Wrapup

We may be back in our various homes, but Conectados is still continuing. From now on, your best source is www.connectedperu.com. See you there!

Fin

Joseph is off studying, Katie is in Calgary, and I'm en route to Minneapolis. I guess that means our portion of the project has finished.

I'll need a few days to be able to explain how I felt in the last days, or how I feel now. I could almost be on a bus to Huancayo rather than Minneapolis, but the streets are too smooth, too wide, and there's no terribly dubbed film playing at beyond max volume. People converse softly and no one has gotten on to offer me drinks, nuts, chocolate bars, or slices of fruit: what terrible service. Now that the sun is up, I can also see the miles and miles of trees and greenery that should be familiar. It is, but it's familiar in the way that white faces and blonde hair are familiar. I recognize them as part of where I come from, but at the moment I can't help but stare in curious wonder. Why do all the cars stay in their lanes? Who waters all these trees? It will take until the first true rain I've seen in three months for it all to make sense again: I'm not in Kansas anymore (ironically, it's almost the exact opposite). Peru is a sort of home for me, although I'm always an outsider because of physicality, my accent, or some of my mannerisms. The one fully positive thing I can say about being back is that no one has stared at me since yesterday at 10pm. I am normal again, and people don't make conversation with me because my hair is unusual. In fact, it's reversed: a couple was speaking Spanish on the train from the airport, and I felt the urge to join in. Peru isn't a society that teaches multiculturalism: it's either foreign or it's not. Foreign things are longed for, and likewise foreign people. Here, greeting someone who is speaking a foreign language is unusual, or maybe rude. Greeting someone is strange enough.

Be on the lookout for the website showcasing the Conectados project, complete with summaries of results and student work. It should appear within two weeks at www.wasiymiwasiki.com/conectados.

Thanks for following. See you again in 2011!

Two opposite worlds

Matt commented that the previous blog entry sounded like I had written it. I have no idea how much I weigh now, but I now have to wear a very tight belt with everysingle pair of my jeans which previously fit me comfortably.
I haven't written for the blog in a while... it has been a crazy last 2/3 weeks since I last wrote. I went away for two weekends and to two completely different worlds.
The first world I went to Matt has dubbed, Disneyworld aka Gringoland. After teaching all morning in Villa Maria del Triunfo, I got on a bus and was wisked away to the land of Hot Showers, 6 soles cups of teas, clean streets and restaurants where everyone spoke english. This was strange because I had just spent the last 2 months living in the exact opposite world. This is the Peru that the government presents to the gringos and I live and work in the world they seek to hide. I stayed at a nice backpackers hostel and met some really cool people. All of them had been travelling around Peru... Cuzco, Mancora etc. They all spoke English. On my first night, I sat in the Loki bar drinking a beer with a guy from Newcastle. This did not feel like Peru. I am not going to lie, I enjoyed my beers, hot showers, meeting lots of interesting people. I met a funny guy from Wisconsin who was my travel buddy around Lima. We went into the centre of Lima and watched the World Cup on a massive screen surrounded by thousands of people for both the 3-4 game and Final. As I navigated this world, on the one hand, I felt more comfortable. Partly because I didn't have all the peruvians around me telling me to be careful, but even more so because I was navigating a world that I recognized because it was designed to be like home, the world I know. They installed the metropolitano bus system. The food was the same. The restaurants were the same. I had a hot chocolate at Starbucks and it tasted like home. On the other hand, I knew it was false. There were guards everyone. There were men who spent hours polishing the bulbs of the lamp post. I could have bought the New York Times in parque kennedy when I woke up on Saturday morning. The food that I eat everyday with my family, which I knew cost 2 soles to make, cost 20 soles at an "authentic Peruvian restaurant" in Miraflores. On Monday morning, I watched the sunrise over the Pacific, sipped a hot chocolate, picked up my laundry and returned to my Peru.

Fastforward to the following thursday, where we went to Pucara, just outside of Huancayo. This was a completely different world. After having spent all night on a cold bus chatting to Isaac, we got off the bus and into another region of Peru. The climate reminded me of Calgary, in the mountains. Not really surprising when you consider that we were at an altitude of 3000+ meters. We went to Huancayo to do research for a possible third project... It was strange for me, because as tempting as it is, I know I won't be coming back to work on the third project. This trip was more for Matt, Isaac and Joseph. We were there for two days, and Matt and I were both very happy that ISaac was there. We visited Pachachara (??) a very rural school about an hour away from Pucara, which is about 30 mins away from the provincial capital. The school had around 120-140 students and is largely ignored by the government for support and investment. It has to compete with a much larger school that is known for having better facilities and more support. We all "fell" for Pachachara... the director was understood the project and the importance of technology for kids. There was clearly a need, it was small enough that 10 computers would have a deep impact. We know that the project will help improve their admission rate. The next day, we walked around the community of Pachachara and talked with some of the people. It became clear that we will face more challenges that we first anticipated. As for the Sierra, it was a completely different world. People could offer us plates and plates of food, but could not pledge 4 or 5 soles to pay for the internet. We encountered a strange adversion to foreigners and even to Isaac, I'm guessing as a result of the recent history with the terrorism in the Sierra. This was an isolated world, with few paved roads, cows and sheep causing traffic jams, no fixed line internet. It is an area largely ignored by the central government. We chatted to families who did not know their monthly intakes because they ate everything they grew. They only sold food when they needed to. We talked to a women who left her family to work as a nanny in Lima.. but spent as much living as you earned. We talked to a young mother who already had 4 children. This was a different world from Miraflores. I felt like I saw so much of Peru without having to go to Maccu Piccu or Mancora like most of my friends or the people I'd talked to.

