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NOVEMBER 2005 - NEWSLETTER

This month the volunteers:

worked hard on the classrooms and Pumamarca,
went crazy and tried Bungee Jumping,
Said farewell for the year to Yutto,
Check on the fresh water solution in Picol,
Took to young friends to a soccer game,
Enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner, and
Took time off to visit Lake Titicaca.

Non-stop work and play at Pumamarca

Over the last month, Pumamarca has really started to take shape. Construction, hygiene and the classroom activities have been a success for both students and the volunteers, with education and enjoyment being the two key indicators.

We have really focused this month on the getting the classrooms in better shape to encourage the students. Many fathers from the community have offered their expertise and all our volunteers have had a go helping somehow. Tasks have ranged from plastering and sanding to cleaning and painting.

The main classroom block which consists of two classrooms for the older students has been completely repaired and plastered. It is now ready for painting both inside and out.

The Pumamarca kids are so well behaved. They have all been enthusiastically cleaning their hands, face, teeth and eating utensils after lunch. I know it doesn't happen in Australia or in other countries around the world, but here at Pumamarca, the kids sneak back for seconds on the toothpaste, pretending they haven't been given any, even though their faces are covered in it!

Classses have been focused on Art, English and Sports. All are going well and the children are really progressing.

The kindergarten kids (aged 3-5 years) are loving their art classes. This month, they made masks from paper plates and old cereal packets and decorated them with feathers, coloured paper and pipe cleaners. When it was time to finish up and go play outside, they were very reluctant to leave their masks in the classroom so ended up taking them outside to play.

We have also been playing with hand-puppets of Australian animals and birds donated by a former volunteer.

Volunteers have been working with the teachers to provide learning activities and materials for developing numeric and literacy skills and well as helping them understand their Rights as Children, for example, the right to be happy, the right to have food, the right to be healthy etc.

Tiendas (small grocery shops) have been set up in the kindergarten classrooms with empty packets of food items. The children have been pretending to run their own store and purchase food items for the right prices to learn the concept of money and purchasing. We were saddened to hear that one night the classroom windows were broken and some packages were stolen. The thieves thought that the food packets were full. It is just an example of how severe the poverty and level of hunger is in Pumamarca.

Naturally the kids are loving sport every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. most of the hour from 12-1pm is occupied by stretches, relays, tunnel ball and of course the tri-weekly soccer and skipping tournaments.

Three, two, one ... BUNGEE!

"This month saw the inauguration of a new age volunteer activity. After weeks of discussion and planning, Jane and Selvy organised for five of our volunteers to take the plunge from the 120 metre high Bungee Jump, just outside of Cusco.

"Some came closer to the ground than others, maybe due to the fact that Peruvian bungee companies are not used to having 105kg of Melbourne muscle strapped in!

"It was a terrifying moment for all who participated, the long ride up in the cable car manufacturing even more nerves. But the combined amount of anxiety and concern felt by the first four contenders was surpassed by the final participant who was counted doing 28 Signs of the Cross and 30 minutes of Our Fathers and Hail Marys before the jump. I guess it paid off!"

Written by Mark, one of the crazy few that did the Bungee.

Saying goodbye to Yutto

This past month at Yutto has been an exciting one. The kids have been given and second English exam and the results were a lot more promising than last months. It proved to the students that a little bit of study and practice pays off.

With the school year wrapping up, we have also been able to have some fun with the kids during sports and art classes. We planned something special for our last day with them. During art classes we constructed piñatas filled with sweets and cookies. The kids imaginatively decorated the piñatas with tissue paper and with what ever they could find in the art cupboard.

Little did we know that the kids had also prepared something for our goodbye party. They sang songs in Quechua and Spanish and invited the volunteers to dance. They said "adios" and gave us lots of hugs and kisses, willing us to return next year.

Fresh water and happy stomachs

The Water Project up in Picol has been moving along slower than anticipated but we have received some promising results.

In September and October, we visited numerous families that had no access to fresh drinking water and supplied them with a short-term solution - 2 x 20 litre containers with measured clorox (safe for drinking).

This month we have revisited each family to ensure that they are keeping their containers clean and are using the right quantities of clorox. We were so proud of all the families as they were keeping the containers in perfect condition and each demonstrated to us that they were measuring out the clorox correctly.

All of the families commented that their children no longer had pain in their stomachs and their diarrhea had stopped.

Do as the local's do

This month would not have been complete without going to watch the much anticipated soccer match between Cienciano of Cusco and Universitario of Lima.

Ten of the volunteers decided to take Michaela's children, Anita and Javier, to their first every game dressed up in the Cienciano colours.

In a heated battle, Cienciano was rewarded with a penalty right on the 80-minute mark and equalised to take the score to 1-1.

A great day was had by all, especially by Anita and Javier.

Turkey and all the trimmings

Of course, we had to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner, as half of our volunteers this month were from the States.

Karen and Kristin from Wisconsin were excused from painting duties and spent the whole day preparing for the feast.

And a feast it was. A 12kg turkey was basted and cooked in a local bakery oven down the road.

It was ready just in time and was accompanied by a smorgaseboard of traditional Thanksgiving dishes. There were lots of oooohhh's and aaahhhh's and most of the 25 guests went back for seconds.

Tours, tours and more tours

"This month, ten volunteers that have been here for two months left for a four-day weekend trip to Lake Titicaca.

"The floating reed islands were our first stop where we were educated on the traditional Peruvian methods of how the locals create these unique masterpieces. We then took a few photos from the reed watch tower followed by a journey to another floating island in a traditional raft made from the reeds.

"When the heavens cleared at about 10am on the Lake, the Peru's Challenge crew took a strangle hold on the upper deck of 'The Americana'. As the blue skies and water surrounded us, we made our final port of the day - Amantani - where we were greeted by our host families and given a traditional island lunch.

"After lunch we climbed to the summit of the island (over 4000m.a.s.l.) where we watched the sunset over Lake Titicaca. Sunset was followed by a traditional dinner and some customary outfits and dance routines at the local community hall. A special night that no one will forget, especially because we have photos!

"After a farewell breakfast with our host families, they wished us bon voyage (or feliz viaje) as we made our way to Tajile Island. The highlight was definitely the lunch setting which boasted the most amazing view over lake and mountains in the surrounding area.

"The day and tour ended with another picturesque boat trip back to the shores of Puno. Special thanks must go to our wonderful guide Bradley J. Altman from Cally."

Written by Mark.

Goodbye to the November volunteers

Thank you to April for your three months with us. The Pumamarca teachers and kids really miss you. Not to worry, as you know, there will be a new little Abril on the scene soon.

Thank you to Kristin and Karen for their three months with us. You achieved a great deal with any project I asked you to do. A special thanks for the work on the Water Project and the sponsorship information.

Haya thank you for your dedication to the health development and information project at Pumamarca. You showed such patience and I thank you for that. Good luck with your residency interviews.

Rosie thank you also for your time with us. The Pumamarca kids have been asking about you and asking when are you going to return for more Art classes.

Brad, although you are only on a short holiday and are coming back to help us over the next couple of months, I wanted to thank you now for all of your help and dedication to our projects.

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