It´s been a long and busy month, this October. Certainly my heavy work load has made the time pass quickly. I´m continuing with my community health projects, and secondary activities, and as always finding a weekend here and there to escape to Trujillo for a break from the sierra.
I´m making house visits in Nuevo California to families in desperate need of health education. Since August we´ve covered many topics, handwashing, self esteem, decision making, oral health, communication, safe water, diarrhea, and reproductive health. I see little progress with the mothers and families, which one may say is depressing, but I know changing habits takes more than a few months of teachings.
The youth group I work with brings me a lot of enjoyment. They are full of energy and ideas, and have gone from a shy group of kids to a loud and boisterous bunch. We too have covered many health topics, those listed above and specific topics for their ages. Nutrition is a recurring subject (if they start to change their diets, they can see results as they grow into adults), we´ve played leadership games, and organized a cooking competition in the school. -The most balanced plate?-First Prize included a dish with meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and grains! ¡Qué Rico! Those of us from the health post were judges and got to try all the food.
I´m also working with a group of parents-the moms and dads of kindergarten kids in town. This group has been harder to consistently meet with because the parents are busy working in their fields or in their homes. We´ve postponed and rescheduled many meetings. I have to use different techniques teaching parents about family health, many can´t read and have very short attention spans. Not to mention they bring there kids and toddlers to our meetings. You can imagine the environment, it´s far from conducive to learning. I found that I have to offer a lot of incentives to get people to attend, like free soap, tooth brushes, snacks, and free food.
Last week we hung up the finalized map on the health post wall. Juan and I had been working on it, on and off for 8 months! I´m very proud with the final project. It´s really a work of art and very useful for community health assessment and analysis. The house number projects cooriletes with the house numbers on the map, and every community member has been counted. Babies to the elderly.
This month we´ve also been furiously vaccinating everyone between 2 years old-39 years old for German measles and Rubueola. See, these are vacccines that Americans receive at birth, but Peruvians never had access to the vaccines, until now. After a long history of childhood illness and deaths, the gov. received foreign aide in hopes of vaccinating 100% of the population (of stated ages) to erraticate the viruses. The national campain is part of our work as peace corps health volunteers because we can educate, promote and organize people to participate in the campaign. Many of my friends are speaking over the radio or local television stations about the campain, and others are making house visits. I´ve been vaccinating too, but mostly helping with the record keeping.
And speaking of viruses....I just got over a viral infeccion, four days of hell. As timing goes this was the same week that 5 PC trainees from Lima came to shadow me in Carata. They also arrived with a trainer, and a language teacher. So not only was I suppose to train newbees but do it with diarrhea and vomit. Nevertheless we completed amazing projects in just four days, like building a stove, a letrine, and attending and teaching three meetings. They even helped me with my water project by collecting hygiene/sanitation data from the locals. I meet some great friends and was proud to be a part of their field based training. In just one year I´ve gone from trainee to trainer. It takes a village to raise a peace corps volunteer!
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Sunday, October 01, 2006
¡1 YeAr AnNiVeRsArY!
On September 23rd I completed a full year in Peru. Since arriving last year, I don’t exactly feel different but I’m sure I have changed in spite of this work. I’m extremely thankful for surviving this long, and I’ve realized that its possible to get through the overwhelming 2 year commitment. What’s one more year after all this? The slow process of cultural assimilation is a bumpy road. Will things ever become normalized? In light of my one year anniversary, this entry is dedicated to exposing certain aspects of life in Peru that I find surprising, unimaginable, shocking and absurd.
In no particular order, here we go….(Let is be known that these “facts” may not be universal to the country, nevertheless are worthy of noting. Not to embellish on Peru’s problems but more so to report my personal findings in hopes of recognizing how far we’ve come, and how far undeveloped countries have to go.)
The legal system- It’s said that…
One can obtain a fake professional license for any career. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, pharmacists, accountants, police, etc, and they can find work relatively easily in these fields.
It’s not uncommon for peasants to occupy the land of others and claim (after 5 years of occupancy) the land as their own.
In light of the fact that small villages don’t have police, many locals for a community police committee and have been know to ridicule, torture and kill delinquents and thieves by barbaric means.
Police and lawyers can have connects with criminals and be the motivators behind incidents for their own financial profit.
During election time (voting is mandatory for all) votes have been falsified, proving that the stated voter is deceased, under age or non-existent.
