyes peeled on this blog for more updates.....