We arrived back in Cieneguilla to finish the last full week of teaching. I was terrified, I was scared to teach without our third group member. It was a tiring, but very positive week. Despite lacking a group member, the classes went well. All the kids worked well to finish their presentations. They adapted to our teaching style and respected the rules (for the most part) It saddened me to explain to the kids that we would not be coming back to do more classes. One girl mentioned to me that she likes how we teach, its fun. That was fulfilling. I am going to miss the big personalities of each class. Matt, Joseph and I now have alot of fun impersonating the different personalities. The most fulfilling part is that the kids did learn the basic skills we taught them and could apply them when we allowed them to work independently. I am excited to go through all the presentations sometime in the near future to find out all the personal, inciteful answers the kids gave.

I have less than 2 weeks here in Peru. How do I feel? at this point, I can't answer that.

I weigh 139 pounds.

I knew I was losing weight here, but I had no idea that there was even that much on me to lose--I'm not sure how much I weighed before, but I think I've lost about 30 pounds.

Why do I know this? Well, sooner or later while in Peru some new and exciting illness will get you. I was pleasantly surprised to not have had any health problems, but in some ways I knew it would come sooner or later. I'm not entirely sure what it was. My best theory is altitude sickness, although strangely it hit me coming down from altitude, not going up. Food is almost out of the question for me, both because it felt nothing like food poisoning or really anything I've ever felt and because I ate almost nothing in the 24 hours prior to getting sick. The 8-hour bus from Huancayo to Lima didn't stop, so I was left with half a bottle of water and a bag of bread. Everything I ate after that either Katie or Joseph also ate.

Anyway, at some point while I had collapsed outside and was unable to move or speak more than three words at a time, Joseph said we should go to the medical post and given that I had just spent five minutes trying to control my entire body shivering, I didn't even feel like arguing. Peruvian medicine to the rescue! Obviously since I'm white and foreign the only explanation for them was food, even after I explained my recent eating history. They gave me some sort of injection which helped for a while and mostly made me tired beyond belief. That was fine by me because asleep I didn't have to remember what was happening to me. I woke up today at about 7am to eat one little bread and again at 1pm where I managed both soup and a lamb's eye--guaranteed to cure me, according to my host dad Oscar. The fact that I ate almost half of it before I had to spit out the rubbery mass in my mouth shows that I've improved significantly.

And thanks to my extension to the Huancayo trip to meet with the parent's group and now today's events, Katie and Joseph have done 11 of our 14 classes this week without me.

Gold star!

Matt

The sierra may as well be another country.

This is what I believe after three days in Pucará, a little town near Huancayo. I had been to Cusco, but Cusco is Disney's version of the sierra. This is the real deal. I won't steal the thunder in describing the majesty of the place because I know Katie won't be back in Cieneguilla until tomorrow and doesn't have the chance to write yet. So I'll tell my part...

This little story will be one of two things for you: 1) a string of incredible coincidences or 2) God. Big, fat in your face signs from above.

I'm not sure how to tell it all adequately, but I'll try not to cut out too many details. It begins on Saturday, where I decided to go with Katie on a walk to take advantage of her last day in Huancayo. (I'm here until Tuesday morning for a meeting.) We had just got out the door and up the hill when we ran into a nun guiding a Jeep across a makeshift bridge over the ditch. "Gringos in Pucará?" she said with enough enthusiasm that I wanted to stop and actually talk to her. In order to get to today, I'll skip over all the rest and say that as it turns out, she's a Slovenian nun working in the town, who has been here for a year now. This means that she has the foreigner's analytical eyes but the insider knowledge to help evaluate our project plan. We said goodbye that day and exchanged emails and I didn't expect to see her again, until maybe next year when I'm back in Peru. As we walked out, a brief shower had just ended and a gorgeously intense rainbow was forming. Then a double rainbow. And then triple.

Sign?

This morning the rest of the group left, to get back for classes and work. My plan was to hang around the plaza and interview as many people as possible about the education system in Pucará and Pachachaca, our target community. Again, just as I was leaving, I saw Andreja the nun. I went over to say hello and she invited me to Mass at 10. It was 9:30 and I hadn't had breakfast yet, so it looked perfect. Besides, I wasn't too sure how this randomly approaching strangers plan was going to work out.

Mass was lovely, since I knew several of the songs from my Villa Martha days. Andreja introduced me as it was starting and everyone was impressed and curious at once. After Mass, Andreja introduced me to the president of Pucará as well as a community leader from Pachachaca, both of whom were excited to talk. Juan from Pachachaca was heading out to see his brother, so we decided to meet in the afternoon. Inés from Pucará is taking me to see the other school tomorrow morning. It's funny because I recently had a conversation about how the church used to be the center of connecting with a community as a newcomer, but that the tradition is slowly fading as churchgoers decrease in number. Looks like it still works.

Juan showed up (miracle! Only 25 minutes late) and we chatted for a few minutes before his nephews appeared. They were heading up to Pachachaca, and I saw him go talk with them and then separate, so I quickly volunteered that we should go up together. "Walking?" he asked rather incredulously. "Of course!" I replied. I had done the walk down yesterday and I knew that it was almost an hour. Going up wasn't thrilling but the prospect of talking to all of them was.

The route from Pucará to Pachachaca is about 5 miles. That does not mean five minutes. There is a car that goes that way occasionally--as they please, sometimes every few hours or so--making the only practical way between the two a long walk at 10,000 ft above sea level. Fortunately, this gave us a sure hour of conversation, and as it turned out both Juan and especially his nephews are insightful and analytical. I desperately wish I could get to know his one nephew better. Strangely I never got his name. Names aren't always exchanged immediately here. Anyway, they offered several good critiques as well as solutions to our internet woes and plans to generate the money to pay for the connection.

Not only that, when we arrived in Pachachaca Juan showed me over to the gentleman's house who has the only internet antena in the pueblo. People had told us about internet existing, but that it either doesn't work, isn't open, or has been disbanded. Jorge the internet man explained it a bit more clearly: through some work network of his, a company installed the antenna and 2 computers but nothing more. About two months ago, something went wrong with the antenna and it hasn't been fixed yet.

