Cooking with octopus

There are some personal benefits to the activities I organize with my women groups. I get to try new foods (that I might not try otherwise). One of the village banks requested a cooking class - a loan recipient in this group opened a small restaurant and wants to learn more recipes so she can add a variety of plates to her menu. So I found the teacher, bought the pork and seafood (including octopus) this morning, the other ladies went to the market to get the other ingredients and we starting cooking away. Our teacher was fabulous, giving little tips here and there to help the women save money, invest better and produce a better quality plate at the end of the morning. We started cooking at 9:30 and an hour later we ate our first plate - seafood ceviche with sweet potato and yuca. It was delicious. Our class didn't end there. We were also cooking another famous Lima pork dish - Carapulca. For not liking pork, I have to tell you all it was also delicious. I ate two plates worth. I felt like I was in the presence of a growing business. Vanessa, the restaurant owner, claimed that she will make the new dish Carapulca on Monday and see how her customers like it. You can't get any more "putting into practice learning" than this.

More Ribbon, More Money

I think we got another good one. Jewelry was a hit with our ladies and now we have gathered more energy around ribbon. I never would have planned this, but then again when you let development work happen through the voice of the women, they are the ones that create their opportunities. In the next couple of months we are going to let women go wild with jewelry and we are going to hold some new workshops - one which has already started. Sewing with Ribbon. We are making some headway. One of the women that came to the workshop has already used her sewing skills and was contracted to sew flowers on 5 pairs of pants for 5 soles each - Total: 25 soles = $9.25 more money than she had before.

I am finding through my interactions with women that our educational opportunities provide an alternative income for our women. Often times the women learn a new skill that they can use to provide additional income, not much, but something more than they had before. Also, it brings women together. Anytime you bring women together in a country where women have a small voice, it creates more power, confidence, and positive energy. I was reminded of this when I was out in the countryside and one of our small, humble banks gathered and told me, "Nora, we are making more ponchos. We want to participate in the next Artesian Fair and we want to have lots of products to sell since we didn't get to sell last time."

Minnesota visitors

Corpus Christi surprise carpet morning. Stunning!
Live guinea pigs. Vicky probably has over 50 cuys.
Cooked guinea pigs. Pictured is Hugo, Mark, and Adelita

Visitors change your world, at least they change mine. Adel and her boyfriend Mark came this week to Cajamarca to get a glimpse into my world and a chance for me to catch up on her world. I had all these wonderful ideas in my head about how the week might look and the week has taken up a life of it's own. There was a little bit of altitude adjustment and food adjustment which put us into a slow-mo. So things that were planned didn't happen, but other things did. Crazy yahtzee games, beautiful sawdust carpets, many warm lunch invitations (including CUY!), and scary fair rides all became part our weekly activities. It is such a comforting feeling to be in the company of a dear friend (that speaks my language - not just English, but the language of true friendship). They will be leaving tomorrow, and on one hand I am sad it was a short trip, but on the other, this time has reminded me of the love I feel from home that carries me and strengthens me. Adel's visit brought all this nostalgia - it's almost like after being here 6 months now this is kinda my home. I haven't forgot about my home in MN, but there are little things that Adel helped me remember - things that I love and things that are annoying. I think their visit was a little exhausting for everyone, but on top of that it was re-energizing. Their shot of MN blood was just what I needed to re-charge and re-mind and be thankful for having more than one world of love, beauty and friends.

Showing off

We held our fourth jewelry workshop (and last one, at least for awhile). Our jewelry workshop facilitator has a passion for teaching sewing, so the hope is to attract new faces to a different workshop next month. We had 11 women come on Saturday and instead of making necklaces and bracelets, we made rings and earrings. I even made one (mine was a little loose and the process convinced me that I won't be opening a jewelry business anytime soon). However since many of the women sew, and we had to sew the pearls onto the ring base, they found the process easy. The women pictured here have finished with their rings and are showing them off.

Marmalade, Finally!

One of the village banks has been asking me for the past 2 months to set up a marmalade class. One of the women in their group sells in the market - so the group wants to use her position in the market to generate more income for the entire group. Well, we found a women that makes delicious marmalade and is willing to teach, so we set up the class this week. After all the asking and trying coordinate - it happened, with 2 women. I am not disappointed, at least the 2 women came. I have tried to organize classes where less than 2 women were present. Besides the 2 women from the village bank, there were two other women from different banks present - so we actually had a nice little crowd. We made the marmalade from the fruit tomatillo and it turned out to be pretty tasty. During the class the women were writing down the recipe and asking questions. I told them at their next group meeting they should make marmalade so we can see if they learned the recipe. They laughed and nodded.

Although there wasn't a big fair or mother's day event this week, my days were still full of surprises and headaches. On Monday there was a transportation strike, so I was stuck with all the plastic chairs from our event on Friday and no way to get them back to the office. It was actually probably the first time I was scared for my safety here in Peru. The strikers were throwing rocks and pinching tires of other taxi drivers that weren't honoring the strike. A friend of a loan recipient saved the day and the chairs and I got back to the office in one piece. I also went to visit one of the literacy groups this week - and to celebrate Mother's Day (and their 2 month mark) they were having a little bar-b-que. I actually couldn't stay for the meat because I had another group, but it was a nice surprise to see this group coming together after their class in celebration. I left asking their understanding over and over again - because here in Peru it is a big no-no not to eat food when it is offered, especially in the countryside. Finally, I was still receiving B. day packages this week. So I spent some time surfing the itunes store finding new music to buy and reading English magazines and using new underwear. These little things added lots of excitement to my week. Thanks be to friends that know how to send the perfect pick-me ups.

