The mushy veggies were worth it...

We didn´t let being in Perú keep us from
celebrating our Independence Day! We celebrated the
4th of July by sharing our U.S. flag jello with some
friends and setting off fireworks. 

As I have mentioned before, we have a rotation of chores and cooking as well. I was a bit terrified for my roommates´sake when I found out that I would be cooking on a weekly basis for all them, but as I think my roommates can attest to- I have improved! I have made some pretty tasty dishes and I have been feeling more confident in the kitchen...until a simply veggie curry crushed my confidence a few days ago. I was chopping away and had some vegetables steaming away on the stove when I had several visitors stop by. I sort of forgot about the food and ended up with a big pot of veggie mush. I was dissapointed and being hard on myself when my roommate Seamus reminded me that I wouldn´t remember the messed up dinner, but I would the conversations. I have made huge strides in spending more time with people and trying to make my life more relationship-oriented rather than task-oriented, but I definitely slip back into my old habits of being too busy and so it´s nice to have friends to remind me of what really matters, and the importance of quality time...even if that means the veggies get a little mushy.

Abandonment

During the social justice retreat that I also wrote about in the other entries we broke up into different groups and talked about various social issues that were pertinent to our own situation. We decided to delve deeper into an issue that we here in Tacna have become really familiar with- abandonment. Lately I´ve been thinking a lot about the value of family. I have always been grateful for my family obviously and incredibly appreciative of all they have done for me, but I do think at times I have taken for granted how fortunate I was to grow up in a very loving home with both parents and my sister. It has become so painfully obvious to me the grand difference a stable home situation truly makes in the lives of kids. What we see all too often here in Tacna is that one or both of the parents leave home to search for work elsewhere. Since we are on the border that means a lot of people head south to Chile, or elsewhere in Perú. The result is that the kids are left alone or with an older sibling. Many of the students are also abandoned more directly in the sense that (usually) the father has simply given up responsibility and thus the kids are left with only their mother. Granted there are some cases in which the mom has left, but those are extremely rare. Many of my students live with just their moms or an older sibling.

This certainly is not to say that having only one parent or being raised by a sibling or other family member means that the kids are gauranteed to have problems, because there are many people that have grown up just fine in these circumstances. However, there is definitely a connection with many of my students that are struggling in school with their behavior or grades and their home situation. One student for example whose mom works outside the country and whose dad is hardly ever around simply has not come to school in a week and a half. He is lacking that control at home, somebody to make sure he is completing his duties as a student first. Another student whose mom works outside the country and whose dad works elsewhere in Perú is leading my homeroom in failed classes. His seventeen year old brother and I conversed the other day about the situation and he expressed his frustration and his own helplessness about his brother. I felt for him...how difficult it must be to have to take on the role of the father of your 15 and 8 year old siblings at the age of 17. It has also been really tough seeing a lot of my students form really unhealthy relationships especially with the group of teenagers in the neighborhood that are involved in drugs and petty crime. ( A nurse yesterday was talking about how a lot of kids here start drinking at age 10...yikes!) Without the supervision at home they just sort of do what they want. The mother of one of my students for example moved away for a year to work in Chile and by the time she got back her daughter had already become so close with this group of delincuents and so much happened in that year that it´s hard to try and get her daughter back on track.

While there are numerous similar cases at Miguel Pro, at Rose´s school- Fe y Alegria the issue of abandonment is remarkably common. Rose has remarked how mature the older kids are, because by the time they reach seniors in high school many of them have already been essentially on their own or acting as the head of their household for several years.

The problem is very complex and comprehensive, related to issues of the job market, the economy, Lima-centralized policies, etc. etc. Beyond just feeling down about some of the situations there are some things I can do in my role as teacher. Many of these kids that live in more difficult circumstances are those I really need to focus more attention on. I need to do what I can to provide support and encouragement and to hold them accountable...things they might not be getting from home.

La Pachamama

Another topic that we talked about during our retreat was not only justice for humans, but for the Earth in general. We read a really interesting article from Bolivia about the "Global Crisis", based in Indigenous beliefs and an intense focus on care for the Earth. Here are some interesting (translated) lines from it: "Another mandate is the respect for Mother Earth, because the earth is our home and our life...the land cannot be understood as merchandise. Who can privatize or rent our Mother?" "Everyone and everything is interdependent. It is the right to live together in equilibrium with human beings. On the Planet there are millions of living species, but only human beings have the conscience and the capacity to control our own evolution to promote harmony with nature." "The development...means anti-development that provokes huge imbalances, not only between people, but also between people and nature." "We try together to save the planet Earth, and if we save her surely we will save lives and humanity."

Beautiful view of the church from the

retreat house in Andahuaylillas

As a community we have evaluated our own actions, too. We are trying to figure out how we can live more justly and peacefully, while making less of an impact on this Earth. Our current issue that we´re addressing is the problem of food waste. It is just so incredibly wasteful and silly to put all the food waste in the garbage in a plastic bag. So we tossed around various ideas. One of my personal favorites was the idea of buying ourselves a chanchito...aka a little piggy. Pigs eat anything so it´d be perfect! As fun as it would be to have a little piglet living on the side of our house, the idea was vetoed by the boys who reminded us that pigs would be a lot of work and what if future volunteers didn´t want a pig. meh. We also thought about simply composting, but unfortunately the dirt here is really not ideal for that...it´s more like sand. Our next idea was to use these little magic bugs that eat garbage and then when they´re plump people here consume them, believing in their curative powers. Unfortunately that was also a failure when all the bugs died the first day we brought them home...I think they may have been crushed by all the mandarin peels. oops!  Finally we think we have an actual plan for dealing with the waste...somebody else´s pig. Success in solving the food waste problem...however, I still want a little piggy of our own. :)

Friends

I had some alone time hanging out in the bell
tower at the church.

