PC Volunteer Excellence Award

Canadians come to visit

We took a day off to work on the Cerro de Oro burial grounds project. Angel and I went to Catholic Univ in Lima and met with Francesca, the archeologist, who will be doing an excavation during the months of July and August this winter. CU is the Harvard of Peru – a beautiful sprawling campus, which could be any major campus in the US. Students walking and talking everywhere – lots of coffee shops and even a Dominoes Pizza. We had fresh juice with Francesca and her dig team, to work out some of the project details. This project is the perfect storm of cooperation. Her team will train guides, teach children and provide artifacts for the museum. Our grant will provide security for the site and she will use the museum building as a field lab. The residents of the Cerro will also get improved security from the armed gangs that loot the burial grounds, improved water access and some solar power and cell phones , so they cal call the police. They will serve as guards, eventually being paid from museum proceeds.

Our team then met with the SPI grant committee heads, to pitch her grant. All went well – she was awesomely prepared – and she was given verbal approval. Now, it’s time to get my grant proposal finished.

Also, had a nice visit from a Canadian NGO – Rainbow of Hope for Children. They wanted to see the playground, Cocinas, bottle bulbs, biodigester and eco-banos. They are based in Chincha and have been doing mostly new roofs for homes with kids. The standard roof around here – including mine – shed fine dust into the room. I have to sweep every day. Never thought of it as a health hazard, but I see their point.

 

And speaking of tributes, I was honored by my fellow PCVs and Staff with the Peace Corps Peru Volunteer Excellence Award. The following “over the top” citation was written by my best PCV buddy,  Brian, a professional journalist :

“Greg has set the new bar for what Volunteers can accomplish in their first year. Though, it would be unfair to hold anyone to that standard. He has an uncanny ability to get things done. And he does it with uninhibited joy. Greg loves his job and loves his community. From the start, he marveled at his luck for being placed where he was, perhaps unaware of how lucky his site was.

Greg, who was briefly the oldest Volunteer serving in Peru, is happy to share advice with his younger colleagues, though one of his secrets can’t be taught. So much of what he accomplishes, is through sheer force of personality. Greg has practical knowledge from a life rich with rare experiences, but it’s his boundless enthusiasm and genuine affection for his socios that propels his many projects. Greg dives into projects with fearless ambition, apparently afraid of nothing but boredom. At town events, he’s the guest of honor, surrounded by friends and colleagues, an integral part of Canete’s social fabric. Pat Willers says, “I have worked with Goyo a few times on projects and it consistently surprised me the amount of respect and sincerity that Peruvians have for him.”

San Luis can thank its Volunteer for solar pumps, bio-digesters, cocinas mejoradas, wheelchairs, water pumps, renewed eco-banos, playgrounds and so much more. He is working with an archeologist from Stanford to protect and develop tourism for the Cerro de Oro – a pre-Inca gravesite and ruins next to his site. He is a teacher and a leader among his fellow Volunteers, guiding by example.”

The truth is that I am blessed with a lifetime of experience, an outstanding site, Socios (Angel and Gloria) who are always available and cooperative, A Muni that gives me access to transportation and facilities and a great deal of luck “El Suerte de Goyo”. I just do what I do and have fun doing it. It doesn’t feel unusual to me. I’m gratified that others appreciate it.

Playgrounds - GO !!

Angel checks the slide ladder level

Don Benito mixes concrete - campo style - on the ground

Metal tubes all set in the ground

Goyo & Angel - a great team -

After waiting endlessly for the Muni jack-hammer to be repaired, we finally bit the bullet and went ahead without it. The playground site was once a concrete plaza , so it seemed unreasonable to me to ask the Muni crew to do this by hand. But, they did, without complaint. I fed them a steady supply of Inca-Kola, sweet rolls , water and aguas. Don Benito led his crew with glee – they seemed excited about building a playground. With holes dug to ½ meter, we took one of the big garbage trucks to Vidal’s welding shop and loaded all the playground equipment. Then we swung by the stadium and loaded the used tires and 4 sacks of cement. The equipment was placed in holes, leveled and concrete and large rocks to fill the holes. After the concrete set, the holes were filled and the area leveled. The next day, Vidal showed up with his primitive welding rig and attached the see-saws and swing set top bar. Everyone did their part and did it well.

