Nourish goes to Peru

Saturday was our final day in Ciudad de Dios. Today nine of us are off to Lima, leaving Melissa (our fearless leader) to bring closure to the project. I won’t even pretend to have begun processing the past few weeks, so keep checking the blog as we all try to sort through our experiences, emotions, and ideas.

Friday was our last day of working on the water system. In the morning, while we waited for a pipe delivery, we completed the mural in the Plaza de Armas. It is now 42 meters of vibrantly colored landscapes, accented with symbols of the ancient Moche culture and a stylized representation of the town itself. We climbed up a neighboring hill to get the full effect, and it really does give Ciudad de Dios a fantastic splash of color. The uniform brown of the adobe houses and dusty streets is now broken by a long vein of green and blue, and hopefully this will be the first of many community beautification and pride initiatives.

The water system is nearly completed, and we are all heartbroken to be leaving without seeing the water flow through the taps. It will certainly be finished within the next few days, but the funding crisis (which is still occurring–visit savethemoche.org for more info) slowed our progress significantly. Melissa will update us all about how the final steps of the project go.

Yesterday the people of Ciudad threw a marvelous fiesta for us, probably the biggest the town has ever had. Saying goodbye was hard, but they certainly made sure our last day was unforgettable. After a feast of grand proportions (cuy, or guinea pig, was the main dish), we celebrated the end of our time there with dancing. The music eventually came to an end, and we made our way through the crowds to say goodbye. As we walked down the hill for the final time, dusk was quickly turning to night. It was strange to leave Ciudad that way, with the landscape and the faces of the friends we had made obscured by the darkness. I could feel my memories of the town already fading. In vain I tried to take everything in, grasping at the images that I had taken for granted every day, trying frantically to secure it all in my memory. But the vague remnants of daylight did not provide enough illumination to distinguish the brilliant colors and textures of the landscape, and it was not enough to make a final observation of the expressions on peoples faces. Climbing onto our bus, I began to panic. What if I forgot what I had seen there? As we drove away, shouting Ciao to the children that had followed us to the bus, I tried to reassure myself that I could not possibly forget all of the beauty and warmth of Ciudad, nor could I forget all of the hardship. Peering out the window into the now blackened countryside, I realized that the beauty I was earnestly seeking to sear into my memory was not the kind that was found in the physical surroundings. The connection I felt to the community, especially strong in those final hours, was not lessened by the receding daylight.

The last week has been rough for everyone involved in this project.  Our exhaustion, combined with the daunting task of raising $5,000 in less than a week (which, by the way we now have half of!) has taken a toll on us.   The last few days everyone has been on edge, rightfully so.  Today, however, was our turning point (thank goodness for that, we only have two more days to work).  Although things started out a little rocky when we realized we didn’t have the key to the schoolhouse, and therefore had no access to tools or paint, they immediately started looking up when we realized we were in fact going to get 38 pipes delivered to lay today (out of 122…so only 84 more! - out of a total of over 700).

Some people began to work on finishing the mural and the rest of us began hauling pipe.  I might also mention that today was scorching hot…painfully hot, really.  So we start carrying these pipes, and we have to carry them up through the mountains where there isn’t really a trail and it’s hard enough to get your footing, let alone carry a 5-meter, three inch diameter pipe.  Each pipe has to go over 600 meters.  Needless to say, this process was tedious.  After making three trips there and back to get pipes, the sanding, scrubbing and gluing of each unit began.  At about this time I was feeling beat.  I was soaked in sweat and dreading the backfilling we were going to have to do once we laid the pipe.  (Backfilling consists of us shoveling the dirt we dug up back over the pipe, and is tedious to begin with, but really difficult when where we dug is surrounded by rock so you have to dig around the rocks or go down lower and find soft dirt to try to fill the area immediately around the pipe.)   As I sat down to try to muster up some energy, I looked up and saw people from the town coming out with their shovels and picks.  In the past we have tried to pay people 20 soles for 8 hours of labor a day.  (This is a fairly standard rate for manual labor and we thought it only fair to pay people since they were having to take off work.)  However, for the last week or so since money has been running low we have stopped hiring people from town, although a number of them volunteer and work with us anyway.  But today, there were so many of them.  When the reached the point where we were working I asked someone if they had taken the day off of work.  They informed me that they hadn’t, but they had wanted to help, so they were taking their lunch break from 12-2 to help us finish backfilling.  We had the job done in just a little over an hour.  It would have taken us all afternoon without their help.