Now Jorge the internet man is a farmer like all the others, so he spends most of his time there. This leads to a very "flexible" schedule. Besides, he tells that in an entire month, he sees about 30 people. Compare that to our project at La Libertad, where we see about 50 weekly. Why is this? This is exactly the problem with installing a computer lab and not providing computer training. No one above the age of 16 knows what the internet really is or why it's useful for anyone out of school. Jorge told me he doesn't have the skills to teach, and based on the fact that he runs the internet and has no email address, I believe him. He gave excellent insight into the community mentality, and the enormous problem of introducing a new technology that could revolutionize their farms, health, and futures--except that no one knows that.

Coming down from Pachachaca, I ran into a guy who recognized me but whom I couldn't immediately place. I guessed I had met him as part of the governor's group on the first day. He asked where I was headed and since I had no exact reply, he invited me to his house for dinner. I eventually figured out how I knew him--I had a glass of orange juice at his mom's stand this morning at breakfast. I was talking a bit and mentioned the project then, and of course I'm the only gringo around right now so he recognized me. But to invite someone to your house, prepare them dinner, show the family, and spend two hours talking would normally require a bit more than a five-minute business exchange. They aren't kidding when they talk about hospitality in the sierra.

So that's that. I can't remember at this moment whether or not I left my backpack at his house or in the place we're staying. Strangely I'm not too worried, because I can't imagine it disappearing and I know both where he lives and where his parents' store is. I don't doubt that if I did leave it there, they'll have it for me tomorrow morning when I get breakfast.

Lovely.

Matt

Photo Bonanza!

More of what Matt said...

It hit me last night after we arrived back from Lima that I am going home in a month.... or exactly 4 weeks to the day. I haven't blogged in a while because the last 2 weeks have been jam-packed. Matt said alot about how the activity sessions are progressing. The activity sessions show how much much kids can learn with just a little bit of instruction in how to use a computer. Most of the kids we are teaching didn't know how to use a mouse or left and right click. Now, they are formatting and creating their own powerpoint presentations about themselves. They also have the confidence to explore the menus and figure out what a computer does on their own. Before, they would press capslock and call us over because they were afriad they had hurt the computer. We're also very happy about their confidence to follow their own instincts when it comes to creating the presentations, rather than doing exactly what we tell them. This comes primarily, I think, from the difference in teaching style that we are using. It has developed to the point where today, we did not have a lead teacher like we used in the past. Instead, we had a leader for 10 minutes and then, we circulated giving kids instructions and having them work through the presentation at their own pace. It was incredible how much they learned and remembered .Today made me very proud of what we are doing and how many kids we reached. Also, I was proud of the three of us, this whole project we have been learning and experimenting with teaching styles. We have 2 full weeks left of activity sessions... and then some catch up days at the end.
The catch up days at the end are actually going to be really useful, given that we have had 3.5 school days of feriado in the last 2 weeks. The public holidays caused us to change our schedule around alot over the last few weeks. It also caused us to lower our expectations about what we can achieve. Not all the groups will be at the same level, but we can proud that they have a basis of Word, while others will have more advanced skills. We are planning classes with the Primaria teachers so that they can continue working with the programs after we leave. Slowly we are realizing that time is running out and we need to start equipping people and delegating responsibilities to people to fill in the gaps when we leave in a month.
On my side, I am going to Miraflores aka Gringoland aka Disneyland as Matt calls it. I'm looking forward to my hot shower and a bit of relaxation. It will definitely be a culture shock to be there, but a nice break I think.
All for now,
Katie

It seems obvious to say it, but here it is: time is passing unbelievably quickly. I only have five weeks left in the country, and of those weeks only three more will run with the normal class schedule. The winter break begins July 28 and runs for two weeks--almost exactly the time left at that point. Because Villa Maria is so helpful and because the kids at Cieneguilla are always around, we can still get together once or twice in the break to finalize anything necessary, but there are only three weeks left in the activity program.

Seeing the end date so close forces me to accept exactly how far things will reach: now I can't say "Yeah, we'll start a blog with them at some point" or "We're going to look for someone to take over the adult classes". Everything needs to find a concrete answer, and soon. At the beginning of the project, two months of classes sounds like a lot of time...then comes the realization that each kid is only in class for an hour per week. That means that two months is actually eight hours. I wouldn't have believed it before, but in five hours of classes so far we've helped 250 kids advance from "How do I click?" to formatting text before we even ask. It's very easy to take for granted certain skills that we had to actually teach: how to hold the mouse and move it, click and right click, how to open documents and switch between two open windows. So considering where they started, it's very positive for me to know that they can use Word to type and then change color, size, font as well as insert clip art or copy/paste photos of their own from a folder. Now they're also doing the same things in Powerpoint, with the addition of multipage documents, animations, and page design. This is a huge leap. I had very modest expectations after my first year's difficult experiences in Peru, but I'm also a designer and therefore a dreamer by nature. So if dreams of getting to teach web design to our 11-year-olds haven't been met, I'm not disappointed. Rather I'm blown away to see results that far exceed my expectations. We reached a lot more kids than I would have predicted, and the classes themselves are an absolute joy.

Now I realize that there's a full month left, so it's not that the project is over, either. But I'm already in plans with Isaac and the rest of Wasiymi Wasiki about our third project and the future expansion of Conectados...so for me, these projects don't end anyway. My time on the ground has an expiration date, but the projects will continue for years and next summer when I'm back for school number three (or four by then!) I'll also be able to see how one and two have progressed.

Huzzah!

