On Top of the World!

It has been an incredible week for me- I've tried to avoid giving you all too many dry play-by-play descriptions of my days here, but I think this week was the first time that I felt like a real Volunteer, so I'd like to share what it was like.

Last Friday, I decided it was time for me to stop taking baby steps and just go for it: instead of finishing my 1-by-1 meet-and-greets with artisans and school directors, which was going very slowly in the first three weeks, I decided to program a meeting in the Municipality for all the artisans, associated and independent, to talk about my function in the community and discuss our goals and next steps.  It was a little risky since I've been warned about how hard it is to get people to come to your meetings if they don't know you, but I decided it was time to try anyways.

Suddenly, I felt super busy.  On Friday afternoon, I ran to turn in my solicitud to the Municipality asking to use the meeting room that has a projector.  Then my socia invited me to a two-day wedding on Saturday and Sunday, which was a mix of high's and low's.  Sunday was out in the campo, in the caserios (shantytowns/outlying areas) of my town, so it was GREAT to spend some time out there- it is definitely a different world than the center of town, because people didn't even try to hide their surprise and fascination about the gringa- I was swarmed by about 10 kids asking me rapid fire questions about the U.S. and English... it was also clear that in this POOR poor area, my work in Savings and Credit programs could be really life-changing, so that was an exciting thought.  But I have to admit it had some pretty unpleasant moments- had some drunk men scream nonsense English in my face (they think it's hilarious to pretend to speak English) and one drunk woman who was very insistent on me meeting her son, because I was going to be her nuera, daughter-in-law.  On a related note, did you guys know that I have a huge American boyfriend who is really protective and is coming to visit?

My socia, Paulina (left) with the newlyweds- bride doesn't wear white if she already has kids!

Anyway, got back on Sunday night feeling very pressed for time on my meeting- nobody knew about it yet, the room wasn't confirmed, I wasn't sure that my list of contacts for the artisan associations was correct or complete, I had no contact info for independent artistans except for one that I had met, and my socia was consumed with other meetings pretty much all week.

On Monday, I was able to get verbal confirmation from the Municipality that my request was approved, got another list of associations that confirmed my list, printed off my formal invitations (which are very important here), and talked to a radio host about announcing my meeting on his show (which would be very important for attracting independent artisans).  This was all in the morning, since I had to travel to Chiclayo for a medical visit in the afternoon (small chance I might have a parasite, but that's another story).

Invitations- oh yeah, I have a super official stamp, which is important for "authorities" here

On Tuesday morning, I started repartiendo mis oficios, going house-to-house to deliver my invitations.  To my pleasant surprise, the 2 or 3 women I found had heard about my meeting on the radio...YAY!  But even with that little victory, the deliveries were going really slowly and I was sure I wasn't going to find everybody by the end of the day.  My brother and I were home alone for lunch so made arroz con huevo, rice and eggs, which is like the Peruvian equivalent of Ramen... perfect for two 23 year-olds.  He then offered to bring me to his friend's house who would know the roads that my brother didn't recognize.  His friend helped us a lot, and then my brother accompanied me in delivering almost ALL of my invitations, which took the whole afternoon/evening.  He was even more dedicated to getting them all delivered than I was, so eventually after searching around 3 different neighborhoods for the last one, we went home and I called the remaining few.  I spent the rest of the evening getting my PowerPoint ready.

Wednesday morning I continued working on my PowerPoint and was able to meet with my socia Paulina to go over my presentation quickly.  She was incredibly supportive and excited about what I wanted to talk about, and volunteered to hand deliver the last invitations to the individuals I had only called by phone.  Feeling more prepared than I expected and with some extra time, I delivered a press release to the Municipality for another last-minute radio announcement, and went to Chiclayo to run some errands.  I ran into another Volunteer named Amanda, who had just met a guy from Seattle who is doing a world tour by himself.  Had a good time hanging out with them for lunch, then went home and worked more on my presentation.  Later, two friends I had met in Chiclayo an earlier weekend (through a German volunteer who lives in my town) showed up at my door, because it's Patron Festival week (more like month) in my town, so we went out and got some pollo a la brasa.  They are from Chiclayo (the capital city) and both spend a lot of time in Germany, so are very international and are very different from the people in my town- more extroverted, have a lot more to say about international topics- so it felt really great to relax with them for a while and get to be more of my complete self, with less reservations about being culturally offensive.  Came back early, worked more on my presentation, and went to bed.

