Latrines!

I have been meaning to sit down and write this blog for a few weeks now.  The problem is that my emotions have been on a roller coaster and who knows what I would have said in these past few weeks about how I feel about the latrines.  However, I feel I can finally discuss it level headily now! 

The start of the latrines project was very very bumpy.  I have been working with these 55 mothers’ since October 2011.  I felt like my expectations along with their responsibilities for the project had always been very clear.  However, when I showed up the day before construction to inspect my first house, it was clear that something had gone very wrong.  She didn’t have her hole dug out, nor made adobes (mud bricks), there was no husband to help out, and she was asking me to put her at the end of my list and come back in another month or two.  I walked away boiling mad, we had been over this a million times, if you didn’t have your materials you would be thrown out of the project.  So as I walked away from her house and could feel my blood pressure rising I found at the second house, that although she had her hole, she did not have adobe’s either. 

I went home to think about all of this.  Basically, if my first and second families of the project weren’t ready more than likely this was going to be something I encountered every day, and I had a lot of days left to go.  At the end of the project do I want 55 toilets sitting in my house that I have no clue what to do with because I took away everyone’s latrine for not being ready?  The answer was no.  I also thought when this is all over do I want to go back to the United States to a house with multiple bathrooms inside of it, knowing that I did not figure out a way to help these families of Chipillico.  The answer to that was also No, so I went back to the first family and we talked about what we were going to do. 

She was adamant about not losing her latrine, so she had already contacted her brother in law to come and dig the hole, because that would be the most important part for the following day.  Then we decided that he figuring out what materials she wanted to do for the walls would be on her, the contractor and I had many houses to do, and to stay within the bounds of our contract we were going to continue on, only stopping to do the walls for families who were ready with their adobes. 

Part of the rules for the project was that each family signed a contract saying that there would be a male in the home who was available to help the contractor on the day of construction.  Sometimes I regret this rule, because for example in the house above, the woman was incredible, and she worked right alongside the contractor, cutting wood, mixing mud and building her latrine, it was incredible.  At the end of her construction, I told her she was my miracle Mom for all she put together at the last moment to make sure she didn’t lose her latrine. 

The latrine construction is in phases.  The first phase is the construction of the cement platform that will cover the whole and then have the granite toilet and tubing placed into it.  That is only about an hour or work; however it takes 3 to 4 days to dry before we are able to install it.  The second phase is the installation phase.  In this phase we prepare the hole, with large tree trunk s to brace the hole and hold the platform securely, then we prepare mud that cover s the trunks and allows us to set the platform into it nicely.  From there we install the toilet and the tubing.  All of that can take up to 2 hours, depending on how well the family works with the contractor as well.  Lastly, we raise the walls of adobes, this is usually a 2 day process, in the morning we work for about 4 hours raising half of the wall, we leave it for 4 days to dry and then we return for another ½ day of work to raise the final part of the wall.  Unfortunately, very few families have actually had their adobes finished, so I have yet to see a finished adobe wall like what was discussed in the original project plan, however, I do have about 10 families that we are ready and we are currently in some phase of their construction.  Other families that do not have adobes, we simply do the first and second phases, and the families are left with the bathroom all ready to go minus the walls.  In this situation, I am finding that most families are going to do their adobes later, or are using other materials such as tin roofing panels to make their bathroom, which actually turns out very nicely.

The part of this project that has been the most challenging for me isn’t the construction at all.  It is simply dealing with the families.  I have had to be very strict, and it isn’t a lot of fun!  Sometimes I feel like the families look for ways to take advantage of me.  My first week of construction, I got into an argument with a mother who confessed that she didn’t have property to build on.  It frustrated me that she lied back in October when she told me that she was renting their home, but had property they planned on building on in the future.  I told her we would build on the land that she was going to build her home.   However, when I showed up to start construction, she told me the truth, and then got angry when I wouldn’t just give her the materials.  I can’t do that, I have people to answer to at the end of this project, and they want to see completed latrines and not materials lying around in homes. 

Many families have also decided to change the model of the latrine against my advice.  We are doing a dry-well latrine, which means there is a hole dug directly under the latrine, where all the waste goes.  The families want to do another type where the waste goes into a tube connected to the toilet and goes about 3 feet away to another hole dug away from the latrine.  However, this model requires that the families use water to flush their waste through the piping.  In my opinion this is absolutely stupid to do in a town where there isn’t any water.  Each family brings water to their home using donkeys each day or every few days that is typically used for cooking.  Now they are talking about doing it twice that amount because they want this fancier latrine.  I am not saying they can’t, because in the end that is on them.  But I am only allowing the contractor to either install the piping or build the adobes to cover it, because both situations are very time consuming and again, we have 55 families to work with and we have a contract only to work on one type of latrine.  Plus, it’s an opportunity for the contractor to make more money for the families to pay privately and for him to get his name out there as the person who has expertise in this type of latrine.  However, the first family we did this with has been going around town trashing me and saying that I didn’t finish her latrine, she leaves out the reasoning why.  She also claims I stole a half of bag of cement, which I did take because each family is given a half of bag, she was given a whole so I took back the half and gave it to another family.  Plus after we left they used more then she was supposed to.  This is so frustrating to me sometimes, everyone is extremely gossipy, and they know they like to leave part of the story out.  I know what I am doing, and I know I am not cheating anyone out of anything; I just don’t like people trying to cause problems!

