Field Based Training- La Libertad

Many Peace Corps Volunteers say the first time they truly started feeling like a volunteer was during field based training (FBT). I just got back from a crazy week in La Libertad doing everything from brushing kids teeth to giving charlas to Peruvian youth on recycling, hygiene, English, and communication techniques with their parents. We spent time in slow, sleepy beach towns, as well as sites that reached above 8,000 feet in elevetation in the sierra. The scenery was phenomenal, the experiences were rewarding, and our (little) spare time was never ill spent.

Day One: 

Enjoying some coffee that for once isn't instant

I suppose day one actually started the night before, since we took a night bus from Lima to Trujillo. We rolled into town around 7 am and soon thereafter hit the streets to do a scavenger hunt (which seems to be the number one favorite activity amongst trainers). We mostly spent the day getting to know our FBT leaders Ian and Kelsi, as well as some other volunteers who came to see "the newbies" (a term I'm getting really tired of). We spent some time in Huanchaco, a beach town close-by, where we mostly ate. Cebiche, seafood, ice cream, and pancakes were the foods of choice.

Day Two:

Photo by Ian Arzeni-- getting ready to put fluoride on a girl's teeth.

Our group made its way to the beach town of Puerto Malabrigo which is another youth development volunteer's site. She gave us a tour as well as took us to some schools she worked in. We got to help in brushing five-year-olds' teeth as well as apply fluoride, which one child promptly threw up.

This was then followed by a visit to a special education school where we met the students, learned about the school, and mostly emphasized the importance of brushing teeth than actually cleaning them ourselves. Our day ended with a beach cleanup (I've never done such intense trash pick-up in a five-foot radius before) and some trainees put on wet-suits and helped some niños get out in the waves to surf.

Day Three:
This day was a little harder than the others, mostly because I helped teach two-classes in a school in Bello Horizonte, our FBT leader Ian's site, and they didn't go so great. The younger elementary students were more than happy to learn the ABC's in English, but the older high school students didn't want have anything to do with our activity on communication techniques with their parents. I haven't felt more like throwing up in public due to embarrassment in a long time.
After we went to a home for children taken away from their family by the government due to abuse. They were great kids and they were excited to play games with a big group of gringos. Also, I was gifted a ton of food by a volunteer living there for the summer. She felt bad for me being gluten-free and struggling with healthy, GF food, and she is heading home soon. It was incredibly thoughtful of her! I may or may not have already eaten all of said food, except for a jar of almond butter.
 
Day Four:

Photo by Lindsay Buck-- in class teaching about handwashing.

This day we spent in a sierra site where a water and sanitation volunteer lives. The town sat above 8,000 feet in elevation and the mountains reminded me so much of home! My time in the classroom went much better this day, as I prepared a charla (this time by myself) on the importance of handwashing, and showed them how to make a "tippy tap", which is basically a handwashing system made out of an old water bottle. I presented it to a group of ten to eleven-year-olds', and they were incredibly receptive and participatory. I also helped give a quick charla on recycling with another trainee, which went just as well. I was lucky with my classes, though, as some people had students literally jumping on the desks like monkies. 

Because my achilles tendon is still a wreck I couldn't join the crew on a hike, but I got a nap, which came in handy when I had to stay up until 1:00 am getting the next day's session plans prepared.

Day Five:

In Poroto--Kerry and Kidist are amazing with kids

Another day of charlas, and they already felt easier. This day we were in Poroto, a beautiful site between the coast and the sierra where our FBT leader Kelsi lives. I helped give a charla on the importance of goal setting and future career possibilities with high school students. Speaking in Spanish in front of a group of youth is getting easier, too, even though I'm still messing up often on my grammar. After giving our own charlas, we spent more time at the school, and I somehow ended up singing the US National Anthem to a group of teenagers.

After school we went to the health post and met with some middle school to high school aged students in a "health promoter" group. We helped them organize and construct their own charlas for elementary school students.

Eduar, our 12-year-old student health promoter helping me make papelotes for our hygiene charla

Finished product

Best stress-relieving part of the day: making enormous banana-oatmeal pancakes for everyone, having a five-person dance party, and telling ghost stories.

Photo by Lindsay Buck-- Making pancakes and eggs!

Photo by the self-timed camera of Lindsay Buck

Day Six:
We show up to the school to help give the charlas with health promoters, and the school is having a "sports day". The director kind of forgot we needed children in classrooms to teach. However, it worked out and our twelve-year-old health promoter did an awesome job of teaching a class of 2nd graders about personal hygiene. We were mostly there for moral support and to make sure the class raised their hands before speaking. The rest of the day was busy with activities preparing us for our time as volunteers outside of the classroom.

Second-grade class in Poroto taught by a 12-year-old student health promoter

Not-so-random-but-still-random-occurrence from the day: someone from our group pooped their pants.

Day Seven:

Photo by Lindsay Buck-- Medio Ambiante mural in Bello Horizante

Our last morning was spent back in Bello Horizante helping paint trash cans to be placed around the community (public trash cans are almost non-existent in a lot of communities) and a mural that encouraged taking care of the environment.

After we got back to the hotel in Trujillo and cleaned up, we kidnapped our FBT leaders and took them to Starbucks where we presented them with hand-made certificates (certificates are a big thing in Peru; people love them) and treated them to their beverage of choice. This may not seem like much, but in the life of a volunteer, this is a treat!

Photo by Lindsay Buck-- Richard and I leading Kelsi and Ian to Starbucks.

The whole week was such a great experience. There were times that were challenging, especially staying up until the wee hours of the night creating original ideas for hour-long presentations in Spanish, and then waking up early to get ready and deliver them to an unfamiliar group of kids. Some of us had better luck than others on the reception we got from the kids, but all of us gained a wealth of experience.

I am starting to get really excited to find out my site, which will be August 3rd (two weeks away!). However, I am sad to think I will be leaving all of my great friends I've made behind. But, I know I will still see them when I can, and I will be forging relationships in site. FBT was overwhelming at times, but I feel more prepared for being a real volunteer than ever before. I'm excited to see where I'll be placed, and where you all will have a chance to come visit me!