Next day, I worked solo, installing wooden seats on the see-saws and putting up the swings. I had just completed the first swing, when a gang of kids descended upon the park. As the Borg say – Resistance is Futile. I stopped work and played with the kids. They really didn’t care that nothing is painted or that the safe sand base is not in. A dozen rascals jumped right in and played on everything and anything. The tire mountain and tree are not done, but they just rolled them around and made their own piles. A gala time was had by all.

One thing I was not prepared for – none of the kids knew how to “pump” a swing. They’ve never been on one before. So, the old gringo got on and showed them how. They caught on right away. They also got a short physics lesson about weight placement on the see-saw – matching weight on the ends and shifting forward or back to get the balance right. Somehow, I assumed that every kid is born knowing how to play on a playground. Silly me.

Two more swings complete and the slide body installed and my work is done, except for the tire mountain and tree. From here, the fathers club will paint the equipment, Muni crew will build a 5” brick containment wall around the park and fill with clean beach sand. Angel and his graffiti /mural crew will paint wall murals about teeth brushing, hand washing, good eating and a special tribute to Peace Corps and all you wonderful Playground Donors !!

  

Two final notes – The weather has been unusual lately. We got our annual rain – all ¼” of it the other night. I actually enjoyed hearing the pitter-patter on the roof, though I did not enjoy the two mud puddles that appeared on the floor. Remember that my roof is bamboo poles for beams, with split bamboo over that, old cement bags, topped with dirt. And it’s been HOT – highs in the 90’s the last few days and only dipping to about 80 at night. This is just about the limit of comfortable sleeping for me – even with the fan. Of course, Fernando constantly warns me of the danger of sleeping with the fan EVERY night. It’s sort of his way of saying Good Night – “It will make you sick, Goyo”. “Good Night, Fernando.”

Speaking of Fernando – it’s his birthday (59), which means 1- the kids will be coming “home” and I get to see the little rascals and they can FINALLY play on the playground I’ve been promising for the last year and 2- he’ll make his annual visit to the local house of prostitution (La Casa Blanca). He wanted me to go with him last year, and I’ll decline again this year. My rule is to say “yes” whenever possible to adventure and new experiences. This, however, is one of those times to heed Betty Ford and “just say NO”.

Huancaya

Falls and lagoon at Huancaya - filled with trout

Glacier - fed falls - headwaters of the Canete River

Lagoons fill the alpine meadows

The entire Canete River roars through a narrow gorge

The Plaza statue of....a trout - they are tasty

Sunday, we took a ride with a most knowledgeable guide Elvis – yes, 60’s rock & roll culture reached even the Peruvian mountains. We travelled another 2 hours into the mountains to 11,000ft, to the town of Huancaya. More cliff-hanging one lane roads, but without pavement. The farmers here work on very small plots, often terraced and carved out of impossible terrain. Some very tentative rope bridges and cable cars span the river to access the “other side”. The river rages in this area, confined by rocky walls – full of class 5 rapids and falls and crystal clear – a far cry from the polluted, muddy water that exits the river at its mouth in Canete. Along the way are several hydro-electric plants. The most notable, completed just a year ago,  takes water through a 13km long, 4x6m tunnel and delivers it downstream at a 2800ft drop !!!

At Huancaya, the river flattens dramatically, the hard bottom creating a series of lagoons and small waterfalls, amid alpine meadows. A good satellite view is found at :

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Huancaya,+Lima,+Peru&hl=en&ll=-12.202445,-75.797081&spn=0.005694,0.009645&sll=-11.92547,-76.665773&sspn=0.0456,0.077162&oq=huancaya+peru&hnear=Huancaya,+Lima+Region,+Peru&t=h&z=17

Trout fishing and farming are everywhere – children with long cane pole abound. The Plaza features a grand trout statue/fountain and ancient stone church, as well as a museum. The museum houses a dozen mummies and some other artifacts – none of which are much better than what I’ve found at the Cerro de Oro site. The size is just about what we anticipate building. This is great encouragement for the museum project here. If they can support a museum with a few artifacts and a truly remote location, imagine the potential of a museum right on the Pan Am Hwy, along with adjacent ruins and an active archeological dig ??

Elvis happened to be making a trip to Canete that afternoon, so we said farewell to the cool, clear mountain air and descended back to the heat and dust of the coastal desert. Elvis’ aggressive and fearless driving shaved about an hour off the return trip. His constant commentary added much to my knowledge and appreciation of the Canete River valley.