I also had one mother approach me and tell me that all she needed us to do was come and do the cement and install the platform and her husband would build the adobe house himself.  That was great!  However, when it was all done she wanted to know when I was going to pay her husband.  I looked at her in surprise, and explained I pay no one except the contractor and how could she expect me to pay her husband for doing something in his own home to benefit his own family.  These people are really crazy sometimes and it makes for some uncomfortable situations.

I have had mixed feelings about this project because I find most families to be very ungrateful or they just are never satisfied.  For example the other day the husband decided he no longer wanted to build his latrine because he thought I would be giving them a porcelain toilet!  I was in shock, they didn’t even have a hole to use the bathroom in before, they were just going in corners of their yard, and NOW they are too good to sit on a VERY NICE granite toilet!  WOW! 

However, I went to a home the other day where the wife said that at the end of the day after buying rice and milk and potatoes to feed her babies there isn’t any money to do anything like these latrines and she was very thankful.  Another one told me that Chipillico will throw me a big party when I leave for all I am doing.  I thought that was sweet. 

And the people who have come out of the woodwork have been fascinating.  The very first day construction began; some man was running alongside my mototaxi asking me to come talk to him if I have anything left over.  One day as I ate lunch there was a lady who came in my house and sat at the table and asked the same thing.  Just this week an old lady came to my door asking for me by name and then kept kissing me asking for a latrine as well.  I feel bad when I have to tell them no, but the families in my project have been attending trainings since October, and it wouldn’t be fair to just give any away.  Plus I know that I won’t have anything left over!

I have one contractor that is working on the latrines.  He was recommended to me by my host Dad. He is just a regular guy who has some experience in these kinds of things.  His family is one of the poorer families of Chipillico.  And by him doing this project, he is making double what he would on a normal day working in the fields, and in the end the project is less work.  There were more professional contractors who wanted a lot more money for this project, however, Peace Corps likes to be able to train and help people build an expertise like we are doing with my contractor.  I really like him, he’s a good guy and I believe he is doing excellent work.  Plus, he and I work well together.  The other part of this is that he also has a large family, 6 kids, and when this project is over they still have to maintain their livelihood by working in the fields, so he asks for days here and there to be able to tend to something in his fields and it works out because he always makes them up, or we have extended our contract a little.  He is a good guy, and I  really think by everyone seeing him out there has and will continue to bring him a little extra business once we are finished with their project.

Peace Corps has a slogan “The toughest job you will ever love.” When this project started “love” was the furthest feeling I had.  However, with each passing day and us having found a good routine and model for this project things have gotten a lot easier.  Just the other day I was walking to one of my further out houses down this trail with my clipboard thinking that yes I kind of do love this. 

Back in Chipillico....

So after the update on vacations, maybe you are wondering what is going on in Chipillico?  I have spent the last couple weeks running around with my grant money buying materials, arranging with the municipality the transportation of the materials, and getting the families ready.

All the materials had to bought in Las Lomas, which as a reminder is about 45 minutes outside of Chipillico.  So because the Municipality of our district fails very often to help out with anything, I asked them for the very minimum of simply helping out with the transportation of these materials to Chipillico at the end of May.  Back in March the mayor told me that he wouldn’t be able to help out with the project at all other then transportation.  So I went to all the right people, I have all the right signatures; I even have a time and date set up!  Now I am just waiting to see on the 30^th if they follow through and show up with a truck.

I was very relieved to find that during the buying process that many of my materials are coming up much cheaper then I had expected.  This is partially due to the fact that I am buying in bulk.  I had also found a mistake on my budget that was in my favor.  I and my committee are looking for ways to help out the families with the extra money that has shown up, but everything has to get preapproved by the grant agency before we can make any moves.  And if we don’t use all the money we will have to return what is left over, which isn’t a bad thing because it will go to other volunteers all over the world who are looking to do a project as well.

As for the families, they are my most stressful part.  We are at the point where the families have all signed their contracts and have agreed to do their part of the work, and just the other day they all received the dates that we will be coming to help construct their latrine.  But now suddenly husbands are popping up and questioning the latrine.  Although they “signed” (not sure if it forged by their wives or them) paperwork, some have been lead on by their wives to believe that the latrine is a different model then we are building.  So every night there is someone new at my house asking about the latrine.  Fortunately up to this point I haven’t had any problems after I explain our model and why I choose to do that one.  I have had some families elect to do a more modern model that requires them to bring extra water to the house (exactly why I didn’t choose it), however if they want to buy the extra materials and do the extra work I am 100% in. 

So as of right now, materials come the 30^th of May and construction begins June 5^th and goes until the end of July.  Wish me luck!

I am trying to take some stress off myself by bringing a lighter mood to the project.  For example the other day at one of our monthly training we played a jeopardy game revisiting information from the first 4 sessions.  They absolutely loved it and it got very competitive.  I always feel much better after a training when the mom’s seem happy, and they had fun, and I can see that they actual did and are learning something. 

