Fellow Volunteers Writing Articles and Facebook Statuses

I know my posts have been kind of (or really) depressing lately, so allow me one more paragraph of serious stuff and then I promise I'll get on to the comic relief!

Sometimes I feel quite bitter at male Peace Corps Volunteers, because they don't experience machismo the way the female volunteers do... but then I am reminded that there are some male and female volunteers that have to deal with discrimination of a whole other level- homophobia, for example.  Outside of Lima (and often times within the city as well), the majority of Peru is shockingly homophobic- I've sat in a high school class and listened to the Councilwoman in charge of Education in Monsefú tell 13 year-olds that romantic love can only exist between a man and a woman the Bible is very clear that God hates homosexuality.  As a result of this attitude, it is strongly recommended (by many gay Volunteers and Peace Corps staff) that gay Volunteers keep their sexual orientation private, because the backlash in their community may make their work and integration impossible.  I say all this as an intro to a really interesting article written by another Peace Corps Peru Volunteer... check it out: 

 http://www.gaycitynews.com/articles/2012/04/26/gay_city_news/news/doc4f9834fdb98e8807817871.txt

Okay, now back to the easier stuff.  I was recently looking back on some favorite Facebook posts by fellow Volunteers, and thought that they give a pretty interesting perspective on the crazy moments of Peace Corps life that start to feel pretty normal.  Here's what I mean:

Spent the afternoon with a mother's club going house to house signing up kids for a free present in Christmas. Accidently let a fart slip louder than I expected and while the adults at least pretended to not hear it the kids were in a fit of giggles. By the time we reached the end of the block every house we passed was laughing. Word travels fast when a gringa toots.

‎14-yr-old student: ¿Como se dice "¿Quieres estar conmigo?" en ingles?
me: Do you want to be with me?
student: Yes! Yes I do!    .... 

I couldn´t even get mad at him, just tried not to let all of the students see how funny I thought it was.

Helped judge a ¨Señorita Primavera¨ pageant last night in celebration of the first day of spring, and on my way out the door my host sister told me I wasn´t dressed nice eough, and in fact, none of my clothes seemed to cut it so they had to lend me some. This is not what I envisioned the Peace Corps to be like.

Week in review: Tuesday--Alpacas walk into my meeting (yes, it was indoors!).  Wednesday-- Naked man in the canal.  Thursday-- Appointed to organize breakdancing contest. 

TGIF!

Just watched a fully grown Peruvian male thrown a fit that Charlie St Cloud....the Zach Efron film was turned off before completion of our bus journey

my host sister asked for my pee to wash her daughter with. Family integration: Complete.

Peace Corps: Some days you try to change the world, some days you translate Bieber lyrics.

In October,  Lisa sent me a Twix bar, and I gave it to my host brother. He loved it. Yesterday, he found a Twix in Trujillo, bought it, brought it home, and shared it with me. Sustainable development at it's finest ;)

For a real treat go work a farm for a day pulling up aproximately 100 buckets of water from a deep well and aquire 7 open blisters on your fingers and two hours later apply hand sanitizer copiously.

Drank expired juice again this time i’m paying for it

And, saving the best for last, here is a Facebook status posted by one Volunteer, that was then commented on by many other Volunteers:

You know you've been in Peru too long when  ...you finally get a hot shower and turn it to cold because it feels more natural.

‎...you eat everything with a spoon.

… You pick ants and hair out of your food like it ain't no thang.

… you consider it acceptable to call someone 8 times in succession to ask a non-emergency question

‎...you sweep your dirt to make it look nice.

… elbowing a grandma to get "dibs" in line is polite

… rap a coin on someone's front door repeatedly yelling "¡seño!" until they answer your call--from 6am to 11pm

… you sincerely think that drinking something cold or using a fan might make you sick

… silencing your phone is a thing of the past

… fireworks don't make you wake up or even wince

‎...you can comfortably use diarrhea as an excuse to get out of a Peace Corps meeting.

Lastly, here's my most recent album of photos from Months 7 & 8 in site!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100477704393376.2589283.1526375&type=1&l=f73d58db01

The simply complicated lives we lead

As you may or may not remember, I am participating in a program called World Wise Schools, in which I write letters (emails) to a 6th grade class in Virginia, whose teacher is my friend Elizabeth Turner.  Here I'd like to share my most recent update to them, which talks about the "simple," humble lives many of our friends lead here in Peru.

Hi Ms. Turner’s Class!!

It feels like a long time since I saw you all a little more than two months ago!  I hope you all had fun on your Spring Breaks and are enjoying the weather as it warms up.  It is cooling down here because the seasons are opposite in the Southern Hemisphere- so we are heading into fall!

