Development Reminders

Although I have lived in Latin America before, I am reminded daily of the joys and challenges that come up on a constant basis with "development work." My coworker, Vanessa, went out to do a village bank presentation to a community out in the country side. The joys: seeing a cohesive group of women chatting, laughing, asking questions, and finally seeing their eyes light up at the possibility of saving some money. On top of that, they were excited about the opportunity to learn to read and write. What more could you ask for at a initial presentation?


The challenges: Upon visiting a village bank group meeting, I found it hard to discuss with the women what is it that would help you be the mother and business woman you want to be? This group is much more reserved, content to listen and knit. I think the women were skeptical of what I am doing here in Peru; How on earth can I help them? They opened up a little bit towards the end of the meeting, but it took some jokes, and many questions. I am here for all the village bank women, but I begin to wonder if only some of the women will approach me and seek out support, and above all follow through with their request and our work together. If I only work intensely with few women will that be enough? That is something that I am exploring and asking myself. No answers yet.

Taste of midnight streets

Carnival music is kinda this mix of marching band, cumbia and old andean folk music. It is so easy to jump around to, especially after midnight.

Highs and Lows

My highs and lows usually come within 24 hrs. of each other. This week my low was the frustration of finding a map of the communities I will be working in. I had to go to the Municipality bldg. 3 x, not to mention I also had to go to 2 other bldgs. to get the right signature, receipt for payment, and exercise. It took almost 2 hr. to buy a map. This was after an unsuccessful meeting with literacy teachers, unsure if they can commit to helping some of our women learn to read and write. And after these frustrating experiences, Vanessa and I got completely soaked on the motorcycle with not only water balloons, but buckets of water.

But my high happened within 24 hrs. - I visited one of the bank presidents, Lorenza (pictured below with her kids). We chatted all morning about some of her hopes and wishes for herself and family. She has been the first woman so far to ask for a specific training: how to manage money. She says she takes her money puts it in a notebook for safe keeping, but maybe there is another way? She has pigs, but eventually would like to buy a cow so that she can sell milk. But a cow is more expensive, at least twice the price of a medium size pig. She likes to talk, share ideas and always calls me "senorita." She filled me with happiness and excitement and when we were done chatting I kinda skipped down the dirt trail to find my 'combi' (old, rusty minivan that serves as public transport). Next month when her bank meets to make their loan payment I will organize a small talk on managing money.

Carnival Start

Now that I am 100 % again I am able to participate in the carnival activites - which are dancing in the street and water balloon fights. On friday night Paola and I decided to walk to central plaza to check out what was going on. As we turned on the street that leads to the plaza I was in complete awe. Down the street there were banners and flags waving above the jumping group of people below. I guess each neighborhood picks a night and parades through the street with their "queen" and like 6 or 7 carnival bands. They took up the whole width of the street and almost 3 city blocks. Paola knew the drummer, so we jumped in the parade and ended up dancing in front of one of the bands as we circled the central plaza and then went up to another park. I felt like I was in Brasil, except for that we all had on sweaters and scarfs, because the energy and music was so contagious and happy. When we were done parading, we went back to the central plaza to bounce between one band and another. There must have been at least 15 bands scattered throughout the plaza, all playing the same tune, different song. We only stayed until 1am, when our legs and lungs were tired, we went home. But I am sure many were out until sunrise.

I have also gotten wet - a water balloon right in the butt. Here you can see pictures of the culprits. They travel in mass in truck, and they hide out on the second floor of buildings.

Literacy Search

This week was spent (besides being sick) responding the desires of the women from the Intro. meeting we held the week before. There was a huge response from some of the women to learn how to read and write. Together with my co-worker we visited the Ministry of Education (sound like a scene from Harry Potter, and it was a bit chaotic, so it could have been - minus people on broomsticks). We were able to talk to someone who works in Adult Education, but he couldn't tell us how feasible it would be to recruit some teachers to start classes immediately. We need to go to a supervisor meeting next week. In the meantime my project is to find out truly how many women have the time and interest in committing to 3 days a week literacy classes. Back at the office I tried making phone call after phone call, only to find out that many of the women don't have their own phone number. Their son, husband, or neighbor has a phone, and when I got of hold of them, they weren't especially excited to pass the phone onto the women I was looking for. I am finding out the best way to communicate with people is to "pasa la voz." This means tell someone that knows someone that can tell the person you want to talk to your message. It worked, because on friday afternoon one of the women called me back, and told me she would "pasa la voz" to others about the classes.

Ode to Well-Being

Thankful for good health, when I got it - I don't realize it, and when I don't - the walls comes crashing down. Yesterday may have been my worst day in Peru. I couldn't leave the house and nothing would stay down, not even chamomile tea and saltine crackers. Thanks to my Skype Doc Maggie I was able to get some remedy and reassurance that it would pass. Feeling sick and weak brings on feelings of loneliness and more sickness. Thank goodness my Ipod was next to my bed, accompanying me in my sorrow and pain. Luz recommended drinking 2 home made remedies today, to regain my strength. The first was boiled water from this seed that made the water like gelatin. The second was rice, cinnamon, carrot water. I would not recommend it. But my strength is slowly coming back, so I won't say it didn't work. Thanks be for health.

4 sheep in a cab

I saw 4 sheep in a taxi cab. 3 were in the back trunk, and the other was in the backseat with a women. Does this seem strange? I don't know, it was market day, so makes sense right?