Matt

EMC is Peru? My challenge throughout this entire process was finding a way of incorporating EMC style teaching techniques with computers. This week was the first week where I really saw some similaries between what we're doing and what I did during EMC. We had the kids in Primaria create profiles of themselves. The profiles had all the standard information like name, age, where they're from... and then we had questions like what is your special talent? what super power would like and why? what would you like to do when you grow up? and if you had one wish, what would it be? After they answered those questions, we had them personalize their profiles changing colors, backgrounds, fonts, etc. The personalization in itself was interesting because their personalities really came out. We were also surprised because other than in Art class, there seems to be very little space in their curriculum to let them explore and follow their own instincts aka there are very few times when kids don't just copy and annotate. This is one way inwhich we are incorporating EMC style attitudes.
The range of answers allowed for one of the first times when we got to know the kids. There were times when kids would write their ID number as the answer to question. They were reading the questions, but not understanding. Kids would tell us that they didn't have a special talent or one wish, and we would have to coax it out of them. Once they began answering the questions we got very standard answers, like special talent- study or one wish- more wishes or to have a chocolate river or when I grow up I want to be - doctor, lawyer, nurse, etc.
Sometimes, we got funny answers with special talent like weeping or rapping. Kids made profiles superman, spider man, a ghost, christoper robin etc. But, some of the answers we truly amazing. Some kids asked for super powers to be able to help their family make more money or finishing building their house or to fly to be able to transport their family from the Sierra to the City. For some kids, their one wish was for their mother or brother to get better or to finish secundaria/university
There was one boy named Jose Jesús who really struck me this week. He is in 4th grade (9 years old) and nothing about him really struck me at first, he was very quiet and did his work well. Matt was over at a computer helping another boy when he tripped on the cord to the extension cord and killed the power to Jose Jesús' computer. He had already finished a lot of work, so I decided that I would retype his work. I filled in all the standard information and asked him his special talent he said, poetry. I asked him what his super power would be, to be like spider man. I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said, a business man because he wanted to make something of himself. I asked him his one wish, he said, that his parents come home... why? because they leave him alone during the week to work. It was the hardest thing I had to retype all week. Of all the things, in all the world to ask for, this was the one thing at the forefront. This is where spending 2 extra minutes with each child in a group of 20-25 is valuable. You learn about kids like him. Apparently this situation is very common, the parents go away into Lima or other parts for the week to make money and then come home for a few days on the weekend. This leaves kids to take care of themselves (cook, clean, go to school, do laundry, do homework) and their little brothers & sisters, if they are the oldest. He was not the only person who said this, I saw atleast four others. I feel like these types of questions represent another way of incorporating EMC into Proyectos Conectados.
Other ways we have been incorporating EMC has been encouraging kids to come to the front to teach, having them in pairs to teach themselves, and forcing weaker kids to finish the task even if it takes more time. We have been focusing more on one-on-one time and getting to know people's names instead of student number 10 from 4B.

I was thinking about how my routine here has changed and alot of it is due to the fact that nature rules. We don't have the electricity to use a washing machine, refridgerator, lots of lights, microwave etc. We do laundry when there is a sunny day so that our clothing will actually dry after spending an hour or 2 scrubbing each piece of clothing and putting it in the soak, soap, post-wash buckets. Our food doesn't come out of a refridgerator, so if you buy something or cook something, it needs to be eaten or it spoils (about 10 hours without refridgeration seems to be the limit for most food. It also means you eat what is cooked for that day... if you have beans for breakfast, that´s what you are eating for the next 3 meals. It also means that all food you eat came from the market that day. You can't buy meat and say you'll cook it in 2 days. Whatever we eat, was either picked, dug-up or killed only a day or 2 before. The sun comes up at 6am and is down by 6pm, so to get the most out of the day, I live off those times. I'm awake by 6am everyday and I'm in bed by 9 or 10pm... partly because I'm exhausted from the talleres. It's funny how much more control ovre what time and when we do things at home. On the other hand, water is a different story; it becomes a game. The water game is a weekly betting contest about which day we will run out of water, how many days we will go without and when the lady down the street will decide to fill up our water tanks. The longest we've gone is 4 days.

My Spanish is getting better. I'm learning not to worry about the fact that 5 out of 10 kids don't understand me. Joseph explained to me that it is partly that my spanish is formal, university level and that I don't have the vocabulary to talk to a 7 year old. It's not that my spanish is bad, it's the wrong audience. I've even noticed that my English is getting worse, which is actually a good sign for my spanish! I'm interested to see how my spanish/english are in 5 weeks when I go home. I'm now flying home on August 5... home will be comfortable, but work for the project will continue. From the website, presentations and newspaper articles, I will be busy with work for the project- even as I enjoy my hot showers and comfy bed. 4 full weeks of Primaria teaching left...... time flies too quickly,

Katie

"So Matt, how's Peru?"

Most anyone who knows me is either wondering this question or has already asked it. So here's a sort of response, since I haven't written anything in about two weeks.

Today happens to perfectly highlight why Peru is nothing like North America. My host dad Oscar got a second job over the weekend. Now he's working at a security post on his day off as well as his regular gardener/laborer job for the owner of the Bank of Peru. When he explained it, I understood that working on his day off meant working during they day. Not so: He left Saturday at 6pm to work all night until 6am, when he came home for an hour and had breakfast before leaving for his other job at 7:30.

This is drastic enough on its own, but consider: for 12 hours of work he made just under $12. Yes, the economy here is different, but in buying power that's still only $35.

What motivates a person to work for a dollar an hour, on top of a 60-hour work week? In this case it's a very sick boy named Daniel, who turns four months today (happy 1/3 birthday!). Oscar and his family had talked about him being quite sick when we was born, and that he's been on and off ever since, but last night made me realize how serious his undiagnosed condition likely is. Beginning at 2am, Daniel would wake up every hour and start to cry. Now I've heard crying babies before, and I've heard Daniel cry when he's hungry or whatever else makes infants decide to wail. This is nothing like that: This is inconsolable howling, frantic and desperate and for such a small thing, unbelievably loud. I went to the bathroom 75 yards away and he was still easy to hear. I don't mind my interrupted sleep--well of course a part of me does--compared to what that baby is going through. The doctors have given him a few medicines and injections before, but nothing has worked. He's supposed to go into the hospital on Monday, but he probably should have been there a week ago based on last night. The last time Daniel was in the hospital, his two weeks of treatment cost Oscar's salary for the month. That means Oscar had to start loaning money and running up tabs at the bread store or for rice and oil. They live very near the minimum and save everything possible, mostly to pay for Daniel. One day when he's better, that savings is meant to be in order to improve the house or start a farm back in the Andes.

