The Economist Explains Peruvian Mines Madness

There has been a lot of unrest around mining in Piura recently. Campesinos in the mountains are very against a new mine that a Chinese company wants to open. Most of the mining companies here are foreign owned and supported by Lima, regulated by a Ministry of Mining instead of an environmental protection agency. It's a contentious situation because of the history of exploitation in the mountains. Communities do not buy the copper and they do not get any jobs. They're just left with the dirty water and leveled mountains. The communities near the proposed mine decided to hold an election to vote to try to block the mine. The day of the election the mines held soccer games and gave away free bags of rice and sugar to keep people from going to the polls. People still voted in droves and "no" won by something like 97%. Peace Corps called down the volunteers who live in the surrounding area for fear of violence. My friend Aaron who lives in a nearby community tells me that in the end things were safe and calm but, people are worried and really working to prevent the mine from opening.

Community Map and the Plight of the Technologically Challenged

I found a satellite image of Rinconada Llicuar to share! I can actually see my house on the map, but as it seems perhaps a bad idea to put a map to my house out in ether-land I'll withhold the little blue balloon :)

Also I just realized that I've had my blog set to block comments and that probably is related to me not getting any comments for about a month now! Technologically challenged. I guess living in the campo will do that to you.


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Peace Corps... and the Miss Llicuar Pagent?

It has been an eventful few days. I have been mourning Kali, my friend who passed away because I think of her even more at this time of year. The anniversary of her death coincided with interesting women-focused events here in Rinconada Llicuar. One was a Youth Conference held by the local government to celebrate the first day of spring. The lawyer who works at Town Hall offering free legal services to women and children gave talks about legal rights in abusive relationships and the services she offers. I talked about trash because I am the Trash Cheerleader but, I also did a self-esteem charla that worked well! I think that I really got across the connection between self-esteem and healthy relationships. It was a beautiful privilege to be able to remember Kali while doing that workshop.

Finally, at the elementary school in Llicuar they are celebrating their 46th anniversary. This is a very big deal. All schools here celebrate their anniversaries every year. In Llicuar they pick 2 queens to preside over the festivities. One from 1st - 3rd grades and another from 4th - 6th grades. I hate beauty pageants. They happen all the time here and I hate it. Then the principal asked me to judge this pageant. I stuttered in response but, I had to say yes. I did complain to Gloria, the 5th grade teacher that pageants are culturally very difficult for me because I think that they send the wrong messages to girls. They reward beauty rather than intelligence, values or abilities. Then, I showed up the day of the pageant, Gloria was the president of the planning committee and there were 3 judging categories: self-confidence, whether or not they answered the questions that we asked correctly, and diction! There were no 7 year-olds with makeup and no polyester dresses in the heat. The 1st grader wore pigtails a Cinderella t-shirt and pink jeans and all the other girls dressed very similarly. Here's me with two of the contestants! Perhaps not ideal, but still the best "beauty pageant" I've ever been to because it had nothing to do with beauty!

Breathing though Anniversaries

Rene, one of my dearest friends who I met on the first day of 7th grade, and her husband Jared had a daughter today, their first. Child rearing here and now! I wish them all the blessings possible to support them with love in this parenting adventure. It started a little early! But really, due dates? Who needs them? Devlyn Michelle waits for no one.

I can't help but be reminded that the breath of life waits for none of us. This amazing joy, my niece(!) erupts into the world just as the 4th anniversary of another dear friend's death approaches, or maybe bears down on me would be better said. Kali's husband murdered her in their home, their sleeping baby boy in the next room 4 years ago tomorrow. When I found out I had just returned to my apartment after hearing the Dalai Lama speak. I had the surprising privilege of testifying at his murder trial 14 months later. I say privilege because the experience helped me make sense of the loss and finally I felt like there was a small something that I could do for her mom. I saw Kali's husband and Philip's father jailed for life that day. In Texas that means that he will be eligible for parole after 35 years. He will be 60 years old. A few months later I saw Philip adopted by his maternal grandparents, creating a loving, safe space for him in his jarring and confusing reality. He started first grade this month and when I look at him I see his mom in his lazy left eye. So as he looks out at each gorgeous Texas sunrise, his navy blue backpack and Scooby-doo lunch box overwhelming his small body on his way to his hippie school in the hills west of Austin, I wish him the breath of vivid life and the feeling of the wind on his cheeks. Finally, on her birthday, her first day in this world, I wish Devlyn and her parents all of the hope and love they will need to weather the storms and to live joyfully, breathing new life.