Last weekend, I visited another Peace Corps Volunteer named Liz who lives about 4 hours away in a town called Bolívar, Cajamarca.  It is a very rural area, where only about 600 people live in the town, and another 1,000 or so live on farms that are hours away from the center of town.  I want to tell you a bit about my visit, because the way of life there is very different from what most Americans are accustomed to.

First, there is no cell phone service in the whole town.  And almost nobody has a landline in his or her house.  So that means the whole town shares two “community phones!”  There is also no Internet.  But since the kids there have never had Internet, they aren’t as upset by that as you might be- instead of playing on the internet, they are accustomed to playing with each other or bugging their parents :)

Both nights that I was visiting, the electricity was cut off before 9pm- that means that the only way to get around your house or the streets was by flashlight or candles.  These power outages happen all the time in Bolívar- imagine what it would be like in your house and school if the power shut off all the time, without warning!

Almost all of the people in Bolívar are very, very poor… a level of poor that is very rare in the United States.  Most people are farmers and make very little money, so they can’t buy a lot of things for their house or their kids- the floors are just dirt, no tile or concrete or anything, and most people only have 3 or 4 sets of clothes to wear.  They eat rice and potatoes every day because it is cheaper, and sometimes they have a little bit of fish or meat when they can afford it.

But there is something really important you have to understand- you don’t have to feel bad for the people of Bolívar because they don’t have cell phones, internet, or lots of clothes- these are things that matter a lot more in the United States than here in rural Peru.  You don’t need these things to be happy.  While Liz’s friends in Bolívar do need help studying to go to good schools, and finding ways to earn more money, they are very happy, generous, and fun people!

Here’s something that will surprise you guys- remember those guinea pigs you were so worried about?  In Liz’s friend’s house, they run around on the floor of the kitchen!  The kitchen looks completely different than what you imagine as a kitchen.  The “stove” is just a pot on firewood, and in the corner a bunch of guinea pigs, a few ducks, and a chicken squawk and squeal.  Here’s a picture of a stray guinea pig that made it over to the kitchen table, really close to my foot!

I learned a lot this weekend, visiting Liz and meeting her friends.  While my town, Monsefú, is really poor compared to the United States, Bolívar is much, much poorer.  Liz says she knows of one person in the whole town that owns a refrigerator.  But no matter where I travel, I find that people who come from different backgrounds or have different lifestyles or cultures are never really that different from you or me – kids everywhere like to play, everyone likes to laugh, and families always have arguments and love each other all the same.

So, I would like to hear your thoughts on this question…

What do you think is most important in life,

and what makes people truly happy?

Let me know what you think.  In the mean time, here are some more pictures from my visit to Bolívar, Cajamarca!

Un abrazo (a hug),

Kim

So, there's the simple, 6th grade appropriate Peace Corps story of the day.  While it is simplified, it is also all true.  Some parts of Peace Corps are somewhat romantic, eating dinner by candle light with guinea pigs running around my feet.  My job is pretty ridiculous and fun, sometimes.

Now, if you're up to it, I direct your attention to a blog written by my friend Amanda, written on a topic that- as you know- makes my life a lot more complicated than a 6th grader would understand.  Of course, I'm talking about machismo.  This post does a great job of really describing how constant and frustrating the situation is, not only for the harassment but the fact that none of our local friends can understand why it upsets us so much.  You'll also notice a shout-out to my truck-punching experience.

Here you go: http://amandagoespc.blogspot.com/2012/04/machismo.html

If you've still got the stomach for it, I have a few more comments on machismo.  A fellow female volunteer recently told me that as a Youth Volunteer, she stopped working in the high school because of how bad the treatment by male teachers got.  How bad, you ask?  The English teacher told his class of 13 year-olds that he wished he was standing under the stairs when the Volunteer walked upstairs wearing a (long) skirt.  Said this to his class... of 13 year olds.  Boys and girls alike are taught from the youngest age that all females can be treated as sex objects.  I've had 10-year olds in Monsefú whistle and make lewd comments at me.  

Really makes you want to donate to our adolescent boys' camp that is going to touch of the topic of machismo, right??  Just kidding.  Sort of.

There you go.  Two completely different realities, same Peace Corps rollercoaster.  8 months in-site as of four days ago!  This past month has been my hardest yet, but there's still no where I'd rather be.

How You Can Help: Camp VALOR

You may remember a while back that I blogged about our annual adolescent girls camp (Camp ALMA), put on by the volunteers in my region.  Thanks to your support, we met our fundraising goal and were able to put on a really incredible 3-day camp for the girls from our sites!  Here's a picture of some of the 60 girls listening to an HIV-positive speaker.  Sexual health is always a big focus of our youth camps, since the topic is not addressed anywhere near adequately in schools or in the family. 

