DECEMBER 2006 NEWSLETTER

Peru’s Challenge Christmas

Despite the rain it was a fine Christmas for Peru’s Challenge. Volunteers, including some our youngest — Phoebe aged six and José aged seven — put together over 60 Christmas hampers for the Pumamarca families who had worked with Talleres (afternoon workshop classes) during the year.

The hampers consisted of a washing basin filled with goodies such as a panetone, jelly crystals, pasta, rice, sugar, cooking oil, tuna, chocolate, and much more.

It was a spectacular talleres with Benjamin, AKA Papa Noel and his elves Elizabeth, Andrew, Holden, Phoebe, Tiffany, Ginny and Jane distributing the hampers and a number of Pumamarca ladies demanding to sit on Santa’s knee.

The teenagers also put on a truly dreadful (in the best possible way) nativity play in which the only player to remember their lines was baby Jesus.

The next day it was the kids’ turn. Benjamin/Papa Noel made another appearance, with the Pumamarca kids putting on performances for the volunteers.

The kids received Christmas bags with a game of jacks for the girls, marbles for the boys, balloons, lollipops, pencils and other goodies.

Finally Christmas Day arrived and the whole Peru’s Challenge team got together in the top house for a feast of ham, turkey and very sweet champagne. By early afternoon the fireworks came out and a very jolly time was had by all.

Hunting for treasure at Pumamarca

Thanks to Ali, one of our volunteers from Australia, the Pumamarca kids enjoyed their first ever treasure hunt.

While Ali and the other volunteers were hiding the sweets we had to shoo away the local dogs and also a grandmother that was sheperding her sheep. She thought all her Christmases had come at once when she stumbled across wrapped chocolates just lying there for the taking.

When it was time for the kids to hunt, it took quite a bit of explaining about how a treasure hunt works but as soon as the first kids found a lollie-pop the rest clued on pretty quickly.

We organised for the little kindergarten kids to go first as the bigger kids would have just knocked them over.

Some found more sweets than others so we made sure we had some extra supplies on hand to give to those that could not find any.

My family and other animals – The family volunteer experience

When we told our friends and family that we were planning to head to Peru to volunteer for two months, more than one person said ‘What, with the kids?’

Yes, with the kids. Holden is 9, and Phoebe is 6, and they’re both pretty independent. They’ve also travelled a bit, so we weren’t terribly concerned about how they would cope.

Once we’d recovered from jetlag and acclimatised to the altitude, the real settling in began. Phoebe was fine straight away, given that she lives largely in her imagination anyway, but Holden struggled with homesickness for about a week. After that he started enjoying coming up to school at Pumamarca, where he has achieved a sort of rock star status, and communicates in the universal language of soccer.

Neither of the kids cares much for learning Spanish in lessons, but they’ve picked up a bit anyway.

Both kids have really enjoyed the tours, although we haven’t yet done The Big One (the Inca Trail). Phoebe managed the harder walk at Pisac ruins in hail, wearing only pyjamas (long story), so we’re confident we’ll all make it too Machu Picchu, although the locals are scandalised that we would put the kids through it.

Highlights so far have been rafting (Holden) and horse riding (Phoebe), but they also really enjoyed the Sacred Valley and Lake Titicaca.

As for illness, well, Holden had a tummy bug that lasted less than 12 hours, and Phoebe has had mild bronchitis, but that’s pretty good going for six weeks here. There is plenty of kid-friendly food in Cuzco and Santusa, our housekeeper, is always thrilled when Holden wants seconds of her delicious cooking.

For anyone considering volunteering with kids, we’d have the following advice, for what it’s worth:
• Remember you will be living in a share house so your kids need to get on with other adults.
• Fussy, demanding kids will not enjoy you having to focus attention on other things such as the volunteer work.
• It is the third world, so if your kids haven’t seen much dirt or poverty, they might suffer from culture shock.

We’ve now got only two weeks until the end of our placement, and the kids are already suggesting that we should come back some time …
Written by Tiffany and Andrew who volunteered with their kids for eight weeks.

A volunteer kid’s story

When we first arrived in Lima it felt strange but it was still a bit like home. When we came to Cuzco and then Pumamarca I realized that it was very different.

It was a bit of a shock how dirty the kids were at school in Pumamarca and it was a bit annoying that little kids followed me around teasing me by chanting “gringito”.

However, playing with the kids is fun although I couldn’t really talk to them very easily because I can’t speak much Spanish.

