Friday, June 25, 2010
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
Sunday, June 20, 2010
"So Matt, how's Peru?"
Friday, June 18, 2010
The fuse is lit
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
Friday, June 11, 2010
10 things I've learned after a 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.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Fuse is lit.
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.
Friday, June 4, 2010
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