Theft is so common in large cities that every storefront is gated and all transactions are done between the bars.
In the country side live stock and domesticated animals are stolen, poisoned or abused on a daily basis. Or they simply live underneath the kitchen stove as in the case of our guinea pigs.
Peruvians are masters of creating selling fake products. I’ve encountered fake currency, fake medication, fake electronics, CD’s, DVD’s, car seats, drivers licenses, ID’s, and worst of all, fake Winnie the Pooh costumes.
Driving is legal at age 18, although the law is not upheld, and almost all drivers don’t carry any of the correct documents, such as a car registration, license, owners papers, etc.
Education- It’s said that…..
Teaching is the #1 most common profession. Why? Because the salary is decent, the preparation is short (2 years), and the schedule is very very flexible.
There are so many vacation days during the school year that it’s not unusual for kids to only study 3 days out of 5.
The school day is 5 hours, not 7 and ends at 11th grade, not 12th.
The teachers get a day off on their birthday and at least 2 free days at the end of the month for pay day.
Less than half of first graders graduate from high school.
Our school kitchen in my village consists of an open fire pit where mothers and infants prepare un-nutritious food for youngsters.
After a long night of drinking, most teachers don’t “call in” but yet, teach while drunk or with hangovers. And when the teacher is actually sick, there is no substitute, only another missed school day.
Health and Environment- It’s said that….
The wood companies in Trujillo burn wood from their factories and the ash passes through the air coating local neighborhoods in a grey dust.
This month of Oct. the country will start a national campaign, vaccinating against measles and German measles. The target population is 2-39 y/o It’s evitable that someone will invent a fake vaccine (in hopes of making millions and moving to a neighborhood near you.)
I met a family who told me their daughter pooped worms.
People poop worms because they:
A). Drink contaminated water
B). Play in the dirt with animal feces.
C). Transmit the parasite through the “Fecal—Oral route”.
D.) Don’t wash their hands
E.)All of the above
It’s E.
Diarrhea leading to dehydration is the #1 factor causing a high infant mortality rate. When considering the prior statements A-D, the situation worsens.
People think that if they bathe (especially with cold water) they’ll get sick. So they don’t bath and they get sicker.
Belief in God is so strong that disease transmission is thought to come from above (as a punishment).
Most trash disposal is done by burying, burning or dumping (batteries, oil, chemicals all go to one place, the ground).
Lima, the country capital is so polluted with smog, the weather channel reports “partly cloudy” 364 days of the year.
Many rural and some urban areas have water only 2 hours a day. Water is than kept in open containers increasing the reproduction of malaria ridden mosquitoes.
A fun dare for peasants is to try ingesting plant insecticides to see if they live.
Other- It’s said that…
There is no return policy at stores, ever.
The rule isn’t “You break it, you buy it” better said, “You buy it, it breaks”.
More than 50% of locals in my village use their backyards (and those of their neighbors) to urinate and defecate.
Pregnant woman give birth squatting.
I’ve eaten or been served, goat intestine, cow liver, tongue, pig face, and skin, chicken feet, pig feet, sheep skull, rabbit, guinea pig, and raw fish.
A large percentage of Peruvian Catholics are couples who aren’t married, but live together and have children.
Some men have more than one wife.
Some parents don’t know the age or full names of their own children or spouses.
Illiteracy is a normal fact of life, not only for adults but children who aren’t in school.
No public or private bathrooms have toilet seats, or toilet paper, ever. BYOTP.
I read in Lonely Planet that in the Jungle there is an Amazonian parasite that lives in the water, if your pee in this water it can enter your urethra. Awesome.
If you don’t give a certain percentage of your annual earnings to the local church your business or family will be cursed the following year.
The average Peruvian makes less than $3.oo a day.
And my personal favorite...."Water that flows is obviously clean and drinkable." So than I ask, "Since my pee is mostly water and it flows, would you drink it?" And that really gets them thinking....
In no particular order, here we go….(Let is be known that these “facts” may not be universal to the country, nevertheless are worthy of noting. Not to embellish on Peru’s problems but more so to report my personal findings in hopes of recognizing how far we’ve come, and how far undeveloped countries have to go.)
The legal system- It’s said that…
One can obtain a fake professional license for any career. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, pharmacists, accountants, police, etc, and they can find work relatively easily in these fields.