As for my other work, the health post staff have been bugging me to help them work in the schools, which I love and although I have been very busy with the latrines I am not going to turn them down.  So we went and arranged with the school principal to start with self-esteem training.  Training might sound very boring, but I have lots and lots of manuals on how to make this stuff fun, and they learn through games.  So it will really end up being great.  The technician from the health post has also arranged for the psychologist from Las Lomas to come and help us.  It’s always good to have support from the higher up facilities in this stuff.  So they can see what we are doing, and then later one may be able to support the health post with more activities or money. 

As for my host family and stuff we had a little action over the weekend.  After celebrating Dayana’s 7^th birthday party I was sitting out front of my house looking at pictures with my host sister’s Betty and Liliana, when two men in the cantina next to my house started arguing.  I told my sister’s that the men were going to fight.  It was kind of pathetic, because the much bigger man, Mateo, who was starting the fight was sloppy drunk and when we was ready he lazily put up his fists to fight, kind of like a really bad western movie or something.  It made me laugh.  However, and older man who was sitting at the table stood up to Mateo to try and calm him down and break up the fight.  Mateo pushed the older man and literally it’s like he fell in slow motion and fell straight back, and his head was the first thing to hit the cement, and the hit was incredibly hard.  We went running to help him.   First thing was that he wasn’t responding, and as everyone was yelling I started attending to him, first I noticed blood on the floor.  He had split his head open.  I grabbed a shirt to stop the bleeding and then we tried to get his response.  At this point he was just staring off and he had no pulse.  Us women, put him in a moto taxi as the men watched and argued.  There were about 7 witnesses to what happened, one happened to be Mateo’s wife and son.  Betty and I raced to the nurse’s house.  Because on Sundays and at night there is no one in the health post and the nearest doctor is 45 minutes away in Las Lomas.  Fortunately along the ride the man came too, was speaking slurred words. And would go in and out of consciousness.  I jumped out at the police station to explain what happened and the guy Mateo was still at the cantina.  This is a police officer I don’t particularly like and he looked at me, and did nothing!  Later the family of the old man came to the nurses home and it was decided he would go home for observation.  I was so incredibly frustrated having worked with so many brain injured patients in my previous life.  This man needed observation but in a hospital.  It made no difference that no one could tell if the effects of the injury were from the fall or from drinking, he hit the ground hard, he went unresponsive, he had no pulse, and he needed to go to a hospital!!!!!!  But one thing I have learned is not to question the natural order of things here, all I can do is help and hope for the best, but once they make their decisions its best I stay out of it.

As Betty and I walked home, we encountered Mateo and his wife and son.  They asked about the old man, and we said the police were notified.  They said the police hadn’t come to do anything because all they want is money.  I was standing behind Mateo when I noticed he had pointy rocks in his hands, probably waiting for the old man’s family to come and get him.  Which I hoped they would!!!

The following day I found out that the old man was still doing badly, and everyone was just waiting…for what….I is not really sure, but his life was in their hands.  I also found out that Mateo had gone to that police officer and said that the old man came at him with a knife and that is why he pushed him.  The police never came to question anything.  When I asked my host family why the family of the old man didn’t go to report it, the response was “That kind of family doesn’t want police, they will just go and kill if they think it’s necessary.” 

After all that I am somewhat relieved that I am only looking at about 6 months left of my service. 

Tarapoto

So after spending another day or so in Cusco we headed back to Lima to catch a flight later that night to Tarapoto.  Tarapoto is located in the North East, it is considered to be part of the Jungle.  We were really ready; we both had enough of the cold of Cusco and were ready to get back to the heat a little.  We had about another week of vacation planned out there.  My host family is from that area so I was very excited to get an idea of this place they always talk about!  We first arrived in the city of Tarapoto.  It wasn’t a very nice or clean city, but we stayed at a neat hotel that had a very jungle vibe.  My friend had spent a week there before we got there and had sent me an email of suggestions on where to visit.  So our first day we headed out to a town called Lamas.  It’s located up above Tarapoto and the climate is a little milder not quite as hot.  My friend had said there was a castle we needed to see there.  So I thought we would see the ruins of the castle or something!  But nope!  Lamas was a town similar to Chipillico, a little nicer with roads and nicer homes, but for the most part not a very rich town.  However, we were very confused when we came across the castle looking for ruins.  It was a very real and functioning castle.  After talking to the staff we found out the castle was built 6 years ago by some Italian guy who liked the climate of Lamas and he built this castle to live in!  We were able to tour it, and it basically had art work displayed and it was very beautiful just crazy that its neighbors were homes very similar to Chipillico.  Apparently he also rents rooms to artists and owns a restaurant in Tarapoto.  We were able to get a great view of Lamas and the surrounding towns.  There were so many houses with their grass reed roofs.  It reminded me exactly of what you would see in a movie about the jungle! So I was very satisfied!

Later we came back down to Tarapoto to eat lunch with the hopes of later heading off to visit some waterfalls.  We found a simple restaurant and ordered what would be a typical dish in Piura; however, we were disappointed to find out that that particular area has a little twist on what we consider a typical dish.  Later we attempted to try and see waterfalls but we couldn’t get a car out there so late so we called it a day.