Cocinas in Yauyos

My dear friend and fellow PCV Matt, with "helper"

Will Jensen & Matt during first construction

My PVC site-mate, Will Jensen and I made our way up to Matt’s site in the mountains at Yauyos, an isolated village at 9,000ft. As we traveled up the Canete River valley, the mountains close in and the road narrows to a single lane, precariously hung on the side of the mountains, with NO guard rails. Horns are required at very blind curve – every 5 minutes. Car-sickness bags were well-used. We helped build the first two of 9 Cocinas Mejoradas in town. With great help from Jorge and interest from Erazmo and a flock of local kids, we managed to get to 90% completion. El suerte de Goyo brought 3 days of clear skies in the middle of the rainy season. I thought I was well-known in my town, but EVEYONE in Yauyos calls “Mister Matteo” by name. I was reminded of how tiring work is at altitude – and how spectacular the vistas.

"a river runs through it" - That's Yauyos

The Cerro de Oro protection and development project is shaping up nicely. Francesca, the young archeologist from Stanford, is wonderfully cooperative and is the lynch-pin in this adventure. My buddy Angel is excited and on-board. The plan is to make this a win-win for everybody, including the illegal families living on the Cerro, next to the burial grounds. My friend John (Princeton ’81) at USAID is greasing the wheels to get funding.

We’ll start by moving the “cajon player” bronze statue into a place of honor in town and replacing it with a pre-fab museum building, which will serve as field lab for the archeologists, until enough artifacts are recovered for the museum. Sturdy steel gates will block truck access to the Cerro and hopefully stop the armed gangs of looters. In addition, we’ll give several of the Cerro residents small solar systems that will charge big flashlights and cell phones. They will serve as “Guardians”, increasing security for the Cerro and themselves. Eco-banos at the dig site and museum will provide sanitary relief for the workers and visitors. Informative paths will guide visitors to all sites of interest on the Cerro. Local guides will be trained in history, courtesy and safety. Local billboards and a web presence will promote tourism, which will be supported by the famous nearby “El Piloto” restaurant, which serves the tourist trade. Visitors will be able to see not only artifact displays, but see an active archeology excavation. Volunteers from all over the world will participate in the digs – the first of which will be in July to August 2013. See notes on a similar musem in Huancaya below.

Another “back-burner” project has also jumped to the fore. I’ve felt the need for a local distributor of solar products , if the technology is to be implemented and used on a larger scale in this sun-rich area. I think I’ve found one. GianCarlos is handsome, bright and charming. He has a civil engineering degree that he's been "wasting", since he doesn't want to go work at the mines, which is the logical move. He loves this area and his family (Fernando is his great-uncle). He's been working "temp' job for the Agricultural Census last 2 years and has saved some money, plus one of the distributors will give him credit on my say-so. We went out in the campo to see the big solar pump projects and talk to a few farmers and see if there is interest. To our delight, we sold 2 small “pico” units out of 8 that we pitched. He only made about $15 profit yesterday, but a nice start.

The playground project, already slowed by holidays and Anniversary celebrations, took another hit when the town jack-hammer blew up – literally. Despite the shooting sparks, the operator just kept using it and it caught fire, sending him to the clinic. This is SOP here, to just ignore warnings and push equipment past the point of damage and reason. Lack of maintenance and cleaning are other issues that perplex me. This being a rather rare piece of equipment, we now wait to see if it can be repaired or a new one must be obtained. Another reminder that things are just plain harder to do here in Peru.

Lots of visitors lately – PCVs and Lima staff. Fortunately, Avelino and Godo at the goat farm are generous hosts. I’m also enjoying work with Ingrid, one of the new PCV in Canete. She is jumping right in – trying to revive a town’s water system and some local playgrounds. And doing lots of consulting with PCVs all over Peru on biodigesters, solar projects and Cocinas – amazing how fast one can become “the expert”. This also led to a lovely road trip and tech-exchenge” up into the nearby mountains to help my friend Matt build his first Cocinas.

Anniversary Party in San Luis

Apollo astronauts on a float

Lalo led the young drumming group of thundering cjons

Dancers on a float

Celebrating the farm heritage of San Luis

And there were professional singers and dancers

This is the UFO I built with the boys on my street - hysterical !!

No sooner had the Christmas and New Year’s festivities subsided, when my little town began its week-long Anniversary celebration. It’s a fairly arbitrary date – the date when incorporation papers were approved Jan 12^th, 1871. Still, it is, by far, the biggest celebration on the calendar. Imagine your best 4^th of July party – now do that EVERY night for a week !!

