Cleaning a Water System

Goyo and the La Quebrada crew clean and disinfect the system

Coming up from cleaning the LG well - 300 yrs old

The crew cleaned and disinfected the water tank

I’m shocked to realize that this week marks 1/3 of my service time here in Peru. Blog # 108 will likely be my finale. If the last two-thirds are anything like the first third, It’ll be a Helluva ride.

The week started with a medical trip to Lima. I am still amazed at how well Peruvians sleep on the bus. They can be in Dreamland within seconds of sitting down. I figure they are either in perpetual sleep-deficit or motor transit makes them very sleepy. The only thing that seems to wake them, is if I crack a window – causing howls of “cerrar, cerrar” – Close that window !!. They can sleep right through even the loudest special effects type action movies.

I went to Big Lime for drugs – steroids – the same stuff the baseball players get. Sort of. While my daily stretches have increased the range of motion in my shoulders, I was still not 100%. I’d heard stories from a couple of my fellow PCVs about how well steroids worked for their Dads. That was my plan.

The Peace Corps Health Care is better than any other. They cover transportation, meds, go with us to appointments, hold our hands and offer great advice and compassion. Suni met me at the Clinic and even brought a 1964 National Geographic article about the Peace Corps. Back in the day, PC training was quite different. There were Outward Bound type training camps in the US and trainees were shown how to kill and dress chickens. Then they were dropped off at site and left on their own for 2 years. Way different now, with internet and cell phone connections and frequent visits from PC Staff.

We had planned to do the injections directly into the shoulder, but decided instead on a butt shot. I have to say, the results are impressive. The next morning, I was amazed at how much more range of motion I had (99%) with almost no pain. Stretches will continue and I’m adding some small weight lifting to the morning “work-out”. Win Williams talked about the 3 S’s (Shower, Shit, Shave) and I’ve added a 4^th – Stretch. 4S’s and my day is off to a great start.

A good day with my bike (yes, I still LOVE my bike). We started out early (6:30am) with Regidore Angel leading the way on his motorcycle and visited our three Kids Parks sites. One is next to a concrete soccer field / basketball court in the Town center. Concrete is the normal surface for soccer here – seems pretty suicidal to me. A pretty stark piece of real estate, but we can turn that around. The second is in the annex of Laura Caller, right next to a new elementary school, which will give the kids a great place for recess. I’m amazed that schools here are built with little or no recreation facilities. The ones in the “downtown” area have absolutely no place for kids to play. The LC site has some nice trees on it and a Parents’ Association that is willing to help with installation and painting. The third site is in a suburb called “Viviendas”. This site had some equipment at one time, but it was stripped by looters for scrap metal. Hopefully, a re-energized community association and use of recycled materials will avoid a repeat. We also visted a local welding shop to get costs on building the play equipment, which will include : swing set, jungle gym, teeter-totter, slide, tire mountain and tire crawls, along with new trees and landscaping. We’ll also be getting some scraps of Astro-Turf to use in critical areas.

Next, I rode out to San Antonio to check on the #2 biodigester site. Diebe has excavated a part of the trench and built a beautiful stone wall on one side. He plans to get the other side done “soon”. This site is not great as a demo location, as it’s out a REALLY rough road from town. But it IS a near perfect site for the biodigester. The pigs, house and digester are located near each other up on a small hill, with his fruit trees and chakra just down the hill. So, the “shit” will literally “flow down-hill”.

Then a ride out to La Quebrada to meet with my good JASS guys and see the progress on the new water lines and connections. Work is well underway and includes a new structure around the 300 yr-old well. They are finding that MANY folks in town did not have their own connection, but were tapped into a neighbor’s. This means many new user accounts and hopefully more revenue. They are still planning to do another cleaning and disinfection in July/August, after the work is done, followed by daily chlorination. At that point, I will be one pleased Volunteer. 2,500 people will have a reliable and safe water supply, with a JASS that is well-trained and stable.

The ride home from LQ is my usual “speed run”. I don’t know if it was my elation at the progress, the tail wind or even the steroids, but I shaved a full 8 seconds off my record and finally broke the 8 minute mark. The last ¼ mile was a dead sprint and I really would have liked another gear. I treated my trusty steed to a well-deserved bath and lube job and myself to an afternoon nap.

I finished my Renewable Energy grant proposal for the Solar Water pump systems, second draft on the PEPFAR (HIV / STD / teen pregnancy prevention) complete and draft of the Kids’ Parks proposal. This is my first attempt at grant writing. It’s really a lot like planning a construction project, only more verbose. The fun part for me is the budget – trying to walk all the way through the project mentally and noting all the inputs is a fun challenge. The hardest part for me is making the “community contributions” come up to the 40% required by the Peace Corps. It is no secret that these numbers are often grossly over-stated – value of materials and labor values are routinely inflated. I understand it is the way the game is played, but it still tweaks my conscience. Though, focus on the ultimate good that will result eases that a bit.

A visit to the Health Center revealed a shocking 2kg weight gain. Too much office work and high living on the road – gotta get back to field work. Soon.

The latest fruit to top the local market fruit charts is Mandarinas – mandarin oranges. There are two huge “fondos” or plantations in San Luis – Arona and Don Augustino. Both packing houses are going 24/7, packing the sweet little organic oranges for export. The local markets are full of them and street vendors deliver them fresh to the door. The irony is that the “rejects” are the most ripe and luscious of the harvest – too ripe to ship. So, the locals are obliged to snack on the cream of the crop. Current street price is about US$0.17 / lb. But, if I ride the bike down to the packing shed, they sell for about ½ that. I am blessed to live in this fertile agricultural valley, with such a huge variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. I hear pecan harvest is just about to start……

Today was “Dia de Banderas” (Flag Day) here in Peru. All the school kids got decked out in their para-military regalia for the big parade. I gotta say, they were pretty adorable, even while goose-stepping, which is the Peruvian march norm. The band for the ENTIRE parade was a 5 piece ensemble of bass , snare, trumpet, trombone and cymbal. Sousa would be turning over in his grave. What WAS impressive, however, was that all the kids actually sang the national anthem – which sounds a bit like the French anthem. The voices were much louder than the band, which was kinda nice.

Yet another 6.0 quake hit southern Peru this week. Only felt a small short tremble. This place has got SoCal beat for number of quakes, hands-down.

For many years, I’ve adopted the practice of ALWAYS carrying pen and paper, to jot down names and information. I’ve found that my short-term memory is not what it used to be and it’s the only way I can remember new names and project details and “to-do’s”. The problem is more acute in Peru, where many names have no English equivalent. I seem to remember town names IF they are San or Santa something – the Quechua names all get blurred, especially since they all seem to start with “Hua-something”. Pen and paper are pretty rare items here, so my practice often attracts attention. Folks always want to see what I’m writing down. The good news is that they get all excited when I write down their name. Lucky for me, they take it as a compliment. At most “charlas” or workshops, PCVs tend to give out candy or cookies as prizes. I’m planning to give out pens and small note pads instead.

Yet ANOTHER Patron Saint party last night. This propensity to very late night partying is remarkable. The drinking circles in the street start about 7pm, and I do my best to avoid them but “getting the Gringo to drink” seems a national sport. It may also stem from the previous Volunteer’s reputation of buying rounds. The procession or “parade”, including an elaborate icon carried around town usually starts about 10-11pm, followed by more alcoholic revelry and ends at daylight. As I write this (6am) the party is ending with the explosion of several of the loud M-80 style firecrackers being fired off around town, announcing the end of their day…and the beginning of mine. The regularity of these celebrations is stunning.