It’s not uncommon for peasants to occupy the land of others and claim (after 5 years of occupancy) the land as their own.
In light of the fact that small villages don’t have police, many locals for a community police committee and have been know to ridicule, torture and kill delinquents and thieves by barbaric means.
Police and lawyers can have connects with criminals and be the motivators behind incidents for their own financial profit.
During election time (voting is mandatory for all) votes have been falsified, proving that the stated voter is deceased, under age or non-existent.
Theft is so common in large cities that every storefront is gated and all transactions are done between the bars.
In the country side live stock and domesticated animals are stolen, poisoned or abused on a daily basis. Or they simply live underneath the kitchen stove as in the case of our guinea pigs.
Peruvians are masters of creating selling fake products. I’ve encountered fake currency, fake medication, fake electronics, CD’s, DVD’s, car seats, drivers licenses, ID’s, and worst of all, fake Winnie the Pooh costumes.
Driving is legal at age 18, although the law is not upheld, and almost all drivers don’t carry any of the correct documents, such as a car registration, license, owners papers, etc.
Education- It’s said that…..
Teaching is the #1 most common profession. Why? Because the salary is decent, the preparation is short (2 years), and the schedule is very very flexible.
There are so many vacation days during the school year that it’s not unusual for kids to only study 3 days out of 5.
The school day is 5 hours, not 7 and ends at 11th grade, not 12th.
The teachers get a day off on their birthday and at least 2 free days at the end of the month for pay day.
Less than half of first graders graduate from high school.
Our school kitchen in my village consists of an open fire pit where mothers and infants prepare un-nutritious food for youngsters.
After a long night of drinking, most teachers don’t “call in” but yet, teach while drunk or with hangovers. And when the teacher is actually sick, there is no substitute, only another missed school day.
Health and Environment- It’s said that….
The wood companies in Trujillo burn wood from their factories and the ash passes through the air coating local neighborhoods in a grey dust.
This month of Oct. the country will start a national campaign, vaccinating against measles and German measles. The target population is 2-39 y/o It’s evitable that someone will invent a fake vaccine (in hopes of making millions and moving to a neighborhood near you.)
I met a family who told me their daughter pooped worms.
People poop worms because they:
A). Drink contaminated water
B). Play in the dirt with animal feces.
C). Transmit the parasite through the “Fecal—Oral route”.
D.) Don’t wash their hands
E.)All of the above
It’s E.
Diarrhea leading to dehydration is the #1 factor causing a high infant mortality rate. When considering the prior statements A-D, the situation worsens.
People think that if they bathe (especially with cold water) they’ll get sick. So they don’t bath and they get sicker.
Belief in God is so strong that disease transmission is thought to come from above (as a punishment).
Most trash disposal is done by burying, burning or dumping (batteries, oil, chemicals all go to one place, the ground).
Lima, the country capital is so polluted with smog, the weather channel reports “partly cloudy” 364 days of the year.
Many rural and some urban areas have water only 2 hours a day. Water is than kept in open containers increasing the reproduction of malaria ridden mosquitoes.
A fun dare for peasants is to try ingesting plant insecticides to see if they live.
Other- It’s said that…
There is no return policy at stores, ever.
The rule isn’t “You break it, you buy it” better said, “You buy it, it breaks”.
More than 50% of locals in my village use their backyards (and those of their neighbors) to urinate and defecate.
Pregnant woman give birth squatting.
I’ve eaten or been served, goat intestine, cow liver, tongue, pig face, and skin, chicken feet, pig feet, sheep skull, rabbit, guinea pig, and raw fish.
A large percentage of Peruvian Catholics are couples who aren’t married, but live together and have children.
Some men have more than one wife.
Some parents don’t know the age or full names of their own children or spouses.
Illiteracy is a normal fact of life, not only for adults but children who aren’t in school.
No public or private bathrooms have toilet seats, or toilet paper, ever. BYOTP.
I read in Lonely Planet that in the Jungle there is an Amazonian parasite that lives in the water, if your pee in this water it can enter your urethra. Awesome.
If you don’t give a certain percentage of your annual earnings to the local church your business or family will be cursed the following year.
The average Peruvian makes less than $3.oo a day.
And my personal favorite...."Water that flows is obviously clean and drinkable." So than I ask, "Since my pee is mostly water and it flows, would you drink it?" And that really gets them thinking....
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