Not only was it great to be done with the tedious labor, but it was fantastic to realize that this whole project is going to happen, and it is going to be sustainable.  All along it has been very obvious that the people of Ciudad de Dios want this water system and are willing to work for it, but until today I hadn’t really been convinced that they were going to be able to sustain it after we left.  MOCHE the non-profit has done so much to foster the community’s morale and the project that I was afraid of what might happen once we were gone.  Today though, my fears were put to rest when I saw these people stepping up and taking ownership.  We were trying to connect the pipes one way and one of the older men took over and told everyone what a better way to do it would be.  Some of the water committee members were there helping out and they were telling me about going through all of the rules they were having to figure out for the town.  People were excited and they seemed more ready for this to actually happen than they have all summer.  From what I’ve heard, Ciudad de Dios is often promised things that never happen, and I think this whole project has given them hope for the future of their community and their lives.

As I was walking back to town I was marveling at how far we’ve come this summer.  It may not seem like much, but six weeks ago this water system still hadn’t even been surveyed.  It was a mess.  We didn’t know what we were doing.  There were engineers, public health students, environmental science majors, and an array of other people all working on this project.  There were disagreements on the best way to go about things, and difficulties in getting the momentum to get the whole thing started.  Now, we are 82 pipes away from having a fully functioning water system.  But that’s not all.   On my walk back into town I saw that the mural was looking even more colorful than before.  When I made my way down there I was thrilled at what I saw.  The whole 43 meter wall (that’s a really big mural, in case you’re wondering) was looking wonderful.  On the left were people from the highlands coming down.  Ciudad de Dios was depicted as a colorful and bright place, and all of the suggestions the people gave us for the mural were being used: donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, banana trees, avocado trees, sugar cane, mountains, bright colors, cuy (guinea pigs-coveted meat), and so many more.  A number of the members in the community were out in the plaza (which is actually beginning to be treated like a plaza-there was a town effort to clean it up the other day) giggling at the colors we were using and giving us suggestions.  We’re still trying to talk some of them into trying to paint, but they all claim they’re terrible artists (obviously they haven’t seen me try to draw…I usually stick to the coloring).  And keep in mind we’re using house paint, so the colors we have force us to be creative - who knew red, brown, and white were the perfect colors for a goat?  The kids were also loving the mural and the painting today.  The attitude was fantastic-so alive.  It was ridiculously hot, and trying to paint while staring at bright green and white was difficult, but every time I looked around or just listened to the happy sounds around me, I remembered how worth it this mural was.  It’s hard to explain how a little splash of color stands out.  Everyone’s houses and any building for a long distance around is made of adobe brick.  The valley is green, but Ciudad is in the mountains and is therefore very dry and brown.  The color does wonders for the plaza and the community as a whole.  Everyone keeps telling me how much they love it.

I guess what I’m trying to explain is the awe I felt today at the change I can sense in this community and in our group as a whole.  It’s hope and excitement.   I think everyone is finally realizing the magnitude of what we have accomplished and how significant it is for the people of Ciudad de Dios.  And I am thrilled when I hear people say how much they like the mural, because the one thing that came up over and over in the first week I was here when I was asking people what they wanted most in their community, was a sense of pride.  They want to have a beautiful place to live in where people from outside want to come and visit.  I’ve never met such strong, determined, kindhearted, and humble people before in my life, and I am just so glad that our efforts combined with their community are accomplishing something that they are proud of and are excited about sustaining and growing.

I am pumped for tomorrow.  We have 82 pipes arriving, which is a lot, but who would dare limit what we can all accomplish together?  2 months ago I would’ve said a lot of things weren’t possible - digging kilometers of trenches through rocks, carrying adobe bricks long distances, painting (and making pretty) a 43 meter long mural, understanding the legal processes of Peruvian development.  Now, however, I know better.  82 pipes?  We’re talking small potatoes there…just ask anyone in Ciudad de Dios–they’re the ones who have known all along that everything we’ve wanted to do is possible.  I just think that just as they’ve shocked us with what is possible, we’ve shocked them by actually following through.