While virtually all projects with the Muni are on hold, it has opened time for me to work with the new Canete PCVs. I spent a productive day with Ingrid – now the oldest Peru PCV – consulting on her playgrounds and a water system. Despite an earlier mugging, she has jumped right in to multiple community projects and is learning how slowly things can move here.

Ingrid, Kate and I spent the whole next day on a grand tour of Canete. We visited the Unanue castle, Arona hacienda, Cerro de Oro burial grounds, took a walk around downtown San Vicente, San Luis, Santa Barbara and finished at the goat farm, taking in the biodigester, solar pump system, Cocina and some delicious, nutritious goat yogurt and cheese. They went home, loaded with dairy and big smiles.

The Anniversary celebration kicked off with a concert by singers, dancers and drummers from all over southern Peru. While I love our local kids, the pros added a whole ‘nuther level of excitement. Many town relatives came in from out-of-town. Since there are only 2 small hostels here, the entire town opened its doors to the visitors. In addition to our 4 vacant bedrooms, Fernando offered 3 extra mattresses in the living room, so it was a very full house – another example of the fine community spirit and generous heart in this little town.

I was invited to be a judge for the Miss San Luis contest. It was not a typical “beauty” pageant. The 8 young ladies competed on the basis on an essay, cooking, talent and dress – no bathing suits. A couple of the essay were quite good – “ I walk in our Plaza, in the shade of beautiful trees. I hear the birds and see the flowers. The smiles are all around me.” Others were clearly kiss-ass tributes to the elected officials – all of whom were judges – listing all the recent Muni projects. The cooking was all deserts , ranging from superb to ornate, but awful. I was later told that the treats were likely not made by the contestants. This may sound shocking, but not dissimilar to the common practice of parents doing their children’s homework. The talent was mostly recitation of poems. My vote went to a lone, but very good pan-flute player. The dress portion was pretty dull and many of the girls had WAY too much make-up. The 1-3 rating system presented challenges, but there was comfort in the large number (18) of judges. The winner was certainly not the prettiest, but did write a great essay, played the pan-flute with passion and presented the best-looking, worst tasting desert.

The big parade was indicative of the real community spirit that exists in this little town. There was such a festive atmosphere amongst the huge crowd. Aerial bombs exploded overhead and music and chatter filled the air. The 20 or so floats were whimsical and creative. Many were atop donkey carts, towed by everything from cars to tractors to real donkeys. There were astronauts, alien space monsters, dancers, farmers and some adorable little fish. While none had the glamour and glitz of a Rose Parade float, and all were very low-budget, the innovation, imagination and enthusiasm was undeniable. This relatively poor little town is indeed rich in community spirit, courtesy, and passion. It is community in the very best sense of the word.

All week long, there were seminars on everything from healthy eating, to domestic violence, how to get a deed for your property, along with a one-time amnesty on late fees for unpaid taxes. I was proud to see some of the kids that we trained in the HIV program, lead a class on HIV and STD prevention, wearing their PEPFAR/Peace Corps t-shirts. I brought my hand-washing display out of mothballs and showed off the Tippy-Tap and Soapy-Tap devices. Judging from the good-sized audiences, I’m guessing there was not much work getting done around town.

Cultural aside : "Thank You for Smoking" - The last two days, there's been a street vendor selling "Golden Beach" cigarettes for $0.77 a pack - 70 cents if you buy a carton. I don't even want to know......
At least they're not handing out free samples to kids, like they did in Mexico.

A second parade was more interesting for me, as I spent part of the day helping the kids down the street build a flying saucer. I was undoubtedly tapped for my good tool set and being a “soft touch” , Providing the US$7 of materials. We did the frame out of very thin rebar and wire and covered with white paper and did a little painting. It looks pretty good. They had no vehicle, so the “float” was totally kid-powered. The hardest part was figuring out a command system to get everybody going in the same direction, at the same time. The favorite maneuver is , without question, the spin. They have a little tape recorder that plays a sound effect, which sounds more like an ambulance siren than space, but they like it. They got a pretty good reception in the parade and managed to complete the route without injury or motion-sickness. There was so much excitement !!! That was the fun part. I'd almost forgotten how crazy wild creative 8-10 yr old boys can be. That was 20+ years ago for me. Most of my work here is with adults or teens. The raucous laughter whenever they spun the thing, just cracked me up. After the parade, they were spinning their little hearts out in the Plaza. Best $7 I’ve ever spent.