I had already scheduled 3 days in a place called Laguna Azul outside of Tarapoto, so the next day we headed out there.  We knew it would be about a 2 ½ ride there but that was all we knew.  About 30 minutes into the trip we turn off the nice paved road down a nice muddy road and all that lies in front of us is a huge, wide, dirty river!  So we knew at this point we would be going in a ferry.  The ferry was on the other side of the river so we really couldn’t get a good look until it started heading to our side.  It honestly looked very scary.  It looked like someone said “I’m going to build a ferry, what do I have lying around my yard to do that”.  It was 3 old boats with wood planks across them to hold the cars.  Each boat had a motor but it seemed like if they were lucky they could get one or two working at a time.  Plus, were not talking about some calm river, this river had a strong current.  But as always in Peru, I was no shocked when they made the entire trip across the river look easy!  These people can always make something out of nothing and make it work!  They even sold popsicles on the small ferry! 

After the ferry we started heading up muddy roads up the side of the mountain.  We reached a point where cars were in front of us waiting.  We got out of the car to see what was going on.  There was a curve in the road where there had been a land slide and rocks were covering the road and a van was unable to get through because of one gigantic ride.  So we all got out and the men did the work to help the van, even Edgar.  They used ropes to help move the rocks together and then they all got behind the van and pushed it through.  Then we were able to get through.  We get moving along, it was like we were reaching the top of these small mountains, passing all the jungle homes and a river.  And then in the middle of it all was a valley with the Laguna.  The town was identical to Chipillico, poor and located on the side of this lake.  Tarapoto had advertised this Laguna everywhere as a tourist spot but once we got there we discovered the only tourist part were a few hotels that had been built on the lake but as soon as you left the hotel there was nothing but a poor and kind of sad town. 

I had booked our hotel in advance, and we had a neat place located on the Laguna, sort of run down but we had our own cabana and there were lots of hammocks and a pier into the water so we were happy.  We were even happier when we went to order lunch and everything was reasonably priced and came with a ton of food.  There is a family who lives at the hotel and takes care of things and we got to talking to one of them who explained a little history of the Laguna.  Back in the early 90’s when there was a lot of terrorism in the jungle a terrorist group had camped out there and didn’t allow the people to leave.  They were there for 4 years and the people lived in fear.  Then another terrorist group came in and the two groups started fighting and the Peruvian military got involved and ordered all the people of the town to the plaza.  From there they people could watch on opposing hills of the Laguna bombings and fighting it sounded really terrible.  And from that you sort of get the vibe walking around the community that it is a community that has really suffered and although they want these tourist opportunities to make more money, they aren’t quite sure of it all yet and a little leery. 

In Laguna Azul there wasn’t a lot to do.  We did a lot of laying in hammocks, and me some swimming.  One day we had heard there was a waterfall, but to our surprise it was at the top of one of the hills in a military base.  We went and checked it out; it was very beautiful but not really sure it could be considered a waterfall, a little small.  But it was an adventure!  We also took a boat ride into the lake with a tour guide.  We found out that there is an inactive volcano on one end of the lake and I was able to jump off the boat and go swimming.  He also took us to another part of the lake where there were artisans set up to sell us stuff.  When we got off the boat we were greeted with bananas stuffed with all kinds of stuff wrapped in leaves.  I got a banana stuffed with cheese and Edgar ate one stuffed with meat (he couldn’t tell me what kind of meat) and peanuts.  It was really good!  Then everyone had little shot glasses of different jungle liquors they were trying to sell.  I tried a few because it was inevitable at times, and Edgar drank a lot more than me!  We bought some stuff and some kids tried to get his giant boa constrictor for me to take a picture with, I politely declined!!!!

Later that night we went to bed kind of early, but neither of us slept well.  I was kind of freaked out all night long.  The next morning I said something to Edgar and he said the same thing, like he was scared all night long.  I think their crazy jungle drinks might have had some kind of weird affect on us.  Edgar agreed, but who knows!!!

We spent lots of time in hammocks people watching, it seemed like some people had their fields across the lake but instead of taking donkeys like in Chipillico, they would hop in their boats.  Some people had boats with motors, and other had hand carved canoes and they would paddle furiously across the lake, and you could just see their very muscular chest and arms like they had done that their whole lives.  Sometimes we would see people actually up to their neck in the water, but with nets and they were fishing.  Another very odd thing was the number of transsexuals.  Edgar said he had always heard there were higher populations in the jungle and it seemed like there really was.  My host family commented on the same thing.  I am somewhat curious to find out why that is. 

The last day in Laguna Azul was a tough day because we realized it was coming to the end of our vacation.  It was raining as we were leaving and we were really sad to say goodbye.  Turns out that rain continued very strong for the next 8 days and became really dangerous, so it was good we left when we could.  We spent one more night in Tarapoto, which was pretty uneventful.  Normally Edgar and I have the tradition of hanging out in the plaza, but the plaza in Tarapoto seemed a little shady so we didn’t really do much.  Plus, I hadn’t been feeling well and realized that I had gotten strep throat which really made me miserable. 

We made it back Lima and spent one night there, I showed Edgar all I knew of the Miraflores area in Lima, which isn’t much.  We checked out a few parks, ate some good food, and waited for our bus to take us back to Piura and back to our lives. 

When we got back to Piura I had to get back to Chipillico because I had a training the next day with the mom’s in my project, absolutely no time to rest and come back down from the vacation high.  Lucky for Edgar, he was on vacation the entire month of April so he had a few more weeks of fun! 