We have only a few days left in Ciudad de Dios, and we are fighting to get the project finished before we leave!! Here is a message that MOCHE is sending out explaining our current struggle and how you can help:

We are currently in Northern Peru helping to construct a potable water system for Ciudad de Dios, a village of 60 displaced squatter families.  This project was organized by the non-profit organization, MOCHE, Inc., in conjunction with volunteers from Engineers Without Borders, the UNC-Chapel Hill Chapter of Nourish International, Duke Engage, and residents from the community.   Over the last month we have nearly completed the project but we need help raising $5,000 that will allow us to complete the project in July.  This amount includes of the cost of 125 three-inch pipes for the main water line (each 15 foot pipe costs USD $17) and the wages to compensate community members for part of their labor on the project.  Each family in the community works several days of free work.  In turn, we pay each family for several additional days of work.
  MOCHE has been working with this underrepresented population over the past 10 years to develop sustainable infrastructure including a primary school and roads in exchange for the protection of valuable archeological sites.  Not only will the completion of the water system improve the daily lives of the people of Ciudad de Dios, it will qualify the community’s school for government-paid teachers.  The community has worked hand-in-hand with volunteers to learn how to manage and maintain the water system.  MOCHE is helping to bring basic amenities to Ciudad de Dios as well as providing its citizens with skills and opportunities to better their economic status.   
  Community members and student volunteers have worked tirelessly to make this project a reality.  With your help, we can finish the project before by the end of July.  Time is of the essence!  Please go to PayPal now and make a tax deductible donation to savethemoche@yahoo.com and help us bring water to Ciudad de Dios.  This is truly an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of people and help an incredible organization serve those most in need. 
  All donated funds will be used to purchase pipe and pay wages to community members.  Not one cent will be used for overhead costs or project management.  All contributions are tax deductible; MOCHE, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit corporation.  Donors will receive a letter of appreciation with relevant tax information.  If you have any questions about MOCHE or would like to get more involved, please contact us at quist@savethemoche.org.
  Thank you for your time and donations!
    The Team at MOCHE, Inc.
  Currently in Hunachaco, Peru

We only have a week left in Ciudad de Dios! It seems like we have just arrived…and now it is almost time to leave. In the past month, we´ve done a million different things, but there is still so much left to do and a ton of stuff we had hoped to accomplish but did not.

The water system is speedily nearing its completion. All of the pipes in town have been laid, and the trenches have been refilled. All 3 km of trenches have been dug for the main pipeline, and all but 1 km of the pipes have been laid (and the trenches refilled). The springbox (or caja de captacion) has been constructed and is almost ready for use.

Despite our amazing rate of progress, we’ve hit a small snafu…well actually, a pretty decently sized snafu. A major donation that we had been counting on has fallen through, and so MOCHE is struggling to finish the project with its limited budget. There was a huge miscommunication between the project and the the organization donating–apparently they cannot give funds to a project that is already underway. We have about 200 pipes left to purchase, and at $17 a pipe that means we need $3,400. We should be able to get these pipes in the ground pretty quickly once we have the money, so we are still hoping to get the system finished before we leave a week from today. The system will get finished even if not until after we leave, but our presence means MOCHE does not have to hire additional labor (which they simply don´t have the funding for).

If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donating, go to savethemoche.org. There will be a paypal account on the site pretty soon. The website won´t be updated for a few more days, but check back with it if you would like to donate! Every dollar gets us so much closer to putting the final pipe on the line…Ciudad will have water soon!!

MOCHE built a school house for Ciudad last year, and Peruvian law states that the government mustprovide teachers for a community if the people provide a school house. However, the law also states that the school must have water in order for teachers to be provided. This means that as soon as the water system is up and running, Ciudad de Dios will be able to send its children to school in town, rather than being forced to send their children to nearby communities on foot via a busy highway.

So…since our work on the water system has slowed, we are also focusing our energy on our other endeavors…

The Water Committee is a six member team that has been elected by the community to direct the setup and maintenance of the system. They are in charge of all of the legal issues surrounding the water system, including writing the rules for water usage and registering every tap in town. The committee is more than capable of running this system successfully, but they are currently facing a lack of confidence from themselves and from the community. The constant gossip in the community makes it difficult for Committee to gather the appropriate amount of authority and respect.