The big finale concert , on the anniversary date, was 2 national bands, with back-up by locals. Unlike past years, it was all free, with the whole Plaza and adjacent streets serving as dance floor – uite a scene. It is a tribute to the new town leaders, who replaced a corrupt prior government. They have done more meaningful public works and thoughtful entertainment in their first two years, than many older governments combined. It is a pleasure and an honor to work with these community-minded folks, who really push our town forward. It was a blast. And I’m thankful it is O V E R !!

And, speaking of “forward”, that’s just what happened with the Cerro de Oro project. As many of you know, I have an utterly amazing ancient burial site and ruins right next to my little town here in Peru. And that I've been frustrated in efforts to get responsible excavation and protection for the site. Well, color me happy  !!! Through an extraordinary cosmic conspiracy, new PCV Kate Hanson put me in touch with her aunt Lisa Hanson, who put me in touch with Francesca Fernandini, a Stanford PhD student, who has actually done a preliminary dig on the Cerro !!! So, I now have a qualified partner to work with and get this puppy done. Is this a small and wonderful World or what ??

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/anthropology/cgi-bin/web/?q=system/files/fall1015FrancescaFernandini.PDF

I pondered, for a bit, the extraordinary sequence of events that happened to get to this point. Sheila came to do a contamination study, Laura suggested we go see the ruins, I took Kate and Ingrid on a tour, Kate talked to her sister, who led me to Francesca. Without any one of the links, the project would likely not be happening. I’m often struck by how pieces just seem to fall into place in my life. I’ve never had any sort of a plan. I’ve just said “yes” whenever possible, felt that wherever I am is the best place to be and given 110% to whatever I am doing. Maybe, that is a plan. Of sorts.

New Year

Yes, I wore my yellow undies for NYE

There’s a new calendar on the wall – not as pretty as the 2012 and it’s in Spanish. Not much on it, right now, but that will fill in shortly. Peruvians sure do have a lot of holidays and Holy days. A fresh start after the holiday blur. I’ve said some recent hard Good-Byes - to exiting PCVs, Popi, Christina, my kids moving out and finally to my friend Franklin, Kindra’s husband, who took his life Christmas Eve. There were 12 panetones and 6 liters of pisco given, though thankfully I avoided consuming near that amount. Christmas eve dinner, at midnight, with the extended family reminded me of how welcome I am here and how much I enjoy the simple world of San Luis. Several tours of the goat farm and Cerro de Oro burial ground were given. Some progress was made on the playgrounds. All the equipment is ready and the site is measured and marked. Wonderful Christmas concerts, countless aerial bombs and an art show rounded out the celebrations here in San Luis.

New Year’s Eve was celebrated in Lima at the upscale (think Architectural Digest) home of Viviane Fort-Brescia, sister of my classmate Bernardo. Lavish decorations, white jacketed waiters serving drinks, tinkling with ice and hors d' oeuvres, a prime rib dinner and a cadre of elegant guests was a world away from my life in San Luis. But, that is something I’ve always been grateful for – an ability to mix with and enjoy the whole range of people on this planet. I'm glad that I've known all the different people I've known; glad I didn't get trapped into knowing just one kind.

I've known a Queen and a queen

And some folks in between

A Senator, shoe shine; a bum.

I say CHEERS to them all,

As I walked down life’s hall

And learned from every one.

Having said all that, it was an uneasy night in some ways. I sat next to a young Limonian at dinner, who laughed when I said I was with the Peace Corps. He said “That’s funny, that the most violent country in the World would have a ‘Peace’ corps.” My initial shock and anger turned thoughtful, as he rattled off all of last year’s shootings and stats on the enormous size of the US military and war(s) record. “You are like the little boy , who hits the hornet nest with a stick and then has to kill all the hornets that attack him.” Let that sink in a bit….. He did add that US does make the best movies, video games, music and technology and that he and his sister were both educated in the US. From the looks on the faces of those watching my smack-down, this may, sadly, be a widely held view of America. I tried to explain that the American people, in general, are not violent; that it is our leaders who take us to war. But, don’t we elect those leaders ? So, how does this happen ? A lot to ponder on the bus ride home.

At midnight, the bus was passing through the southern edges of Lima. It was like being in a war zone, with a sudden crescendo of explosions, on the ground and in the air, lasting a good half hour. Horns were blowing on all sides, including long bursts from the bus. By the time I got home, it was peaceful and quiet in my little town, though I could hear some loud music in the distance. It was next year already. What adventure will 2013 bring ?