Thursday- the big day! Woke up early, made finishing touches on my presentation and materials, and got over to the Municipality early.  I was surprised to see two artesanas arrive on time at 10am... and surprised in a good way, because everything and everyone runs late here.  It took 30 minutes for a Municipality intern to hook up the computer, but that worked out perfectly because we had a full house by 10:30am... 32 artesanos en total, including 7 independent artisans- this was a VERY satisfactory turn out for me.  I advanced through my introduction of Peace Corps and Peace Corps/Peru, I introduced myself and my educational/professional background, and I showed some pictures of my friends and family (oh yeah, you guys are famous now) because my townspeople are always curious about how I can stand being without my family for two years.  I told them that YES I miss my family and friends very much, but I also have very strong motivations for being here... I described my motivations with the Spanish version of this quote, which an artesana read out loud for everybody:

“Strange is our situation here upon earth.  Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.  From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know; that we are here for the sake of each other, above all, for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy.  Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of others, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received and am still receiving.”  - Albert Einstein

  

Thanks Mom, for introducing me to that quote when I graduated from high school :)  I used this quote to say that I feel very thankful for the opportunities I have been given, through an accident of birth in the United States- that I was able to attend one of the best public high schools in the country, one of the best public universities in the country, and all the while having the constant support of family, friends, and friends of family... that I want everyone in the world to have the same opportunities that I had, to shape their own lives with education and job opportunities.

On the more specific topics of my work with the artisans, I used a tool we were given during training, the "Problem Tree"- it's a very simple graphic that uses intuitive logic to help people focus on the real "roots" of a problem.  It is an especially intuitive model for groups that work closely with agriculture, because it makes sense to them that to have a healthy tree (or project or organization), you have to have healthy roots.

I used the tree to approach the popular theme of egoismo and celos in the artesanía... that all the artisans say they can't unite to achieve anything because no one wants to share their skills with anybody else, and because some mismanagement of products and funds have occurred when groups have tried to work together to be represented at an artisan fair.  I used the tree to say that the ROOT of the problem is not the lack of trust and jealousy between groups- it is the lack of appropriate mechanisms to ENSURE that products and funds are appropriately managed, so that at all times, it is known where the products and money are, and we are on the same page about what is going to be brought where, etc.

Other parts of my presentation were regular, not that notable, but I think the Problem Tree was a hit.  It got them thinking in a really positive way when I converted the graphic into a Solution Tree, with "healthy roots."  It was an extremely useful tool in our later discussion about the possibilities of exportation, since that is pretty much the goal of all the artisans.  I said yes, I agree that that is the goal, but that is the END goal.  In order to arrive there, where do we need to start?  "The roots!" responded the participants- they really grasped and seemed to agree with my ideology that we need to focus first on organization and business practices in order to be ready to export- we need a "Congress" of artisans to represent their interests to relevant institutions, they need to develop new products and styles to international tastes, and they need practice with quality control, marketing, and accounting.  More than anything, it is going to take time to have a strong, unified institution that has the production capacity for exporting.

We ended the meeting with a FODA, the Spanish version of a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).  After some initial prodding and assistance from Paulina, a number of participants really opened up to the group.  I think the activity gave the group a real vision for what we might achieve, and what we need to focus on first.

So, after all the obligatory kisses on the cheek and "Chau's," I returned home with a big smile on my face, feeling exhausted.  I feel like I've just reached the first peak on my Peace Corps mountain.  I feel on top of the world right now, but I'm also having the feeling that I should "enjoy it while it lasts," because I never know when I am going to hit an unexpected and upsetting obstacle.  But with the significant positivity and participation that I saw from the artisans today, I am feeling really good about where I am going.