I sometimes help mum and dad with their classes. Playing “futbol” with the kids is a great way to learn better soccer skills.

Written by Holden, age nine from Australia. Volunteered for eight weeks.

Physical education equipment and learning materials

Thanks to the support of Garry, a previous volunteer from Australia and Co, a current volunteer from Holland, Peru's Challenge has been able to build a great sports area for the Pumamarca school.

The kids are thoroughly enjoying playing on the see-saws, the balancing beans, two sets of swings with tires and climbing ropes, a monkey-bar, volley ball posts and a basket ball ring.

Although we have worked hard to ensure that the school in functional, we struggle to provide adequate learning materials and resources for each class.

Thanks to
Result Training & Consultancy
(Co's employer) in Holland, we have been able to purchase much needed materials for each grade and lockable metal cupboards to store everything safely.

Thank you Co and Paula for organising this support.

Health workshop and women’s health checks

This month, Elizabeth, returning volunteer doctor from Australia asked for our Social Worker to organise pap smears for the women of Pumamarca.

Peru's Challenge organised for local nurses to come to the community for the tests. We also promised to pay for half of the cost for each test if more than 20 women attended- 23 women turned up.

All 23 women had some type of infection- most due to hygiene issues. Some were able to purchase the necessary medications to treat the infections, but some could not afford them so Peru's Challenge covered these costs.

Rafting in the Sacred Valley

It may sound a little less worthy than some of the “volunteer breaks” but a one-day rafting expedition through the Sacred Valley is a very exhilarating way to pass the weekend.

We had just arrived in Cuzco and, especially for nine year old Holden, rafting seemed like something that would help get over a little culture shock with some pure indulgent fun. Two other volunteers, Nick and Jared, were also keen to join us in this extracurricular expedition and I think we were all very glad we did.
The rafting tours take place on the Urubamba River and by late November the water level is starting to get rather high, ensuring a thrilling ride.

For Holden and myself this was also our first view of the Sacred Valley, which in itself was awe-inspiring. As we wound passed Ollantaytambo I couldn’t believe the natural beauty of the valley and the incredible engineering skill of the Inca, building storehouses in impossibly remote locations up the walls of the valley.

However, Nick and Jared were only there for the rapids and they didn’t have to wait too long. The intensity of the rapids increases as you move down the river on a two-hour journey, with the final thrill a ride off a grade four waterfall. This may sound a little hairy for some people, but the safety standards are impressive with a pre briefing, an experienced guide and a fair bit of practice before you reach the larger rapids.

We finished with a lunch by the river and once we’d convinced Jared that we couldn’t just walk the raft back up and do the waterfall again, it was back on the bus for the two-hour trip back to Cuzco.

Pumamarca Talleres prepares for visitors

Talleres (see November’s newsletter for about the craft workshops) didn’t slow down in December. Knowing that a new year was on its way, and we needed to plan and structure the work that would be produced in 2007, made it a busy month.

As Talleres is currently housed in one of the classrooms (the new workshop will be ready in a few months), storage has been an issue for a while. We decided to buy two new cupboards so that materials, packaging and finished products could be stored securely, and cleanly — some haggling with Iris’s help at El Molino on a Saturday morning scored us a couple of smart, glass-fronted cupboards, funded by the generous donations of friends at home in Australia.

Talleres for 2007 has seven groups — weaving, loom weaving, knitting, ceramics, card-making, jewellery-making and sewing. The two weaving groups are powering away without much intervention, so we’ve been focusing on the other groups. As Briony mentioned in the November newsletter, jewellery-making has undergone a bit of a revolution, and we’re hoping to continue her good work by ruthlessly culling materials that won’t appeal to potential buyers.

Knitting is a new addition to Talleres. Several of the women can already knit, so it’s been a matter of deciding on simple patterns (that aren’t already all over Cuzco) for them to produce in high-quality alpaca yarns. Jane, Ginny, Iris and I had an awful lot of fun choosing wool down at San Pedro, and decided to teach them a pattern known in Spanish as ‘Pavo Real’ (peacock). Of course, it wasn’t until I sat down with the group and my own knitting needles that I realised they knit ‘Continental style’, holding their wool completely differently … I have two weeks left to work through this with them.

Tags for the Talleres products have been designed and are at the printers, and a website is also planned. 2007 is certainly going to be a big year.
Written by Tiffany.

Volunteers visit Pumamarca’s own Inca ruins

Home visits in Pumamarca with Peru’s Challenge social worker, Iris, can be an eye-opening experience for many volunteers and are also an important way we work with families on issues ranging from health and hygiene to domestic violence, alcohol & drug problems.