So when the police stopped by one day and offered Oscar a job, he took it.

I would happily give him $12 to not work 24 hours straight, but he'll never take it. If Americans have pride in not receiving money, Peruvians win the grand prize. Even with all these expenses, Oscar will try to buy an entire goat for us to eat, or bring a new mattress or buy several kilos of fruit or honey--all this is necessary for him as a host. When my dad left, Oscar apologized profusely for not being able to make him comfortable enough. We had an incident early on in which Oscar gave all his blankets to my dad so that he wouldn't be cold. We had bought two more blankets for him, but he didn't take them. Finally, we left both on the table all night long, through breakfast and cleanup and into the middle of the day. That night, Oscar finally called over--"Hey Matt? Are you going to use those blankets?" Win.

It's amazing that we needed to have that battle. It comes down to the Peruvian idea that a good host makes sure that his guest brings nothing and lacks nothing, contrasted with the American idea that a good guest brings everything so that the host isn't burdened. Oscar will work 75 hours a week for $50, giving us every possible comfort even if it means suffering himself. After being here a month, I'm more able to convince him that I don't actually need another blanket or a roasted goat or six pounds of grapes. In fact, he's asked me for help twice now.

What else? The Peruvian power supply is ungrounded, so I get a bit of 220V a few times a day when trying to unplug computer cables from a metal case or sometimes from my Macbook's aluminum enclosure. I've started to wear two or three layers even when it's 12C/55F - and I still have a killer cold. As far as the project activities are concerned, I couldn't ask for more at Villa Maria. We're doing 9 classes a week with elementary school kids (almost 200 kids), and our four classes at high school level are being combined and reorganized into two groups of beginner and advanced (about 30 kids). Soon we'll get some example work up for everyone to see--without seeing the class, it's hard to understand the triumph involved in getting four words typed, formatted, placed, and inserting a bit of clip art in the middle. At high school level, the kids have basic skills down already and we're jumping into Photoshop this week. Crazy? Possibly. But where else will they get to learn those skills? Graphic design and photo retouching is a well-paid job here for students of their age. The high schoolers have a standard Peruvian teacher for at least an hour a week, and we're adding onto that with some of the most interested, most advanced students.

In La Libertad, the situation is very different because it's a smaller school with a far less enthusiastic administration. We have the same system: an hour a week with each group, where there are four groups total. So we see about 40 kids per week out of La Libertad, which is 90% of their student population. La Libertad is exciting to me because of the community integration aspect, where as Villa Maria is in an area that makes it difficult to open to strangers. I love our parents in computer class, and we're advancing slowly but steadily. Word is also spreading that the gringos in fact DO speak Spanish so there's no need to be afraid of us. More people approach at random hours of the day asking about classes, which is difficult for us because the scheduled class has already moved on. We've done some 1-on-1 tutoring to catch some up, but it's Peru: promise to come at 5, show up tomorrow at 3pm and expect us to be there. We fall into the same trap, where we plan to arrive back home at noon and it ends up being 2:30. Everything just takes longer, even if you move quickly.

The first year here taught me a lot about this stuff, but I was inside a very closed institution so my perspective was altered slightly. Now we aren't under anyone else's limitations, but rather the full culture's set of quirks. I keep low expectations, not in a way that I don't try hard, but in a way that I celebrate every success, no matter how minor. Four kids in a class is four more that gain a new skill--even if it could have been 20.

How's Peru? Everything is going according to plan(s). We're definitely on Plan B or C, but I think of it as Plan A, part four.

The fuse is lit

It's friday again and another week has past. It was a very tiring, but exciting week this week. We completed our second full week of activities at Villa Maria and focused on changing fonts, sizes, inserting pictures and general formating in Word. It generally took us about 45 minutes to complete a work sheet that took us about 5 minutes to create last weekend (we spend more time planning the sessions, I promise) During the classes, it is incredible to observe the range of abilities, learning styles and how the kids interact with one another. We are teaching about 25 kids in each class and have 9 classes of Primaria... and then 2 more advanced classes of Secundaria. That is around 350 kids. There are some kids where it takes 5 repetitions of click-anti click-arrastrar sin soltar for them to understand copy/paste or the selecting objects that you want to change. On the other end of the spectrum, you can teach kids how to insert a text box and change colors/fonts and they can come up with a mock internet homepage in 20 minutes. As one of the people teaching, it is very exciting to see those connections being made at whatever level. In some classes, we provide the kids the chance to improvise on colors and style to express their personality... that is exciting. We have also been trying to get some kids to do the teaching to improve their confidence. Slowly, we are seeing changes in the kids. My challenge (besides trying to teach in Spanish) is to incorporate EMC-style methods in with a very rigid school system and a very sedetary activity. Poco a poco I am getting there. I don't like that I can't know every kid´s name, but I have learned about 50 so far. As Matt said a few weeks ago, the fuse is lit. It's tiring work, we are waking up at 6am so we can be out the door by 6:30 and at the school by 8. We go straight through until 1pm.... grab some lunch and then we are back doing afternoon and night classses with some other groups. But the reward makes it worth it, I am even at the point of enjoying my cold showers.
When we're not teaching we plan or are on the internet (like right now) We found this quiet residential road that is surrounded by beautiful fruit trees on all sides and tucked into the mountains. I go walking on that when I need an escape, it is really gorgeous. I was able to stream the England-USA game last weekend... Matt thinks I am ridiculous. Life here is starting to feel normal and very rewarding. I really have no idea how I am going to get myself back to Montreal to write my Thesis and take seminars that I don't really need to take... especially after 3 monthes here. Matt just pointed out to me... 5 weeks down, 8 to go. Time flies when you're running out the door at 6am everyday!