I have just a few months until my other vacation to the Galapagos Islands!!!

My Machu Picchu Adventure

Edgar ready for his first flight

I apologize to my faithful readers that I have been taking so much time in between blogs!  I will make this one a long one to make up for lost time. I have a lot to talk about because I just got back from a very exciting vacation.  My vacation to Machu Picchu! 

Many many months ago when I was planning my “big vacation”, I had asked Edgar if he could go anywhere in Peru where it would be, he said “Machu Picchu”.  I was never opposed to visiting Machu Picchu but I never really wanted to.  I guess I was never really into much history and the idea of visiting ruins just didn’t seem that exciting to me.  And I figured it would be so touristy.  But at the same time, I knew Machu Picchu is the #1 reason people from all over the world visit Peru, and most of the time when you say Peru, people say Machu Picchu.  And now it has been named one of the New Marvels of the World.  So part of me felt obligated to spare myself a lifetime of “what you lived in Peru and never went to Machu Picchu” statements and plan a trip to Machu Picchu with Edgar. 

Every time I meet someone new in this country one of the first questions is “Have you been to Machu Picchu?” this was always to ironic to me because not a single Peruvian I have ever met have been there.  It’s interesting how everyone is so proud of these ruins, but no one actually has been there.  As I started planning our trip I began to realize why. For me, Piura is a long way from Cusco, where Machu Picchu is located, and that alone can be a very expensive trip.  However, the more frustrating part came when I started buying entrance tickets and train tickets to get there and seeing how incredibly expensive it all is.  It’s unreal, and sure at times I had to pay the price of a tourist, but Edgar didn’t and it was still ridiculous.  So it made me kind of sad for so many people, here it is Peru and most Peruvians can’t even see it! 

So I planned out this awesome trip for Edgar and I, we would head to Cusco, we would even do part of the trip in plane since he had never been in one before!  We would spend a few days in Cusco seeing what that was all about, then take the train (only form of transportation) to Machu Picchu, spend a few days there and then come back.  However, in the last minute and due to Edgar’s vacation time we decided to throw another week of vacation after that and go and visit the jungle!  So I planned it all out, and then we waited a few months and in April it was finally time to go.  I can’t tell you how much I needed this trip after all the grant writing, and waiting, and writing, and waiting, dealing with the mom’s and working on the trainings, for my project.

So the day came and we finally headed to Cusco.  Edgar really seemed excited about his first time in a plane; however, it forgot that it doesn’t come without some nerves.  Fortunately it was a very short and smooth flight.  It was so cool how one second we were over Lima, then we headed into the clouds and the next time we saw land it was beautiful rolling green mountains.  We had been taking altitude medicine because Cusco is over 10,000 feet and neither of us are particularly used to that.  And we instantly noticed trying to get around Cusco on its slight inclines at times how easy it is to get completely out of breath.  Cusco was absolutely beautiful.  I don’t think I was in the least bit prepared for that.  I did not feel like I was in Peru.  I guess if people from all over the world visit there, then it has to be pretty nice!  There were many gorgeous churches and temples, where parts of them were constructed back in the time of the Incas, and later finished by the Spanish.  The restaurants and stores were just so nice and trendy.  And the streets were clean and pretty.  The one thing Edgar and I noticed was that taxi drivers would actually stop and wave you across the road, where as in Piura if you try and cross someone would rather run you ever then give you a second to get to the other side.  It also felt incredible safe!  I am used to constantly being on guard and worried someone is going to rob me, but Cusco just didn’t feel that way and it was so nice!  Also, coming from the absolute Piura heat, it was so nice to be able to wear jeans and a jacket, and at night we slept with down comforters and were ice cold when we would have to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

Cusco seems to have an everlasting list of tourist attractions.  We spent our first day roaming the city to see what it had to offer. We even took a trolley ride to check out some of the sites.  It started sleeting along the ride.  Another first for Edgar!  Then the following day we bought a pass to see some of the other ruin sites around Cusco and into what is called the Sacred Valley.  We spent the day exploring these, and with each one the setting was more and more beautiful!  We took a million pictures. 

Then we woke up early one morning to catch our train to Machu Picchu.  The way that trip worked was we had to first take a 2 hour bus ride that the train company sets up to another town called Ollanytambo.  This was so beautiful early in the morning; once we got out of the city it was just beautiful rolling hills with sites of the white capped Andes in the background.  Every now and then we would go through the small local towns where the women were dressed in their very colorful skirts, typical clothes of the people who live in the mountains.  During the trip a clipboard was passed around and we had to write our names and Id numbers and the country we were from.  Of about 40-50 to people on the bus I was the only American and Edgar the only Peruvian, people were from all over the world!

