Wow! As of the 10th of February, I have officially been in Peru for 8 months. That means I have almost completed one-third of my service. I know, right?! Two-thirds of my service left, and depending on the day it feels like either the longest amount of time, or not enough time. When I’m missing home and looking down the barrel of a year-and-a-half, it feels like forever until I will once again be on U.S. soil, see my loved ones, and be free to take advantage of all the things I once took for granted. When I’m looking at my projects and the things I want to accomplish, I look at this time and think, “I’ve been here 8 months and only accomplished ‘x’. I need every second of the next 19 months to count so I can walk away from here actually having something to show for all of this.”
The two-year commitment is what makes Peace Corps so unique and such a challenge. Many people back down from applying or look into different programs because of what is required and expected of volunteers as far as time commitment. But after I got here and I began to learn how things work and saw the length of time that even the smallest of projects take to get things done, it became obvious that to commit yourself to any less time would be laughable.
Right now, I am actually quite happy to be sitting at this end of things with so much time and potential to work on things in my community. The new school year will be starting in less than a month, I have spent almost 6 months in site networking, showing my face at as many town functions as possible, doing small projects and becoming well known not as “la gringa” but as “Amanda” and “Señorita Cuerpo de Paz.” Considering I am the first volunteer to live in my site, those are huge leaps and bounds, and I am ready to start with projects and get things going with an entire school year ahead of me.
This sudden shift in motivation and feeling good about where I am here in site could have a lot to do with the fact that we just finished Camp ALMA 2012. Camp ALMA (Actividades de Liderazgo para Mujeres Adoloscentes, the Peru version of “Girls Leading Our World,” a world-wide Peace Corps leadership camp for teen girls) is a two-and-a-half day camp for teen girls run by volunteers. Each department has their own Camp ALMA (and Camp VALOR for boys), and each year it has a different theme. This year we did a healthy lifestyle camp where girls spent their days attending presentations and workshops on everything from sex education and physical fitness, to nutrition, self-esteem, and vocational orientation. They also learned about women leaders around the world, played lots of games, learned Afro-Peruvian dance, competed in “Olympic games” and water fights, worked on arts and crafts, and participated and watched a talent show amongst other things. Yes, all of this in two-and-a-half days. It was probably one of the most intense and non-stop camps I’ve participated in at the same time as being very fun and very educational and pertinent to the lives of the youth. I think the 49 girls ages 13 to 16 that participated got a more comprehensive sex education than most high school students in the U.S., and many of them, while leaders in their communities and chosen for such, were pushed outside of their comfort zone (in a good way). For many girls, this was the first time they had ever spent the night away from their house and family. It was probably the first time anyone had been frank with them about sex, STD’s, pregnancy, and condom and birth control use.
I brought two girls with me from my site who are members of my Muchachas Poderosas group. It meant a lot to me that their parents would trust me, a very new member to the community, to take their girls away from home for the first time. And I’m so glad they did. One of my girls even won MVP in her group! They did such a good job and it really lit a fire under their butts to get involved in a health promoters group in the school (which I’m hoping to start once school is back in session).
It was a really good experience; one where you actually see the change being made. I feel like those moments are few and far between, and are often the small milestones and rays of hope that keep volunteers afloat during the times when no matter how hard you work or how much you want to help you feel worthless, and nothing works out.
Also, it was a nice bonding experience with the other volunteers in Lambayeque. Not all of our sites are close together, and we all have differing schedules so we don’t always get to spend time together. I have felt like one of the hardest parts of Peace Corps has been the friendship aspect. I like the other volunteers and we all have this common bond of being here on this wild ride, but it’s not the same as having an old friend who understands you. I got to know some other volunteers in our training group pretty well that I considered friends, but even then we were all split up except for Zack and I. So after spending weeks getting to know my training group we all split up to our individual departments, and I slowly had to start getting to know the volunteers in my department, some of whom I’m lucky to run into once a month, some of whom finished their service not long after I arrived. I have felt like I’ve spent the last 8 months explaining who I am and getting to know people, not just within my site, but amongst volunteers. At times I have felt like there isn’t a single person in this country who just knows who I am, and I know who they are, and we can just be. I finally feel like I have friends in my department. There are people I can count on, people I know will always be good for a chat on the phone or for solid advice, or who will be up for going out to blow off some steam. And with the 18ers being in site for 3 months, I’m glad they are a good, solid crew as they are going to be here until I’m done with service. The 15ers will be leaving and the 19ers will be arriving just as I’m completing a year. It’s this never-ending cycle of coming and going, and the 18ers, aside from my fellow 17ers, will be the ones I spend the majority of my service with. It’s nice to finally feel like I have a group of friends to meet up with and do simple things like sitting around eating ice cream or watching a movie. It's some of the few moments I can forget about all the things stressing me out in site, and just be with people without calculating everything I'm doing to make sure I'm being culturally sensitive to those around me. I can just be me.
At the moment, things are going well. A little overwhelmed by the weight of the remaining two-thirds of my service, but all-in-all looking forward to it. I guess I couldn’t really ask for anything more than that. I just have to hold onto this feeling before the rollercoaster takes a nose dive again. Here's hoping that isn´t for awhile.
Feliz dia de amistad tomorrow, and miss and love all of you back home!
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