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MAY NEWSLETTER

There was plenty of work, plenty of play and not a lot of spare time for volunteers during May – but no-one was complaining.

Highlights of the month included:

Seeing the smiles on the faces of children, parents and teachers at the opening of Hundar school
Tours, sightseeing and adventure that can only be had in Peru
Mother’s Day afternoon tea hosted by the volunteers with pavlova, lamingtons, rum balls and chocolate brownies, and a special surprise
The kids’ special Mother’s Day performance of Little Red Riding Hood, followed by lunch
Captain Fuerte’s first appearance – what a hit!
The waterwheel evolving before our eyes
Construction of the veggie patch and the second kitchen

A new school

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and in this case it probably speaks several thousand. Just look at the beaming face of our kindergarten teacher as he opens the door to the new classroom at Huandar.

Moments later he was almost flattened by the rush of children eager to get inside and experience what is now their new, fully functional classroom. A magic moment!

Peru’s Challenge volunteers contributed to the renovation and re-building of the school in just two months, and the local community acknowledged Peru’s Challenge – many times.

It was some years ago when the community first approached Jane & Selvy to help with the project – something that needed to happen to prevent children being maimed and killed on the 5km walk into Pisaq along a dusty road frequented by huge trucks en route to the jungle.

It seemed everyone wanted to express their thanks, and they did! Selvy did the honours breaking a bottle of champagne above the door before handing the teacher the key.

But before the official business, volunteers were entertained with spirited traditional dancing from the children in full costumes. The Dance of the Old Men got the loudest applause – no it wasn’t the old men of the community dancing, it was the young children dressed as old men, and boy were they convincing!

Then there was the obligatory game of soccer, followed by the breaking of the piñata groaning under the weight of sweets, toys and biscuits inside, and a celebration dinner, followed by more dancing … We all went home exhausted but contented. It was one of those feel good experiences.

Volunteers are now working on the toilet block. A lot of soil needs to be shifted before the septic tank can be put in and the soil turned to rock a couple of feet under the surface! Just another challenge.

Tours, sightseeing, adventure…

This month volunteers headed off on weekend excursions including:

Arequipa and Colca Canyon – they sipped Pisco Sours at sunset overlooking the town square, got up before dawn to catch the first condors gliding below them, then soaring above at Colca Canyon, and stepped back in time at the Santa Catalina Convent

The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu – it was tough but worth it – The bodies were exhausted but the heads were buzzing. The Andes in all their unspoiled beauty didn’t disappoint.

Sacred Valley – Ollantaytambo and Pisaq ruins were the highlight, but stumbling across a local fiesta at Urubamba with its vibrant, colourful street parade was an unexpected addition

White water rafting – no-one fell in

And the more hardy souls met Wilfredo at 6am on Mother’s Day to climb Mount Picol – it’s there, we look at it every day, it had to be conquered. (We won’t mention those who just couldn’t get out of bed after a late night, well early morning actually, at Mama Africa’s.)

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day actually went on for weeks at Peru’s Challenge. It started a couple of weeks before the actual day with the local mothers inviting us to a fund-raising BBQ, volleyball and soccer match, with of course, dancing to follow.

The locals won both the volleyball and soccer – should I mention the winning volleyball team included two pregnant mothers, both of them overdue? And they still won!

Then a week before Mother’s Day the volunteers put on a special afternoon tea for all the local mothers – we cooked treats from home including pavlova, lamingtons, rum balls and chocolate brownies! Yum!

Then came the biggest surprise! Selvy had been shopping in Lima and arrived back with four sewing machines, a knitting machine and an overlocker for the mother’s craft group! They were stunned! So were we! We thought Selvy had enough money for one or two machines – he obviously knows how to strike a deal!

Funds for the machines came from donations made by volunteers, with substantial donations from Chris and Pete separately in honour of their mothers who passed away. Our mothers will receive lessons on all the machines, and will start out mending the family’s clothes before moving on to making new garments. What a difference this will make to clothing the family.