Little annoying things

I just have to get it out there, life here is not perfect. I am loving it, don't get me wrong, but there are little things. Let me list a couple: Nobody ever has change, never. 50 cents, forget it. Machismo is alive and well here - e.i. the girls I was playing soccer with on Sat. got kicked off the field because the MEN came. Peruvians often use this whiny voice when they want something from you (very annoying) - and they will first say, "No seas malita/Don't be bad." I am sure I get over charged for everything for being white. To clean the floors an awful petroleum smelling substance is used, and it is slippery, so I fell on my butt last week in the office. Ouch, I covered three levels of stairs. The traffic is dangerous, fast, and a roller coaster ride - and equally dangerous is crossing the street. And, when someone says they are going to do something at a certain time, it really means that the either aren't going to do it, or they will be at least an hour and half late. There, I got a couple of things off of my chest. Thank goodness for mango season, fried churros, and lots of skype calls with friends and family - it balances out the good with the not-so-good.

chaotic success

Under the agreement between Discover Hope Fund (the org. I am contracted with) and AFIDER (our Peruvian conterpart) we held our first meeting together with most of the village bank women. My goal was to clarify my work with them and gather their ideas of a starting point. We had a turnout beyond my imagination. All 100 plus chairs were full, women, kids, babies, and their knitting projects were all there. We had an agenda, and followed it, but when it came time for me to lead the "brainstorming" activity it got a little crazy. Maybe I didn't explain it well, we had too many women, or it was just too interactive/new/weird for the women? This is where it became chaotic, but at the end of it, the women had made long lists of themes that they wanted to learn about this year (both to help them with their business and personal life). Some of the most popular ideas were exporting goods to the U.S., women's health, and learning how to read and write. We also inaugurated a new village bank and held elections for the "comite" of all the banks. We ended the afternoon with coffee and cachangas (yummy fried bread treats), which put the whole room into total chaos. And I am thinking to myself how can I make this more organized?, when really we all agreed at the end of the day that everything turned out just as it should. No the coffee didn't arrive on time and not every women participated in writing down her own idea, but I felt an intense energy that great things can happen this year. Here I am with Soledad and Vanessa, outside of the "reunion," happy with the turnout.

Wet everywhere

The rainy season feels like it is in full swing. It is raining everyday, sometimes all day. The drainage system here is not so good, so there are frequently rivers in the street to cross. But people go on with their life as if a little rain won't stop them. Umbrellas are a rare sight here, despite the rain. Today I was on the motorcycle again with Vanessa. It started to rain, but what were we going to do? We keep riding and arrived soaking wet. My landlord Luz says that rain helps condition your hair. So I guess I should leave my umbrella and rain jacket at home, everyone else here does! The rain also means that my clothes don't dry, I am hoping by the weekend to get them back. On top of the rain, pre-carnival traditions have started. Kids are throwing water balloons at everyone. They hide out on roof tops, sneak out of doorways, or throw water balloons in mass from the back of a truck. The kids have no shame, they drenched a woman and her baby with a pail of water, that fell like a waterfall from the rooftop, as I was walking out of a store this weekend. As if I wasn't wet enough from the rain, the carnival water balloons will make sure to finish you off.

Usha, Usha

I may have found my favorite place in Cajamarca. Usha, Usha - Definition: the phrase used by campesinos when they are finished with a shaman prayer to be grateful and go in peace; or also used to get a cow, horse, mull to hurry up. This bar seems like it could be the incubation place of latin american revolutionary ideas. The guitar player greeted us with kisses and hugs when we walked in. Our group shared a bottle of wine while we listened to the cultural history of cajamarca and the rest of mesoamerica for that matter. We heard story after story of conquest, spiritual wisdom, magical plants, connections found throughout the americas, and how on earth our generation can keep history alive and reclaim what has been lost. Our musician then picked up his guitar, and his son sat on the "cajon" (box) and they played a mix of old, funny, carnival, and historical songs. We were clapping, singing, laughing all night. It was was an intimate and amazing night. A night of storytelling, woven throughout song. Anyone who comes to visit me here in cajamarca will definitely be visiting Usha, Usha.

Sol in action

This week I have been especially impressed with one of my co-workers, Soledad - or Sol as we call her. She has been working with village banks for the past couple of years, recruiting new banks, visiting existing ones. She is tough, lays down the rules in a sincere but realistic way, and on top of that the women come to her and trust her. But when she started working with the groups, they didn't trust her at first and "walked all over her." It took some time, just like it will take a little time for me to find my place with the banks. Now, they tell her all their sufferings and hardships. She listens. She supports. She tells women not to drink soda because it is poison, and they listen. Her purpose is so much more than giving and collecting money; she is a role model and social support for every women she visits. Here-in lies the power of microcredit. Here she is pictured (far right) with an existing bank here, collecting their monthly dues and talking about life, yarn, and ladrones (robbers).

Burn 2007

The old 2007 has been burned away here in Cajamarca. Gilmer, my landlord downstairs, built a big paper doll, wrote all the things from 2007 that he wanted to be done with, hung it up in front of the house, and at midnight, lite it on fire for the whole neighborhood to see. But, of course, every family had their own doll that they burned. So there were fires everywhere to bring in the new year. 2007 is now ashes on our front walkway. Out with the old, in with the new!