More later,
Katie

10 things I've learned after a Month

I have been in Peru for 1 month now and would like the top 10 things I have learned during my first month

1) It took every motorcycle taxi driver, combi driver, truck driver and taxi driver to teach me that I do infact have very blonde hair and am very pale and female... I am now immune to the sound of a car horn

2) My name is not actually Katie... but actually Ki-tz-ie, Kaaaaaatee or Kat and on the extreme end, it can morph into oi FLACA! (skinny girl- a common way of referring to people), GRINGA )(White Girl) or Senora Gringa, Chica, Amiga, Senorita, and Mamacita (little mama) or Costilla (Rib- as Matt lovingly calls me)

3) Cold Showers can actually be enjoyable with strong water pressure. if you are used to bucket showers, they feel like a gift from the gods.

4) When Roosters crow they do actually say Cockle-doodle-doo. After a month of having my family's rooster sleeping outside my window, I can challenge the myth that roosters only crow at sunrise... no, no 2am, 3pm, noon, midnight are also popular times for roosters to crow

5) Explaining Canadian traffic laws provides instant entertainment and hours of jokes afterwards. The idea of waiting at a street corner until the signal, even if there are no cars and fines for jaywalking is hilariously foreign here. Also, explaining how Canadians say thank you and sorry for everything is funny here.

6) On a related note, explaining that North Americans willingly forgo drinking clean tap water to spend money on bottled water or filters... leads to general bewilderment... we really are strange peoples

7) On another related note, explaining that people willingly forgo eating vegetables, meat, wheat, fruit, and dairy products for reasons aside from medical reasons eg. vegan or "cutting down on food miles" also leads to jokes or general bewilderment about gringos

8) Ahi chilli is the most amazing flavor ever and (rightly) does go well with every meal.

9) Peruvians have a herb (hierba) to solve any ailment. Oregano, Hierba Buena, Hierba Louisa, Anis, Mint pick you right up and taste much better than other medicines.

10) Black clothing does not hide dust here, and white shoes actually stay cleaner
here than in Canada

Everything with the activities is really picking up, we are doing about 4 hours a day of classes at one school and making some real progress. We have about 7 more weeks left of activities and we are already starting to make preparations for the final website. It's very exciting. Matt has been in contact with a few volunteers to help us with the project.

World Cup begins tomorrow, surprisingly, I seem to be the most excited about it out of everyone I have talked to. We bought a projector to help with the activities...all I need to do is find a website from which to stream the games. I Will not miss the World Cup even if I am far, far, far away from them.

Fuse is lit.

The first week is off and away and I couldn't be happier. Predictably, the first week was spent coordinating and performing Peruvian cultural requirements of meeting and greeting everyone involved, having meetings where we all express our unending gratitude but don't make very many firm plans. Week two was the actual work, running around trying to settle schedules, numbers of kids per class, logistics of arrivals and departures from each location, and then the trauma of transferring money from Canada over a weekend. Advice: Don't even try. However we did make it happen and now there are ten computers where before there were none. Today was the inauguration at Villa Maria and the entire school was there with signs and food to celebrate the big day. So although we had to suffer a terrible weekend I see this as a sort of balance, in that now 500 students have a chance to connect to the outside and feel that they are equal to other, better-funded schools in the nicer districts of Lima. I'll happily suffer another weekend of unending bank lines if another 500 people can get the same benefit.

Villa Maria's classes are high-energy if nothing else. Fortunately they have a surprisingly high standard of discipline, which is helped by having their teacher in the room. After three classes, we're all drained but it also motivates me so much to see the spark of understanding. Our kids come in almost afraid to move the mouse because for almost half it's their very first time. Within the first hour, they're able to copy and paste photos into Word and the process for them is magical instead of routine. Never again will I take for granted a series of instructions like "Make a new folder on the desktop and move all the pictures we're using into it." Instead, we start with "This blue space is the desktop. Move the mouse and push the button on the right to see what happens."

Is there a lot to do? Absolutely. Can we do it? We'll try. The designer in me can't help but get excited at the prospect of unsolvable problems.

Tiempo para descansar

It’s Friday and I am exhausted as it has been a long week. It took us the cumulative total of 30 hours to get the money into Peru and to buy the computers. If I were to write out all of the different methods we tried and steps to the process, it would fill an incredibly long and boring blog entry. We were in Lima for 4 days and were on our feet, running around and trying to get everything sorted out for about 8 hours a day. In a city like Lima, that is exhausting. After that we had to go to Villa Maria to install the computer lab that was bought with the Davis Grant money. We installed 10 different computers for the Primaria and Secundaria and we start with our classes next week. As things stand, we are giving 3 hours of class a day to the various age groups Monday through Friday in Villa Maria and then we’re in La Libertad for the afternoons. We have planned an 8 week program for each age group and school, starting next week and ending the last week of July. In the first two weeks of August, we are hoping to go on some sort of trip, maybe to Cuzco/Maccu Pichu or La Sierra. I am quite excited to start the activities because today marks the 3 week anniversary of my arrival in Peru and we haven’t had a full schedule of activities because we have been running around so much trying to get the second school up and running. The past week has definitely shown me (and Matt as well, I believe) that there was way too much to do for 3 people such that we have had to cut down on a lot of our involvement in Cieneguilla, in order to be able to get Villa Maria up and running on schedule. It will all be worth it though; next week we start with our project which why we came here and received a grant to implement. Matt, Joseph and I are exhausted because it was a lot of work for 3 people to set up two activity programs in two schools that are an hour apart. After getting more involved in Villa Maria, we’ve realized how very different the two schools are. Size and Context wise one is a school of 60 students from ages 7-14, the other is a school of 540 from 7-18. One is very rural and other is “urban”. Finally, the administrations at the two schools are very different where at VM the director couldn’t be more helpful and at La Libertad, the director is apathetic (at best?) The past week has been an eye-opening experience and a useful guide for future projects with many unforeseen challenges and organizational/cultural aspects to think about. For example, at AC we always used to joke about latino time, but I never really believed in it. 30 hours to buy computers verifies the theory. Matt will write about his and his father’s run-ins with the unwritten rules of proper hosting. We’ve also learned about the importance of communication between all the various groups involved in our project. Such that, on any given day, the schedule for the next week and next 2 months can change 5 times and only one group involved would know about it. Treat others as your would like to be treated is a useful mantra to guide us on communication. On the other hand, such is that nature of doing anything in Peru.