However, a home visit to the community’s own Inca palace also provides a fascinating look at the heritage of the region and a unique view of Inca culture, well off the tourist track. A local family acts as caretaker for the palace which is located a couple of kilometres outside Pumamarca proper. The palace forms something of a complex with everything from a sun throne and sacrificial stone to the obligatory Spanish church built above the building once the Spaniards had smashed many of its religious artefacts.

In December volunteers Nick, Jared, Alison, Holden and I joined volunteer manager Ginny and the Peru's Challenge social worker to visit the family living in the palace and also got the chance to look around.

The main building is a two storey structure around a central courtyard all created using asymmetrical Incan brickwork without mortar. Throughout the complex original Incan water channels still flow and the lower rooms still contain ancestral idol and mummy display altars.

Just outside the building is a sacrificial stone and a cave which is rumoured to have once connected the complex to Cuzco before it was sealed up to protect overly adventurous volunteers from becoming lost. Slightly above the main building is a sunny knoll where Incan princesses were said to worship the sun during winter and summer solstice. We thought this sounded a bit like sun baking.

The family occupies the upper storey of the building which is floored in wood and connected by a rather rotten balcony. We were all a little dismayed at the state of the upper storey and were quite nervous about the possibility of falling through the decayed floors.

Peru’s Challenge is currently working with the Pumamarca community to determine how it can best repair and preserve this important archaeological site and promote appropriate tourism to bring much needed income into this impoverished region.

Nude Pumamarca calendars

Actually not, but got your attention again. The long awaited Pumamarca calendars are printed and available for purchase and feature photos taken by volunteer Michaela truly representing the heart of the children and community of Pumamarca.

To reduce printing costs and maximise fundraising the calendars aren’t year specific, but as beautiful as they are they will still make a fantastic addition to any wall, or gift. All the money raised through sales of the calendars will go to the emergency health fund set up to support the community.

If you are interested in buying one – or one hundred – please email us at volunteer@peruschallenge.com and let us know how many.

The calendars cost US$10, or US$20 with postage. We would also like a contact in each country to help us with postage and payments so if you are interested please let us know.

I can’t say enough how beautiful they are!! A big thank you to Michaela for all her time and effort in taking photos.

In praise of Ginny

What’s your job with Peru’s Challenge?
I am the Volunteer Manager, so essentially that means that anything to do with the volunteers is my job. I have contact with the volunteers from the point where they apply for a placement with us, I support them whilst they are on placement and then continue to have contact with them after they leave Peru’s Challenge.

Where did you grow up and what’s your background?
I grew up in Adelaide, Australia with my family- Mum, Dad and two older brothers. After finishing school I travelled and generally had fun for a few years, then decided to study Social Work. Most of my employment has been in the area of homelessness- particularly domestic violence.

How did you become involved with Peru’s Challenge?
I came to Peru’s Challenge at the beginning of last year to volunteer- supposedly for a couple of months and ended up staying for six. I wanted to learn about community development and experience a NGO in a developing country. What I didn’t expect was to find another place to call home….. so when it came time to leave it turns out that I couldn’t! So here I am now.

What’s the best thing about living and working in Cuzco with Peru’s Challenge?
It’s hard to call working with Peru’s Challenge working…. My office is a school perched in the Andean mountains and my colleagues are volunteers from all over the world. Days are spent working hard, achieving plenty and laughing loads- it’s a pretty good job! Cuzco is a beautiful place to live- Peruvians are incredibly welcoming with a great sense of humour, the food is incredible and there are endless amounts of bars and restaurants to explore every weekend. If only we could sort out hot water for the showers here, this could well be utopia!

Thank you to our December volunteers

Thank you Ali for your extended time with us. You were loved by the kids and they hope to see you back here one-day as do we.

Jarred, thanks for your continued positive attitude and for working on the Peru's Challenge video.

Thanks Elizabeth for returning to volunteer with us. your visit was cut short due to the bushfires in Australia but we are sure to keep in contact to get the clinic set up in Pumamarca.

Co and Paula thank you very much for your support within the program.

Also through your friends, family and work collegues who have generously provided funds for educational materials.

A special thanks to Andrew for producing and editing this month's newsletter.

We are looking forward to a big year in 2007 with new volunteers and continued support from previous volunteers. Happy Christmas and a great New Year.

Jane Gavel
President and Co-Founder
Peru's Challenge.