Happy Anniversary to ME

Saturday was my 1 year anniversary in PERU!

I should probably write something sappy and sentimental about my expectations 1 year ago, anecdotes about how it has been better than ever imagined and not at all what I expected, my self-effacing and humorous insights about my own misconceptions, how I have changed for the better, and how much I love small town life in Bajo Piura. I could write all of those stories as they would be absolutely true but, I haven't been feeling particularly sentimental lately. I'm borderline overwhelmed and generally bubbly. Life is good, as the T-shirt slogan goes.

I was at an Ecological Park over the weekend celebrating my anniversary on an overnight trip with 44 kids in the police youth program called Colibri or hummingbird. My kids were thrilled with the news that bunk beds exist in the world and not one kid would sleep in a top bunk alone for fear of falling out. I'm not exactly sure how having 2 people in the twin bed helped. I slept in the boys dorm (on a bottom bunk), theoretically to keep things under control. They climbed all over the beds until around midnight and then woke up at 5:30 to fold their sheets. I would have been annoyed at the negative impact on my beauty sleep except it was so damn cute. I mean they literally got out of bed at 5:30 AM and started to fold sheets in teams of two small boys with very large sheets without any adult yelling at them to do their chores.

So drink a toast to 1 year! I prefer cosmopolitans and I haven't had one in a while.

Factiod

Last night I was reading Mountains Beyond Mountains, which is an amazing book if you haven't read it. It set me to thinking about the particular economic realities of Rinconada Llicuar and sent me on a search of my calculator.

There are about 500 households in Rinconada Llicuar. At least 64% of them do not have bathrooms inside their houses or latrines (pit toilets without running water), so about 320 households. It costs about 500 soles to build a bathroom that includes a flush toilet (with a bucket), walls, a cement floor and connection to the waste water system. The current exchange rate is 3.15 soles to the dollar... My college loans are significantly greater than the cost of putting basic bathrooms in all of the houses that need them in Rinconada Llicuar.

It's not everyday you get a Times editorial....

This is intense. I'm so excited about the press around the most recent Urban Justice Center report on Food Stamps. UJC is a non-profit advocacy organization where I used to work. Last year we released a study about the difficulty folks encounter when they apply for Food Stamps. This year they wrote a follow up about trying to stay on Food Stamps. And soon they will release a third report about immigrants and Food Stamps. I'm so glad they're getting so much good press. Food Stamps are such an important help for people who are just scraping by.

Article from Sept 6 detailing the report's findings.
Process for Keeping Food Stamps is Criticized, Ray Rivera

Today's letter responding to findings by David Hansell, a guy who basically runs New York State's Food Stamps Program! I love it when policy makers pay attention!!!! :)
Food Stamp Program, David A. Hansell

Today's Editorial
Why the Hungry Refuse Help, Editorial

And I would just like to add that David Hansell mentions that the Governor of New York is working on changing the rules so that working families can apply for Food Stamps over the phone. (Currently, they have to take off work to apply, a policy of questionable forethought.) This was a recommendation of the report we released last year! It's so cool when they listen.

Children, lots of children

I never thought of myself as a "kids person" and since I've joined Peace Corps I would say that about 70% of my work is with kids. This has been totally amazing for me. I mean I suppose it could have gone very, very badly for me as well as for the wee ones, but happily I think that we're all having fun and learning something. Among the things I am hopefully learning is: yell less. Opportunity knocks.

In the last week I went on a field trip to an archaeological site called Chosis and an ecological park in Sechura with 150 kids:

I helped 2 elementary schools organize Clean Community Marches to educate the town:

We did a Trash Pick-up at one of the elementary schools. (We will do another on Thursday!):

We also put on a movie series at the high school that included "March of the Penguins" and "An Inconvenient Truth". Finally, we finished the study on the per-capita production of trash of various types in Rinconada Llicuar by weight and volume, but the kids didn't participate in that. Whew. Nap time?