  As we were winding down a steep side of the mountain we reached a part where people were instructing the bus driver to take an alternate route because there had been land slide ahead and the road was impassible.  I remember having seen a bus go off the side of the road and thinking “that doesn’t look safe”, only to find out that we were about to do the same thing.  I have had many experiences in this country in buses on very treacherous and scary roads.  It’s never pleasant!  However, I always keep in the back of my head that those roads are used all the time and the drivers make those trips every day.  But in this case, the road isn’t normally used, nor was the driver accustomed to making that trip.  The road was very treacherous and steep and barely wide enough for the bus, as we went down I was clinging to Edgar not wanting to look out the window.  Then we got to a standstill.  Apparently there were buses and cars who were trying to come up the road as we went down!  However, the road was impassable!  We got to a complete stand still because on either end it wasn’t feasible or safe for the buses or cars to back up.  Everyone got off the buses and people living in the homes in that area all came to discuss what we were going to do.  We waited about 30 minutes until a move was made.  With the help of the locals, rocks and things were moved to help 2 buses move temporarily in order to get the buses trying to come up through.  However, my bus was at the end of the line, and it meant we were going to have to back up some.  So we started backing up, it was scary!  We started getting closer and closer to the edge.  People started screaming because it seemed like rocks were crunching and sliding underneath of us.  I started pushing Edgar out of his seat and screaming I wanted off as other people in front of me were in the aisle screaming and pushing to do the same thing. Finally we stopped, the cars got through and the bus driver straightened out to get back the road.  And all was well again.  However, we had to stop a few times, because buses ahead of us who were also with the same train agency were stopped convincing crying, shaken tourists to get back on the bus.

Finally we made it to the train station.  It was in such a beautiful setting and you really get excited for the ride.  The train had windows in the roof because at this point we are at the base of the mountains traveling alongside of a river, and at times there are ruins in the sides of the mountains and it’s just really cool to look up and see everything. 

The train ride was 2 hours, along the way we see people who are hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu.  I had such a problem with this because there would be groups of tourists dressed head to toe in their finest hiking gear and fancy hiking sticks and all this stuff, but they paid local Peruvians to carry their things.  It just bothered me.  All I kept thinking of was my host Dad carrying a bunch of tourist’s belongings in his little Peruvian flip flops.  I know it’s a business and they make money for their families.  I guess I just think if you are going to be brave and athletic and hike the Inca trail then prepare to carry your own things, isn’t that part of the whole adventure as well?

When we got to Machu Picchu pueblo I was really surprised.  It was a tiny little town tucked in the spot where the river cut between the mountains.  It was really cute.  We checked into our hotel and went exploring.  It took us all of 20 minutes to see everything.  We were extremely discouraged to find that Machu Picchu pueblo is a little bit of a trap.  Since you have no other options of other towns or food everything is unrealistically expensive.  And since Edgar and I are not high rollers it was a stretch for us.  So we looked for as many ways to save as we could.  We knew the next day we would be heading up to the ruins and could only imagine that is would probably be ever worse, so we arranged to take a bag lunch at a more reasonable price.

The next morning we woke up early to see Machu Picchu.   There is a bus station that takes you up, it is a neat ride heading up the mountain and seeing the very jungle like plants and terrain.  But the coolest part is you start to see Machu Picchu peak over the side of the mountain and other smaller ruins scattered around as well.   The anticipation is really exciting.  Especially since we felt like we had some so far to see this!

Once we arrived at Machu Picchu, you pretty much take a trail that leads you into the center.  So there are parts of the ruins above you and below.  It’s so overwhelming and exciting.  We decided to start with the lower parts and work our way up.  We wanted to make sure we made it to the top to get that signature photo that overlooks the rest of the ruins.  Outside the gate entering Machu Picchu there were tons of guides trying to sell their tours for the day.  I was so glad we didn’t give into that because almost every turn you make you run into a guide and you can overhear whatever they are explaining anyway.  Plus, it’s sort of easy to get a general idea of what you are looking at.  On the lower part we weaved in and out of what used to be houses.  It’s so neat because it like a maze and sometimes you come to a window or door that literally drops off into the cliff below.  Very scary!  Machu Picchu is so incredibly because it is literally built on the top of a very steep mountain, there really isn’t much a gradual decent, it is straight down.  However, the views are incredible!

Little by little we made our way around Machu Picchu, we took our time because our plan was to spend the whole day, and we had come so far we were determined to see the whole thing.  One thing I didn’t know about Machu Picchu is that the mountain behind it, also known as Huayno Picchu has ruins on top.  You can by an additional ticket to climb it; however it only allows so many people each day within a certain time period because it is dangerous. 

We explored all of Machu Picchu, a little difficult at times because although the altitude is less then Cusco and can still be difficult climbing at times.  Another interesting part of it is that so much is left exactly as is, and at some points I thought a little dangerous, you could easily walk off parts and get hurt.  There are sort of security guards always watching.  And of course there were people from all over the world, we would stop at times and try and listen in on a guide and then discover they weren’t speaking English or Spanish.  There were also weirdoes.  For example we were at this sort of giant sundial and there was a group of people all dressed in white with weird hats and no shoes and they were doing strange rituals.  Not really sure any of it was related to the history of the site we were looking at.  But   one thing is true; there are weirdoes all over the world.

When we finally made it to the top we took a million pictures with the ruins behind us.  Machu Picchu is so incredible that literally when you turn away for a second you look back and want more pictures just like it was the first time you have ever seen it.  It is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life.  It was so intricately built in such an amazing location it can’t help up take your breath away.  Edgar and I sat and ate our lunch overlooking it all. 