Then the children treated their mothers, and all the volunteers, to a special morning at school the Friday before Mother’s Day. Mothers were greeted with flowers, grade one and two sang and danced, and the performance of Little Red Riding Hood was superb! All the mothers, including volunteers who are mothers, received a hand-made card and gift the children had made in class.

It made up for not being with our own kids on Mother’s Day.

Captain Fuerte

Watch out for this man! He could take the world by storm!

Captain Fuerte is set to become a regular visitor to Picol in his flaming red cape, matching red sombrero, and Batman-style mask.

He represents all that is good in health and hygiene, such as cleaning teeth regularly (and on his first visit to the school he handed out toothbrushes to all the kids), washing hands before eating and after using the bathroom, and eating healthy food. He is leaving reminder messages all round the school.

Well done Teisha and Michelle (who invented Captain Fuerte) and the masked man himself (whose identity must remain anonymous).

The waterwheel

Probably the most ambitious undertaking by volunteers to date is Jack’s waterwheel. With project management assistance from Mike Jack has designed and built a functional waterwheel from scratch. (Photos will be shown in next month´s newsletter).

Technology is not in abundance in Cusco, so Jack had to improvise, make do, adapt and innovate every step of the way. And half way through the project, he had to convert to a floating waterwheel when he learned how much the river rises and falls during the year.

The Huandar community can’t wait to see it in action. All we’re waiting on is a motor to drive the wheel. The waterwheel will pump water from the Urubamba River up to the Huandar community for washing and other household uses. The locals will dig an 8000 litre reservoir to hold the water. (And aren’t the volunteers pleased about that!)

Jack will always be Huandar’s hero. He’s Peru’s Challenge’s hero too!

Other construction projects…

Construction has been high on the list of things to do during May and Wilfredo was impressed with his “muy fuerte chicos y chicas”!

The veggie patch - An adobe wall was built along the back of the kindergarten to fence in the veggie patch. The girls were quickly obeying Wilfredo’s calls for “mas adobe, mas barro, mas adobe…. Rapido, rapido…” Then just when we thought the hard work was over, Wilfredo took us half way up Mount Picol to chop down a few eucalyptus trees needed for the support structure for the veggie patch roof. Oh yes, and then we had to carry them back down the hill to the school.

A compost bin has been designed and instructions written to encourage healthy soil in the garden.

A new kitchen for the kindergarten has also been designed. It will also include a separate eating and storage area, which will double in the afternoons as a workshop for the mothers group.

We are now feeding breakfast and lunch to more than 60 children from Monday to Friday with the assistance of the mothers who are designing and cooking nutritional meals.

Other volunteer projects…

Volunteers representing a widely diverse range of careers have put their expertise and skills to good use at Picol and Hundar including:

Speech therapist Teisha – speech therapy assessments for several special needs children in the community
Social worker Ginny – social work support for our social worker including home visits and family assessment documentation
Lawyer Jane – helping set up the libraries in Picol classrooms, and helping with the first parasite program
Psychologist Chris – one-on-one counseling with mothers and families
Dental hygienist Michelle – dental health checks for all kids at Picol and Huandar plus dental health education (via Captain Fuerte)
Retired industrial arts teacher Jack – design and build project for Huandar waterwheel
Project manager Mike – project management of several Peru’s Challenge projects as well as design and layout of new kitchen
Nurse Sally – health checks of children and health education
Midwife Marika – health education with mothers revolving around contraception and child development, and the first parasite program
Retired teacher Anne-Marie – lesson plans for future volunteers to use when teaching visual arts and physical education
Journalist/editor Neva – public relations proposals, marketing and sponsorship proposals, newsletter and website content
Pharmacist David – stocking comprehensive medicines cabinet (donated by Calliope Harrier and Athletics Club, Auckland, New Zealand) and writing consumer medicines information leaflets, and
Helena, who kept saying that she didn´t have any specific skills but who helped with every project we had going, while also organising our stock supplies.

Thanks to everyone. It was a jam-packed month with so much going on and without your help we couldn´t have achieved the great variety of projects that we did.

View the special photo page for all the great things that happened during the month.

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For more information on all the work done by Peru's Challenge volunteers in the past, read previous newsletters.

For an overview of our plans for both projects this year, click here.