Madeline L'Engle Died

Title Link.

I just found out that one of my favorite authors, Madeline L'Engle died last Thursday. The New York Times published an obituary.

My Food Stamps Study Made the NY Times!

(It's linked to the title.)

I think of it as MY Food Stamps study, but I am not actually an author. I was co-author on the prequel and I just did a lot of the research for this one. It basically finds that people who are eligible for Food Stamps, which means that they have incredibly low, if any income, have a hard time keeping their Food Stamps because they have to get "re-certified". And the paper process for that is a little like trying to get a tourist visa to the US if you're Peruvian :)

Things are going great and fast lately. I went to an archaeological site and ecological/zoo park with the elementary school on Friday. It was a blast and totally exhausting. Great photos of all 150 of us to come :)

My Life as a Trash Cheerleader

They started the TRASH STUDY on Tuesday! Today was Day 3. This is very exciting. I have been harping on this since May when we went to Santo Domingo and it's actually happening. Solid Waste Management also has a budget for the coming year- by popular vote I might add. This is great! So today I hung out with Diana, a biologist working on the study, and Freddy and Guillermo who are helping collect trash from a sample of 36 houses. We separate it into categories (organics, plastic, glass, paper, toilet paper, and just plain trash) and weigh it all out behind town hall every day for 8 days. Fun times for the Trash Cheerleader.

More on the Privatization conversation... I got another article today from the Libertarian Godfather. It's again from the Wall Street Journal so I'm linking to a text document. CLICK ON TITLE FOR LINK. It's an interesting compromise for my biggest, BIGGEST problem with privatization which is the question of health care. I do want to say that I find the personal responsibility rhetoric i.e. fat people are just lazy and stupid, people with cirrhosis deserve it and should not get a "free ride" for their bad lazy lameness, totally offensive and misguided and this article definitely takes that tack. On the other hand it explains a health care system 1. where everyone gets health insurance 2. with options of different companies 3. where people who have a hard time getting health insurance are entitled to coverage and the kicker 4. where the state offers real assistance to those who cannot afford health care.

And some unrealted words of wisdom that I liked even though I've never actually read his books- what with the whole they being scary thing.

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule. - Stephen King

Play: It’s All about the Fellow Travelers

This is an article that I sent into the Peace Corps newsletter for health volunteers. Apologies to any readers who may see this in both places!

They just stopped. Are they just busy? Did I do something? Why is my women’s group suddenly not showing up for meetings? I miss my ex-boyfriend in the States. I mean I know I broke up with him when I left but, still. We’re supposed to be friends. He should call more. There are chickens in my kitchen! Awwww man, not my granola!

These are not the really good days. The really good days are delightful paving stones marking my way through service. There was the time Professora Dalinda took up the Salud Ambiental banner because her pigs love fruit peels and got the elementary school to separate organics from inorganics, in spite of the pessimistic principal whose nickname is Mr. Speed bump. Or the time I sat open-mouthed realizing that the diagnostic did get it right when the community voted to prioritize the Solid Waste Management Project in the participatory budget. I was greeted with another happy turn when the previously non-existent DEMUNA office got a rock star lawyer about my age who loves to hang out and talk about politics.

Still, some days I wrestle with the lingering quandary, “How do I get though this day and where did all these chickens come from?” The days I just cannot sit down to dinner with my host family and review my latest humiliating snafu for the 5th time, or no one comes to my meeting, or someone kindly observes, “Wow you really are gorda. Aren’t you?” Those are the days that I play. Play keeps me pointed in the right direction. It keeps me from falling into some imagined reality where I’m the star of the show like a Doña Quixote stabbing at windmills and taking myself way too seriously. I get out scissors, paper, markers, or maybe some Playdough exported from the US by a kind friend who knows my peculiar habit. Free stuff is even better; milk can labels, plastic straws that come with yogurt containers, random dry and not too disgusting trash, or old receipts on colored paper are always good options. I make whatever: collages, small sculptures, stationery, wall hangings, book covers, little books, or recently posters with inspirational quotes. I scribble words on paper, stick the note to something, and never let myself wonder if it counts as a poem. My creations are never pretty and I really don’t care. When my wee neighbors come to visit and ask about the odd collection of objects on my shelf. I say ahh yea (a ubiquitous expression here in Bajo Piura), “Want to glue scraps of paper?” They’re always into it.