Later, we decided to visit the Inca Bridge, there is a small trail that leads away from Machu Picchu so we went to check it out.  This small trail borders the side of the very very steep mountain, and then you reach a part where you can see a bridge that was built into the rock and literally it is insanely scary because it is probably on a foot or so wide built into the rock and if you fell you would certainly die, there is nothing below for such a distance.  Fortunately, tourists cannot go any further, but you can see where the bridge us.  And anyone who would want to go any further is an idiot!

Later we came back to our spot took a million more pictures and started to sadly head down.  We could see the clouds come rolling in over the mountains and you could no longer see their peaks, plus it was getting to be late and Machu Picchu is only open until 5.  So we said our goodbyes.  And we headed down.  I think Edgar and I both walked away feeling so accomplished for having been a part of something so special that day.  And honestly I can only imagine how Edgar really felt having been in this famous part of this country that he has only heard about and learned about his entire life and finally had the opportunity to see in in person must have been surreal.

After another night in Machu Picchu pueblo we headed back to Cusco on the train.  At times during the trip the train would have to stop at locations to be able to make room for an incoming train.  At one of the stops were two women obviously from that area waiting maybe for their train to come through.  They were dressed in the traditional clothes of women from the sierra.  One of them was a much older lade, and the other was a young girl probably about 15 or 16 with her 2 year old daughter swaddled on her back.  They were carrying flowers and just waiting.  The littler girls faced was stained almost like it was dirty, but Edgar explained they are marks from the sun and then from being in the cold.  Most of the poor children we saw all had the same markings.  It made me so sad watching them.  Here we had been listening to some of the ridiculous conversations of all these rich people riding on this train with us bragging about everywhere they had been and we pull up to this train station and see the people who are REALLY living there, and the reality is that Machu Picchu is beautiful and brings in a lot of money but there are still people living amongst all the grandeur very poor.  And a poor that even in the community I live in Peru have no idea of, it’s extreme poverty in extreme conditions.  Some people opened their window to give money, and as we drove away the little girl on her mother’s back waved and the older women raised her hands in gratitude for the passengers who had helped make their day a little easier. 

GRANT APPROVED!!!

This is one of the groups of mothers in the workshop, we have to do two groups since the project is large.

This mother walks and 2 hours or more to come to the workshops she lives very far away.

So the best peace corp news I have ever received other than  getting accepted and knowing I was going to be sent to Peru came in the form of my grant getting approved this past Friday!  Which means 65 latrines for families with children under the age of 3 in Chipillico.

I have been so stressed about this, because other then me and a few of my promoters, no one really understands what I have been doing to get the money.  Most people believe the project has been underway, not surprisingly because we have completed 4 of our 8 workshops on how to have a healthier home.  

The mother's had to determine which animal could cause health problems in the home and match it to a sentence.

So now, it's official, my grant was approved from an outside organization, and they are funding the full amount I requested, near $4,500, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

The past few weeks have been somewhat difficult.  We began our house visits.  Which means we visit the homes to see if they are in compliance with the themes they are learning in the workshops.  Mostly, I want to see that they are living in a healthy home for the children's sake.  For example, I make sure there aren't any animals in the home, and with even more luck the families have the animals in corrals.  Then, we check the kitchen, are dishes, pots and pans cleaned, put away and covered.  As well as food is covered and put away.  I also check to see that the families have a supply of clean drinking water (boiled) stored for the children to have access to all day.  Also that the families have a place to wash their hands where there is soap and a towel.  With some luck I find many of the kitchens in order, and only a few houses had animals in the homes, most of which were chickens or guinea pigs.  The biggest problem I am finding is that the families do not have places to wash their hands or access to soap.  As expected most families have no form of formal bathroom.  Also there are bonus questions, if I find families that have proper disposal of trash that is a good thing, because the majority of families dump their trash in the creek or burn it.  Also, if they have a place to brush teeth is also another good thing.  Some families were in such great compliance I was thrilled.  Others were not at all which was frustrating.  I wasn't going into these homes to see if they were swept or had toys or clothes on the floor, just to check simple things to see if they were keeping a safe home for small children. 

A great point my nurse discovered was that most of the homes were very closed off, no windows, which meant very little light, but also no where for dust to escape.  A huge problem in Chipillico is also in the form of respiratory illnesses mainly due to the dust.   So these very tightly closed homes with dirt floors can be dangerous.

The house visits have been sort of fun.  I have 6 health promoters (women from the community who dedicate their time to helping with health related themes) and a nurse and technician from the health post who are helping with the visits.  We originally divided into 3 teams, each with a professional, me the nurse of the technician and we visited the homes.  Little by little the health promoters have had to venture out on their own.  This is the basis behind developing a sustainable community.  In the case of this project, more or less I am the facilitator, but the promoters are the ones who are going to be there when I am gone and should be running things.

The last workshop I was beyond proud when I prepared a powerpoint and a game and the promoters took charge and ran the entire thing in the sessions, I just stood back and lent my ideas or comments when necessary, but to seem them take charge made me so happy!  

