First Days in Peru

Hello from our primary bloggers, Katelyn and Andrew. We will be trying to post updates from the Peru VA trip every couple of days, however, we do not have access to Internet in our house so there may be some delay. We will also have several guest bloggers throughout the trip to share some of their reactions and experiences as well.

Greetings from Peru! After a few long flights we arrived in Cusco on Tuesday morning without any major issues with airlines. Upon arrival in Cusco we were met by one of the founders of Peru´s Challenge (the organization we are working with), Selvy. After a short 15 minute drive we arrived at the house we are staying at, in the mountains. The first day was fairly relaxing as we took time to get acclimated to the altitude and weather.

On day 2 we went to visit the community we will be volunteering in, Pumamarca. Selvy showed us some of the work that Peru´s Challenge had done in the community over the past six years. One of the major projects we saw was the school which they had helped build and operate. Many of the school buildings were painted maize and blue (coincidence, I think not). We had an opportunity to meet some of the classrooms, including 9 first graders who read us stories and sang us a traditional song from their community. Because our visit coincided with recess, we had a chance to play soccer with some of the kids.

After we left the school, Selvy went to show us the construction project we would be working on. For the project we will be building a greenhouse for a lady named Maria Flores, whom we had a chance to meet. Maria has struggled with health issues while working hard to raise her 3 children after the tragic death of her husband. The community identified her as someone they wanted to help so that she could use the greenhouse to earn an additional income for medication and sending her kids to school.

Maria and Selvy then led us to the site of the new greenhouse where we were welcomed by other mothers from the community with beautiful boquets of flowers, colorful necklaces, and confetti. They showed us the current greenhouse as well as some of the construction methods we would be using, including mixing mud with grass to make mud bricks (called adobe).

Later that afternoon we went on a visit to the actual city of Cusco and some other areas. One of the intersting sites we saw was an Incan archaeological site. Selvy also informed us that the Inca was actually the name referring to the king, rather than the entire people, which are called Quechua.

Day 3 was the first day of construction. We arrived at the site in the morning and immediately started moving bricks to the construction site. Each brick weighed 15-20 pounds and we moved several hundred by hand and wheelbarrow. We also worked on creating a foundation for the building and arranged materials for cement formation. After working for 6 hours we eventually made our way home to relax for the rest of the day and prepare for tomorrow.

We will have additional reactions and experiences later this week and will attempt to share some pictures as well, however, as we are writing from an Internet cafe, we are unsure that this will be possible.