¡Bienvenidos a Chivay!

"A volunteer is someone who loses himself in the work - who values what he is doing so much that sometimes he forgets about his own life and his own needs."

That´s what the president of INTIWAWA, Leonel, told me on the bus back from Chivay in Colca Canyon (roughly translated). We were deep in conversation about the state of the world - climate change and pollution, wars, religion, the United States, the Third World. Leonel continued by describing to me his philosophy (also roughly translated): "In this world there are good people and bad people. However, in the end, many good people can also be considered evil because their entire lives they never fought against destruction and injustice that took place right in front of them."

I spent the last weekend in the beautiful Colca Canyon region. We spent our time in a small village of no more than 300 people. The dirt roads that had been flooded by the rainy season weaved around small stone houses. Pigs, cows, alpacas, and hens would follow you down the street. Above you was a sky bluer than one you will ever see in your life (until the afternoon storm arrived). Things were quiet there - peaceful. We stayed in a small house with a family of 6 (Mom, Dad, Son, Daughter, Daughter, Baby). The kitchen and dining room was outside. Every morning we had a modest, yet simply perfect, breakfast of instant coffee and bread with cheese. Lunch and dinner were usually some combination of vegetables, meat (alpaca or chicken), and rice. The nights were cold and the days were hot. When it came to school, the kids were angels. They behaved and were eager to learn.

I believe that if there is to be a turning point in the way I see the world, this trip was it. One night, I was up late in the kitchen drinking Coca Mate with the youngest daughter and the mother of the house (everyone else had gone to bed). The mother was telling me that she loved life there (though that was all she knew as she had never travelled beyond the village). She said her concerns mainly surrounded the future of her children. Her son, now 13 years old, never got a good education. Therefore, he has taken up working in the fields and in the river. She says that he will probably forever live in that village and work. However, her second oldest, Antonella was only in second grade. In Antonella, her mother saw (as did I) someone who was eager to learn, had natural intellect, and was full of potential. But, being born in this village put Antonella at an immediate disadvantage to the children born in the cities (Lima, Arequipa, etc.). In the schools many subjects are lacking: computer skills, English, history, etc. The mother told me that all she wants is for her daughter to be able to go the university in Lima and fulfill the potential that she has. Unfortunately, her mother is unsure how that will ever happen as long as the government of Peru ignores the needs of the indigenous people.

INTIWAWA is grassroots. It reminds me a lot of the campaign as volunteers absolutely need to be flexible and have a lot of patience. This week we learned that the ¨Congreso¨ that I posted about earlier will actually be about 40 children instead of the 150 we originally though (many of the children can not participate during the weekend because it´s the only time they can help their parents with the work around the house and in the farm). We have also been ignored by the director of one of the schools in San Isidro until recently. School starts next week, meaning that we won´t be able to begin English classes in one of our schools until the second or third week of March.

Because of all of these setbacks and my experiences in Chivay, I am taking on a project where I will go every Friday to teach the Elementary School basic English. I am starting to draft a 9 week curriculum as soon as I post this. This will be, by far, the most difficult and tasking project I take on (especially since I have to do it myself, due to the lack of funds that INTIWAWA posseses). It will take most of my time and energy.

But like Leonel said, when you see injustice in the world, you have to fight against it - so that maybe, you can level the playing field just a little bit more.