In early June, it will be the boys turn- we will be putting on a 3-day camp (Camp VALOR) for a total of 50 adolescent boys from our sites across the region of Lambayeque.  Our focus will be promoting the "well-rounded man"- through activities in agriculture and business, environment, future planning, nutrition, sexual health, and gender equality (fighting the ever-dominant machismo).  So, in order to achieve our goal we need to raise money FAST, about $1,400 in the next month.  A little goes a long way here in Peru!  If you weren't able to donate fast enough to contribute to the girls' camp, here's your chance!  Once we reach our goal, the link will close.

I can assure you through my experience in the girls camp that you will be contributing to a really special project.  It is very rare that Peruvian teens in our region are allowed out of the house past 9pm, much less to sleep outside of the house for 2-days, so beyond the training and information that they get, this is an experience that they remember for a very, very long time.  The girls from our camp in February still gush about the experience, posting and re-posting pictures on Facebook of their new friends from across the region!  Moreover, our camps give teens a safe space to talk honestly about relationships, health, and other topics with their peers and Peace Corps Volunteers... the adolescents trust us enough to ask very personal questions, about their bodies, families, and futures. 

As with all of our projects, a significant portion of the budget (40%) is coming from local community contributions and donated support.  All donations made through this link are secure through the Peace Corps website and tax-deductible.

DONATE HERE!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=527-116

A picture from last year's VALOR camp in our region:

Will you help us meet our fundraising needs?  Please forward this link on to friends and family you think may be interested!  The Peace Corps Volunteers of Lambayeque, Peru and our adolescent campers thank you!!  Any questions feel free to email me or you can read more about the project in the donation link.  Again, if you find the link closed, we have met our fundraising needs.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=527-116

Thank you and sending all my love,

Kim

The better days will prevail

Happy Easter, family, friends and strangers!

It is hard being away from my family and country for yet another holiday, but I've been feeling much better this week and am having a great Easter with my Peruvian host family.  While in the States last February I bought plastic Easter eggs and today put them to use in the first Easter Egg Hunt that my host family has seen.  It was a ton of fun, even for the two youngest who had no idea what was going out but ran around screaming and laughing anyways.

My totally squeezable niece and nephews with their Easter eggs and candy

Bruno can walk a few steps! Practicing with his mama and papa while his cousins and sister watch

On this Easter, I'd like to share an Easter message from Paul Walker, Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, but first I'd like to tell you a bit about what this church and pastor mean to me.  Back in 2006, in the spring of my first year of college, I was feeling quite broken for a number of reasons.  I made a somewhat random decision to apply to Alternative Spring Break, a UVa group that provides the opportunity to dedicate your spring break to a service trip, nationally and internationally.  I got accepted to the Argentina trip, and headed off on my first real international experience (since I'm not counting Caribbean family vacations).  The trip was life-changing for me, in a variety of aspects.  I came out of those two weeks having taken some small first steps towards healing and finding myself.  

The journey continued back in Charlottesville, when a friend from the trip invited me to check out a student-focused church service in downtown Charlottesville.  My whole life I had felt estranged from church and religion- I always wanted to believe and belong, but I couldn't.  Walking into Christ Church and hearing Paul Walker speak for the first time, I was bewildered by the sense of acceptance I found, never before felt in church (quite the opposite, I had always felt like the whole congregation was staring at me and judging me).  Week by week, I felt more and more connected and healed, and through the ministers and congregation, I finally found God.

Christ Church and its community are two of the things I miss most about the States, but I am lucky enough that the sermons are provided in text and audio on their website.  I'm not going to pretend that I listen to the sermons weekly, but in moments like the truck-punching day, I can turn to them.

So, here is one of my favorite Christ Church sermons of all time, Easter 2010.  The sermon is very down-to-earth and the message is simple: Life is hard- sometimes we are consumed by despair and pain, and  messages like "everything is going to be okay" seem childish and out of touch.  But the message of Easter is that in the end, the good days will prevail.  

Obviously this idea is very important to my Peace Corps experience... when I am in the moments of most darkness and dispair, I have to remember that this too shall pass.  It always does, and it always will.

I hope some of you are able to connect with this Easter promise- everything is going to be okay.

Sermon text: http://www.christchurchcville.org/wp-content/uploads/easter-2010.pdf

Sermon audio: http://www.christchurchcville.org/wp-content/uploads/sermons/10-04-04%20Paul%20Walker.mp3