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.