Ponchos in the Making

I am so proud of this group. Last month the village bank Triunfo met their literacy/knitting/crochet teacher and started classes the same week. On Saturday the group invited my co-workers and I out to eat lunch with them, for Mother's day. It was a delicious meal (thank goodness no guinea pig this time). Before the meal they all brought out their ponchos. One woman has finished and is planning on selling it for 20 soles ($7) and is already planning on buying more yarn so she can make another one. The group also showed us their literacy notebooks. Nelly has really got this group united and excited about learning. Lorenza, the president, was disappointed that they couldn't participate in the Fair that we held last week, but told us on Sat., "now we know how to make something and we can participate in the next Artesian Fair."

Celebrating Mother's Day

This may well have been my busiest week with the women. I didn't even have time to recover from the Feria/Fair on Wed. when we had to finish preparations for a Mother's Day activity on Friday afternoon. Much like the big activity that was planned in January where all 200 loan participants were invited, it was a chaotic success. The microphone didn't work, we ran out of chairs, the CD player wouldn't read the CD's and we started almost an hour late. The good news is that we had guests from a different NGO join us to talk about business basics, we recognized the village banks that are timely on their loan payments and other women that have been helpful and crucial to planning DHF activities, and there was some good dancing. We honored the timely and organized banks with small gifts (clay pots, cups, certificates) and I think this really showed the rest of the women how important their success is to us as NGO's. It also served as an incentive to encourage the other banks to follow in their footsteps. The afternoon ended with a special dance - together with my co-workers we dressed up in typical Carnival costumes and preformed a Carnival dance, which ended with participation from our audience. It was great fun, my only regret is not having a good picture to document this part of the afternoon. Next time, and next time we will have a working microphone and enough chairs too.

Receiving her pot and certificate for being in first place as far as loan repayment is concerned compared to the other village banks. Co-workers Soledad and Jorge also pictured.
Recognizing the hard work of some of the women that have helped plan the event and other events.
Dance troop making everyone smile.

First Artesian Fair

These are some of the images of the first artesian fair that DHF held. Not only was it DHF's first fair, but for many of the women it was also their first fair and chance to sell their products outside of their home. We had 21 women participate with everything from jewelry, marmalade, blankets, hats, ponchos, shawls, sweaters, and fresh food. I was very impressed - I didn't realize our women make such gorgeous things. The good news is that we had lots of people stop by and check us out, the bad news is that the women didn't get to sell too much. Being that it was our first time, I think everyone learned a lot - and we have lots of ideas of how to improve and make our next fair better. We'll have music, announcements, more food (stomach is what brings people in) and the women now have a better idea of how to display their products and better prep. I think the next one will be at the end of June - you all are invited!

Ecuador travels

Machala : Banana capital of the world - Banana trees growing right before your eyes in the city.
Our hostel in Cuenca, Ecuador - it was like a little piece of Europe.
Outside of Cuenca - the colonialism is alive and well.

Back from Ecuador...survived the never-ending bumpy bus rides filled with fried banana treats, loud music, violent movies, and breathtaking sights. I went with Hugo (in Spanish you would call him my boyfriend, but for now we'll say that he is the guy that I am dating). Ecuador was much more than I expected. I had a bitter welcome to the country as some jerk robbed my camera right out of my hands as we were arriving in Ecuador in a mototaxi. But after that episode we were treated like royalty at a friend's sister house in Machala. She served us the best shrimp meal (shrimp heads and all), took us to the famous and enormous banana port, put us up for the night and set us on our way the next morning with the best fresh sweet bread I have ever had. We spent a couple of nights in Cuenca, a very beautiful colonial city in the highlands, where we walked cobblestones streets and ate delicious food in between art museum visits. Ecuador impressed me. The streets of Machala and Cuenca were clean and well maintained. Even the market in Cuenca - no sign of banana peels or trash anywhere. There seemed to be a good chunk of people with money in the southern part of Ecuador as we saw a ton of newer cars and houses that were more like mansions. I think it might have something to do with the big banana giants that rake in dough. I can't speak for all of Ecuador, but I would definitely recommend the southern tip - and bring an appetite because the food is wonderful.
As part of our travels we also got a taste of the northern beaches of peru - white sand, palm trees - you know that typical paradise feel. But, also really, really, really hot and uncomfortable on a long bus ride.
As the trip started on a bad note with the camera disappearing act - it kinda ended on a bad note. I had to make it back to Cajamarca this afternoon for a meeting with my women, but last night we just missed (by 5 minutes) the overnight bus to Cajamarca. So instead of coming home with plenty of time to prep for the meeting, we spent the day riding in multiple buses, waiting on the side of the road, and me being super stressed out about when on earth I was going to arrive in Cajamarca. I got back just in time for my meeting, with 1/2 hr. to spare. Although the trip started and ended with some difficulties - the middle part of my trip was relaxing, fun, and very (mini) vacation like.