However, I found myself in rare form in the last workshop.  I had mother's who were not respecting the rules, not coming to workshops and wondering why they were not longer incorporated in the project and getting angry with me.  The rules were very clear from the beginning and I have had mother's visiting my house questioning the same thing.  Sometimes it's hard to be strict, but there are many mother's coming to everything and it's not fair that some can skip when they feel like it.  Also, I had people questioning why i wasn't building latrines of brick with tanks apart from the latrines and why i haven't asked the mayor for money.  This infuriated me, because it was obvious that had no respect for the work I have done and were underestimating everything.  I yelled when some of these things were said.  Sometimes I understand it's cultural, other times I fall back into my American shoes and take offense to comments like this.  It's like your giving something to somebody ungrateful and it doesn't feel good.  And to hear the mud bricks being criticized and them wanting bricks was unbelievable to me since EVER SINGLE ONE of their homes is made of mud bricks.   More I was angry people that are defecating and creeks and in their yards that have no form of latrine at all would complain about the model I was making.   I explained why we aren't doing a separate tank due to the fact we have no running water.  I was so upset that they even questioned any of it because the type of latrines was so clearly explained at the beginning of the project.  I left extremely upset and tired this day.  I apologized to specific mother's I took my anger out on, especially some that showed up over an hour late and were upset they would be considered absent. 

So what does this grant approval mean?  It means that after I send back a few more documents with signatures from the committee that is helping me do this project in Chipillico I will receive the money.  In May we will start going and buying the materials and bringing them back to Chipillico, and as long as the rain holds off the end of May is the projected start of the construction of the latrines!  I have never been more excited! 

Rainy Season

If I wrote anything about the rainy season last year....it was all lies!  I did not know what a rainy season REALLY was until about a month ago. Last year we may have had a few weeks of rain, but it was absolutely nothing in comparrison to this year. 


Let me tell you what rainy season really is, it means that we only have a few hours of sun each day.  Usually the rain starts around 4-5 in the evening and goes until the morning, and around 10 or 11 in the morning it all burns off. So yeah this all might not sound like a big deal to you all living in the United States, but for someone living in a dirt home with dirt floors, it's a huge deal!


When rainy season starts the first problem we have is that we are suddenly able to identify where the holes are in our roof!  Sometimes if it's a strong rain this becomes apparent very easily.  My family will put pots, pans, washing basins all over the house to keep the water from doing too much damage.  They cover the TV and move furniture. Our roof is made of a very thin tin, so with time, and sun damage, it rusts and falls apart and that's when the holes show up.


The problem is just the other week, my host Dad's system of gutters that he has running through the house to catch the rain became a problem.  Basically he used large sheets of rolled tin to create this system to catch large amounts of water that may roll of the roof and direct it outside.  He has two of these gutters in the house, and they are rigged up using thin wire attached to bamboo that holds the roof together.  However the thin wire a lot of times has been used a million times over in other household projects and is very rusted and worn. 


So this particular night a huge storm came through the valley, there was thunder and lightening and a lot of rain.  My family was running through the house putting all of their pots and pans in place to catch the rain, but this time was bad, because the wind was really bad and water was coming in windows and the doors.  Even my room where I usually don't have any problems had holes that the wind helped find and water got in.   Then the roof in the back of the house came crashing in because my host Dad's gutter system got to heavy and water got into the house in waves.  The entire last room the dirt floor in front of our bedrooms was flooded.  O wait...i didn't tell you the more suspensful parts, we had no electricity, and with heavy heavy rain on a tin roof we could barely hear eachother talking.  So there was lots of screaming.  I saw my host Dad climb on a chair and the water was just pounding down on him as he was trying to repair the gutter.  My host sisters were taking buckets to try and get rid of the water before it got into our bedrooms.  My host mom was trying to recuperate as much as she could out of the bedroom that was getting destroyed.  It was a nightmare.  Unfortunately one of my sister's husbands had taken a trip out of town that day, and at the time the storm rolled in he should have been on his way back and everyone was really nervous and she was running back and forth to her house in search of him and to save what she had in her home.


I was standing there with Dayana who had a death grip on my hand crying because although the rainy season isn't anything new, this storm was scary and watching everyone scream and rush around her was scary.  So that night once everything got pieced back together the best it could and the storm continued she slept in my room and cried her self to sleep she was so scared.


The next day was a mess, the house was filled with mud and water and outside was only worse.  The only way to get around is barefoot or in boots, but even then the mud cakes to the bottoms of your feet.  I watched family after family walk in front of my house after having gone to buy more sheets of tin for their roofs.  My family had asked to borrow money to help repair part of their roof as well.  


It was a mess, but it's not like rainy season gets any better.  Maybe we don't have stroms every night but we do have heavy rains and it just feels like there isn't anything you can do to get out of the mud.  I may be able to go outside to take my shower, but the walk back in just means I have feet caked with mud.  And because of this it took a week or more for the house to get dried out and not have any mud in there.


We have been lucky in this rainy season because for the most part our house has stayed together.  Other people have lost their entire adobe houses due to them melting away in the rain. Small bridges have been destroyed that help you get around town, and the water has taken pathes through peoples fields and destroyed crops!  The other day a body washed up in the lake, someone how appeared to be bathing and the water came and may have swept him away.  


I have been watching the news and reading the newspapers and there are parts of Peru where entire towns have been washed away, and in the mountains above us more houses and families are being washed away and killed because of the rains. 


Last year we had a drought and everyone really felt that for the loss of their crops, this year there is rain in excess and people are feeling the damage to their homes.  And it's not over, everyone says March is the worst month!