In my previous entry, I provided a context for La Libertad and now I will do that for Villa Maria. Before I put urban in quotation marks because Villa Maria is technically a part of Lima and hundreds of thousands of people live there, but there are no paved roads, no trash service, no metro buses, no skyscrapers or condos, instead there are thousands of huts made of brick with corrugated steel roofs in an area that was only settled 20 years ago by immigrants from the Sierra. Matt and I will post some pictures in the coming days of Villa Maria and its inauguration.

On the happy note, it has been sunny for 5 days of the past week and I have a tan (I am no longer see-through) and I was able to do my laundry today!... unfortunately, we haven’t had internet here for the past week and there is no water in the watertank aka we’re taking bucket showers.

Katie

Lima adventures

So it’s Wednesday Morning and so much has happened since my last blog entry. On Saturday, we went to Lima for a fiesta/fundraiser… and we ended up staying in Lima for 4 days to buy the computers Monday/ Tuesday. On Sunday, we went to walk around Lima and went to Miraflores / Baranco. This day was the first time we’d adventured to the Touristy/ Gringo part of Lima. Miraflores / Baranco reminded me of a mixture of two things I’ve lived before. Firstly, the architecture, colors of the houses and general atmosphere reminded me of impressions I got from the thousands of Brazilian Paintings hanging on the walls in my parents’ house. The area also reminded me of where I used to live in Hong Kong—shiny glass condos, overlooking the ocean, scattered in fancy restaurants and exclusive clubs. This is the Gringo part of Lima. On the one hand, it was comforting to be in a place where not everyone stared at us and I didn’t feel as out of place- but on the other hand, I did. I did because we have been living in the exact opposite world for the last 3 weeks, where a latte and Muffin at Starbucks (20 + soles) is about as much as some of the combi drivers make in a day, or for us, that buys the 3 people in our team’s lunches. In a Peruvian context, that is crazy. It’s Gringo friendly and Gringo Prices and it excludes a lot of people. On the other hand, how different is it in North America where not everyone can spend 7 dollars on a Latte and a Muffin every week.

The other amazing thing about those parts of Lima and the Airport (where we went at Midnight to pick up Matt’s dad) is how well they are taken care of with plush grass, tropical plants, clean streets and trash cans, shiny glass windows and a new metropolitan bus line These areas are so different from other parts of Lima and even more different from where we are living… most of those services are not available at all. It also became clear our Peruvian friends (Joseph and Isaac) were treated so differently than we were when we entered those areas. Matt and I could enter freely into the Airport; Joseph was asked for a Passport and told to use another door. Like the walls in Cieneguilla, there is an air exclusivity to a lot of the places we went, which excludes some and accepts others. These are the observations I made while we were out in Lima.

On another day, I will write about the saga of getting the money into Peru and to buy the computers.

Katie

The Photo Corral

Here's pictures! Most are self-explanatory.

It's time for an update!

The last few days have been really positive, for the project.. yes, but also for me during this process of getting used to Peru.



This past week, my host-mom started treating me more like a member of the family, rather than just a guest who needs to be waited on hand-and-foot. My friends at university know that I am fiercely independent when it comes to taking care of myself. This morning, she allowed to me to do the dishes... and then after that she allowed me to wash my own laundry. It may sound strange that I am actually happy about this, but its nice to be able to help when someone is allowing you to stay in the house, give you a comfy bed, prepares all your meals etc. That was a good turning point for me because I am starting to feel more at home and regaining my sense of independence.

I am starting to really appreciate where we are living. We are living in the countryside near this town called Cieneguilla. Cieneguilla is where all the richest of the rich have their country homes and chacras. We are living in a pueblito where the people who work the farms live. Its very strange for me being in this position. Everyday we walk by the gates of the richest of the rich, locked out and shielded from view with very tall, concrete walls. At home, I used to live in an estate, guarded by gates and had friends who lived in similar houses. When I went to the Phillipines, Dad and I used to stay the weekend with people who lived in similar houses. It is strange for me to be on the other side, but I appreciate where we are living.

Life here is much slower, more normal. Meat and Vegetables are always fresh. Yesterday for dinner, I had chicken with a salad of lettuce, avocado, tomato, carrot etc. It had all literally come from a market about 2 or 3 hours before. Where we are, there are far fewer people and it is much quieter. The air is much cleaner as well, I can breathe. These were all the things I came to appreciate, especially after we went to Lima.

Earlier in the day, we went to the centre of Lima. It sounds really exciting, but from where we are and depending on where you need to go, it can take between 2 and 3 hours to get into Lima. We travel by Combi, packed in like sardines and the game is positioning yourself so that you can a) hold on for your life if there are no seats b) grab the first free seat that is available. Once you get there, its really foggy and polluted with people everywhere!!! (atleast to the places we need to go) That makes Lima sound really horrible, but it is a gorgeous city in certain parts, but surrounding all the old colonial architecture and plazas, there are poor neighbourhoods and slums that cover the mountain sides as far as the eye can see. When I am there next, I will take a picture to illustrate the contrast. The other thing that struck me after walking around Lima all day, the air is very dirty (I'm really spoiled because I am used to Canadian air haha) Our trip made me really appreciate our simple life. I miss Canada, but just my home comforts and I am starting to really feel at home here. After a few more weeks, the cold showers and lack of washing machines will feel normal too, I'm sure.

I will give an update later about the activities and our lessons. The inauguration at Villa Maria is in a week, soon the project will be completly up and running.

Hasta Luego
Katie

I think I'm giving myself a personality disorder.