My nearest volunteer buddy suggested that we get together to write affirmations for ourselves when we were feeling down a while back. We decided to call the other volunteers in the neighborhood, invite them over to my house, and play. It became Bajo Piura Art Therapy Day. We sat at my kitchen table and wrote self styled words that inspired us in pretty script. I suppose that was kind of therapy-y. Mine said, “It’s all about the fellow travelers” and was decorated with a cartoon I clipped from a back issue of The New Yorker.

It’s currently stuck to the wall next to my front door as a note-to-self that understanding is my destination and my road is listening well. All I have to do is carry on past the chickens to the good days that mark my path so that when no one shows up for the meeting and the municipality still hasn’t started the trash diagnostic I’m chill and sociable and generally enjoy the journey. To make this happen I must play for a bit and then go visit friends in town. We eat popsicles and talk. It would be great if that engineer would show up so that the mayor would let us weigh the trash but, I’ll work on that some more tomorrow. Today, it’s all about play.

To Do and Virgin de Soccorro

I just made it though a few weeks there where I had way too much time on my hands. I'm not sure why or what happened, but things have picked up and my life is much better for it. It's fabulous! On the other hand, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. When I'm overwhelmed I make lists...

1.Solid Waste Management Project with the local government: Trying to be a nudge and get a study of trash production per capita started and finished... in theory by the end of September. Make friends with the engineer working on the project by giving a talk in the provincial capital about environmental health and trash to a group he works with because he asked... even though it's on the same day as one of the community trash pick-ups.

2.Weekly health classes with 4th and 5th grades in two different elementary schools: Complete nutrition unit and get started on the self-esteem and sexual health unit. Keep trying to get the teachers to actually stay in the classroom during the class.

3. Colibri (Hummingbird), a youth development program with the local police station: Develop a series of environmental health and trash workshops and help them chaperone an overnight trip to Piura with 50, yes 50 kids in mid-September to see the museum, cultural center, and library.

4. Diadesol, a Pan Caribbean and Latin America day sponsored by organizations like the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization that celebrates cleanliness in public spaces and citizenship in the 3rd week of September, a great way to celebrate the Solid Waste Management Project: 2 marches- one with each elementary school with slogans about not throwing trash and supporting a sanitary landfill, 2 community trash pick-up days- one with each elementary school conveniently planned right before Llicuar's patron saint's festival, play a couple of movies with follow-up discussions at the high school (We're thinking March of the Penguins and An Inconvenient Truth)

5. CARE: Maybe, just maybe, plan self-esteem and sexual health workshop series with CARE for young leaders in my town, which a guy from CARE will watch and then replicate in a nearby community. (How cool would that be if it actually works?)

6. DEMUNA: Finish a series of talks with the DEMUNA office, an office in town hall that helps women and children in situations of domestic violence take care of legal issues, like child support. I only have 1 of these talks left.

7. Weekly loud speaker (emissora) program: Martin and I went to a workshop in Piura recently about using radio in community development. There really aren't any community, grassroots radio stations in Rinconada Llicuar like there are in the mountain communities so I was thinking of starting a weekly loud speaker program. (Yes the same loud speakers that wake me up at 5:30AM.) I need to make a few recordings to show to the emissora operators. I've started but I'm frustrated with the sustainability factor of me making recordings and playing them like a program. I gotta figure out something better.

I think that's it.... but I feel like I forgot something. Some of this will surely be cancelled at the last minute or fall through, which I usually hate but at the moment it's a relief to keep in mind!

Fun holidays are happening too. There are 6 or 7 different saint's day festivals in a row in Rinconada Llicuar between late July and October. This is a video from the Fiesta for la Virgin del Socorro, patron of Rinconada. Men get dressed up in costumes and do traditional humorous dances in the streets and preceding the fairly solemn procession. I'm not really sure why the two go together, but who cares? The dances, processions, masses, and passing around 1/4 glasses of Cristal beer make for pretty funny parties.





Word on the street is that it's Labor Day weekend in the US! Have a nice long weekend everyone!