So one thing that admittedly I´ve been struggling with here is friendships...or the lack thereof in my case haha Undoubtedly the most incredible aspect of my experience thus far has been the relationships that I have fostered with people here. Peruvians are incredibly hospitable, open, welcoming, and loving. I have been so blessed to be surrounded by so many people that indeed treat me with so much care and love. It´s different though, and that is what I´m having to come to terms with. Although I have a lot of people that treat me wonderfully and that are certainly friends...it´s not like my old friendships. Many of my friends are in their 30s and 40s. I hardly have many friends that are my age. I realized that our situation as volunteers just isn´t really conducive for making a lot of friends. I spend the vast majority of my day at Miguel Pro, and then almost every night I have responsibilities with my volunteer community. Also, we live about 15ish minutes from the main part of town, and with sometimes limited mobility coming to and fro can be challenging. Aside from the issue of time and location is that of money and communication. Obviously friendships aren´t based on money...but it can be helful in terms of finding things to do. There really isn´t a plethora of things to do here, so mostly people go out to restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs, the new movie theater, etc. Not exactly being made of money we can´t always be going out that often. Not having a cell phone also makes it challenging. I truly enjoy not having one and it has absolutely made me more present to the people that I am with. I love that I can be present in the moment not thinking about who I need to call or who I just got a text from. Not having one makes me realize just how rude it is when you´re talking to someone and they pull out their cell phone to answer a call or a text. Nevertheless, it can be difficult in terms of maintaining friendships. I don´t really talk to my friends here on an especially regular basis to tell them things, to be able to listen to their stories, problems, etc. I´m working on developing that sort of relationship with some people, but with the various aforementioned challenges...progress is slow. I feel like after being here for 9 months I should have a ton of friends, but that just simply isn´t the case. So I´m trying to be ok with the slow-moving progress of building friendships, while being satisfied with the amazing relationships I do have. It has been undeniably tough, because I had so many incredibly wonderful, close friends all through college especially that the transition to starting over in a new place is still difficult, even 9 months later. But I´m trying to be at peace with my current situation and try and work on those friendships I do have, while being willing to put myself out there and reach out to others while reminding myself that nearly everything is different here...including friendships.

Poquito a poquito

On vacation I did several hikes- this one was
up to a cross above Andahuaylillas.

One of the mottos for Megan Kush and I when we studied abroad together in Costa Rica was little by little as we faced the challenges of language, culture shock, and just all the changes that come with being in another country. Likewise that is something I have to continually remind myself. I sometimes get frustrated feeling like after being here 9 months now (wow!) I should feel so much more comfortable, have less problems with students, be able to dominate Spanish...and these certainly aren´t always the case. I know I´m making strides in all the aforementioned areas, but progress is slow sometimes and it can be incredibly frustrating but a good reminder too to let go and just "be"...the goal I initially set for myself. I know that things will continue to improve, even when progress seems painfully slow at times.

During vacation I also visited some Incan
ruins in Pisaq...so incredible!

Social Justice Is...

The topic of our most recent retreat was social justice. An activity we did on the retreat was coming up with our own definitions of social justice. Here is what social justice means to me:

Social justice is...

...A recognition of the innate dignity in all people.
...non-descriminate.
...love in action.
...meeting the needs of all people.
...more than just charity, but dealing with the root of injustice.
...a change in the system so that rights do not depend on where you are born, how much money you have, or     the color of your skin, but based instead on your humanity.
...a shift in prorities, lifestyles, and concerns to favor those most in need.
...God´s kingdom on Earth.
...recognizing the offensiveness that is poverty and fighting for a world in which that doesn´t exist...however
    idealistic that may be.

Letter to Humanity

As part of an activity that we did during a recent retreat we each wrote open letters to humanity. Here is my own letter:

     Why is there so much hatred in this world? With hearts filled with hatred we cannot progress as a society. Each day we are killing our best resources; we are pushing our brothers and sisters to the margins of society. We have forgotten what it means to love. Sure we love our friends, our families, but what about the beggar on the street...the sex worker in Thailand...the migrant farm workers laboring away for a few dollars a day? They are our brethren. It is time that we change our perspective, open our hearts, and let go of the egotistical facade that hinders our ability to care. We must transform our understanding of what it means to be a member of the human family, as well as members of a broader family that includes animals and plants. We are not Kings and Queens of this world. We are near-sighted people. We have the tendency to care little about those or that which does not immediately or directly affect us. But we are fools, for we are all connected- bound by our humanity. And in this increasingly globalized society in which we live, we are more intimately connected. We sometimes forget this, though. No, we all too often forget this. We are blind to the reality that the decisions one person makes can and do affect others, even if they may be on the other side of the word. Our near-sightedness is destroying us. We should strive to be far-sighted people- willing to look beyond ourselves as well as willing to look into the future and see how our actions today will affect the future of the world. The connection that binds us humans around world today stretches far into the recesses of history and far into the future. A recognition of this unseen and sometimes unspoken human bond necessitates a change in mind-set and corresponding actions. Love and compassion naturally flows from a shift in views. Thus, the hope for our society lies in our ability to see the dignity in humans, to see them not just as strangers, but as brothers and sisters-part of one human family, one body in Christ.