It stems from the fact that English and Spanish have very different feels, so in some senses I become a different person in each language. I'm used to my English self while in Canada and my Spanish self here in Peru, but when those barriers break down strange things happen inside my head. Normally I would speak 100% Spanish here, except for a half-hour phone call once a week or so. But with Katie, I've got the opportunity to use English almost any time of the day. Joseph is also trying to practice, so I speak English with him. Switching languages throughout the day takes its toll. It isn't just the mental effort, either: I've realized that emotionally I'm jumping around as I switch my mode of communication, so that these two versions of myself are meeting each other and so far I don't know what to make of the encounter.

People who know me as an English speaker now see me as a Spanish speaker, and vice versa. I wonder what will come of this.

Matt

Matt said a lot in the last post, he actually said most of it.

Everyday we face many new challenges and for every down there are many ups.

Yesterday, we learned an important lesson. To get the best response, you need to reach out to the people at a personal level if they don't know you. My Host Mom and I were talking about the project (as we do everyday) and in general, she is very excited about it. I had shared my worries about the project about getting a good response from the parents. To that, she suggested we go door-to-door to invite each family and introduce ourselves. Once we did that, it was a resounding sucess and got over 30 people to come to our first meeting. All in all it was a good day, and as Matt said, we went from having too little, to having too much.

With the current schedule, we are giving computer classes to around 80 students (algo asi) in Villa Maria. Then in the afternoons, we return to Cieneguilla to give classes to the students on M, W, Thr, to the parents W, Thr at night, and then we're giving classes to the Mothers in the town who are partially illiterate 3 times a week. We are reaching out to people in the community at every level, and that is amazing.

The last week had taught us some important lessons. We did not realize what level the majority of the town are starting from. They are starting at the level most of us started at when we first got our computers, as in, learning how to use a mouse or learning the correct way to type. This was not something Matt and I thought about on our thousands of hours of Skype calls.

I am (I can't speak for Matt on this one) realizing as well that we need to lead many programs at the beginning, and then throughout the next few months we need to continually look for someone to hand the programs over to. We also keep stressing that although we are leading the programs now, in August, we are leaving and for the computer centre to continue beyond August, the parents need to step up and organize themselves. We will see what happens.

On the up side, I got to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean today.... it has been awhile.

Katie

Big stuff!

Thursday, May 20

So here was a big day. Maybe you'll get to see Katie's take as well, but here's mine.

In the morning we had a meeting with the teachers and the director of the school at Cieneguilla. There are only about five of them, so it's easy to talk and find out what they're thinking. The teachers are particularly excited, and are willing (it seems) to negotiate regarding scheduling and such. The director is another story, but I'll withhold judgement for now. Right now we're a bit limited as to the number of hours that we'll actually have to work with the kids here. That said, the days will be plenty full…more on that in a moment.

Villa Maria is quite different in that there are actually far too many kids for us to work with, and the director is personally meeting with us every time we go, inviting us for tea/coffee and etc. We've got the room cleaned up, so now we're waiting for the grant money to arrive at the end of the month, after which we'll buy the computers and get them set up and ready for the inauguration there on June 2. So good things are happening, but we also have to be a bit patient because we're waiting on the money.

Today, we had a meeting with the parents. We were initially quite worried about turnout, and whether or not anyone would be willing to come and discuss the project. Katie's host mom suggested going around door to door to introduce ourselves and invite people out personally. It turned out to be a great idea. Of course the 7:00 meeting began more like 7:30, but that's to be expected here. We had so many people that we couldn't fit in the computer lab and we had to use a full-size classroom instead. I would estimate about 35 people were there. We established a schedule for teaching the adults to use the computers, and the 20 spots were filled and more still wanted to sign up. We have to try to work it out so that we can teach everyone who wants to learn while also having some hours at night of general access. Right now the classes will be 6-7 and 7-8pm on Wed and Thurs. The plan is to have access open 6-10pm every weekday, and 11am-10pm on weekends. Who opens it? Us. What does that mean? We will be overloaded. So of course it's urgent to find a volunteer or possibly hire someone to take over some of the hours, or we will collapse in a heap sometime around next Thursday. If we're exhausted, how can we possibly be good teachers in the evenings?

So many new issues are presenting themselves. I like that. It's preferable to be slightly overwhelmed than to be left twiddling your thumbs for most of the day. That was my issue initially in Villa Martha, back in 2007. It took a long time to actually be busy. Here we're jumping in with a bang, doing as much as possible and more. From there we will be asking for, and by that I mean demanding, help. It makes sense, because someone needs to take over completely by mid-August when we leave. They'll need a couple months to get comfortable, so it has to begin now.

This week is the trial. We'll have our first schedule that slightly resembles what we'll do for the next three weeks. I fully expect it to change several times, but more or less it'll retain the same format. After this week we'll also be able to truly evaluate how busy we can be and what is feasible going forward.

Oh, and it was perfectly sunny today! First time in two weeks. Last?

Matt

May 13

First up, here's a post I never posted, from May 13:

May 13

A whole week.

As in most experiences like this one, it seems strange that only a week has passed but at the same time I can't believe that it's already gone. Some snippets of the journey so far:

When I think, large portions are in Spanish. I have to work at keeping things in English. I didn't expect that, not this soon anyway. Strange how a language can hide away and then perk up as if it hadn't been ignored for two years.

Spanish feels like the language the world was made for. I'm not sure how to better describe it. It's the way a 25-cent bus ride on gravel straight through the river would sound if it had a language.

The sound of Lima: Subesubesubesube toalamarINAAAA! Javieprauuujavieprau! Multiply that by fourteen and add six lanes of car horns.

I avoid saying words in Spanish that contain the letter r. I worked for ages to pronounce both r and rr, and that's gone now. It's the most typically gringo mistake to make, so I'm embarrassed for myself that I can manage so well until I have to speak.

It seems my memories are very auditory. Is anyone surprised?

Inauguration, Villa Maria photos

Here's some photos from the Inauguration at La Libertad in Cieneguilla, as well as some of Villa Martha and the state of their "computer lab"...complete with rusted machines from 1995 that occasionally rattle if you pick them up. Today we did a big cleanup effort, of which photos will be appearing shortly.