Creating a sense of ownership is a big hurdle for this community, largely due to its roots as a squatter settlement and to the heavy involvement of outsiders (us) in their development. Given some time and a little push, we are hoping that the people will become increasingly more invested in their own development. There is already a sense of pride in their community and how far they have come. The Water Committee is certainly a step in the right direction, because it places responsibility for the system directly in the hands of the community.

The mural in the Plaza de Armas now has a celeste colored sky, a range of tobaco mountains, and the phrase “¡Bienvenidos a Ciudad de Dios!” emblazzoned in rojo lettering across the center. There is still a lot of wall to be painted (it is a 42 m long wall!), but we should be finished before the end of this week. It is looking fantastic so far, and our group just purchased more paint to make sure we will get the whole thing painted.

On Thursday we began our education programs with the kids! After a very chaotic but productive hour of painting with them on Wednesday, we were understandably anxious to see how our own little lesson in the escuela would go. Jorge, Felipe, and Esther did a remarkable job of corralling the rambunctious crowd into a classroom and getting them to actively participate in the lesson. After learning about the water cycle and conservation, the kids got to draw and color.

At the end of the week, we are planning to havea community-wide Water Education Day. We will be explaining the water system and why water usage and conservation are important in this region. We will also be talking about hygiene and sanitation and its importance to health. Hopefully, this session will help foster a sense of responsibility for the system and begin to get the community thinking about health issues (something MOCHE will be tackling soon…)

So…despite all of the confusion, and despite the fact that nothing ever ever goes as planned here, we are still managing to make huge strides and we are all learning some invaluable lessons. Check back for more updates on the project, and please consider donating to MOCHE!!

As Kat mentioned in her post, this past weekend the annual fiesta de San Pedro took place in Huanchaco. In addition to the dancing and festivities of Saturday evening, there was an impressive parade on Sunday as part of the celebration. The main point of the parade is the symbolic march of San Pedro de Huanchaco from the church to the beach, where he floats out to sea in a giant caballito de totora. I was able to march along with San Pedro (who was being carried atop his float) for most of the way along the road from the church to the beach. After reaching the beach, we went to the pier to make sure we could get a good view of San Pedro’s ocean voyage. We waited for about half an hour, as San Pedro was carefully lowered into the caballito and those aboard prepared for the send off. Finally, San Pedro was sent to sea, accompanied by several local Peruvians, including Miss Huanchaco and a nun. The group sailed to the edge of the pier, then turned around and came back to shore. It was great. 

This past Wednesday, three fellow students and I went to the municipality of Menecucho to speak to the mayor about some ideas we had regarding the trash and recycling system. We proposed starting a middle valley recycing system that would require the cooporation of 5 towns that collectively have a population of 4,500 people. If the middle valley worked together then it would be possible to take those recycable materials to Trujillo and sell them. (There is a minimum weight required to sell recycables) We were thinking that with the money that could be earned from recycling, that money could in turn be used to hire someone to pick up their trash. (The people currently burn their trash) However, el señor said that although he thought that it was a good idea, he is currently in the process of starting a different kind of trash pick up system that would be implemented next year. Instead of using money from recycables, he wants people to pay a one or two sol tax every month which would be enough for someone to come by for a weekly pick up. However, I see serious flaws in his plan because of how it is financed. I´m not sure how he will force people to pay the tax and it doesn´t address the issue of recycling. When we asked him about the recycling aspect of his plan, he simply said that there were people that work in the landfills picking out recycable materials. (These people wear no protective equipment of any kind when working) The outcome of the meeting was not what we had hoped for and it was disheartening to hear that the mayor wanted to proceed with his plan. I truly believe that our plan is more innovative and in the best interests of the people and environment. Now we must try to see what we can do in the last week that we´re here.

Maybe we´ll turn the middle valley against him…………..

This last weekend Huanchaco celebrated the patron saint of the town fishermen, San Pedro de Huanchaco. And quite the fiesta it was. On Saturday night people gathered in the plaza by the pier and kicked off the weekend with live music by local bands. The group leaders reminded the gathered crowd about all the glories of Huanchaco and how great of a place it is. I even was lucky enough to get a dance in with a local Peruvian with an impressive hairstyle and even more impressive dance moves.

Later that night, still by the pier, there was a fireworks show. They had constructed a tower out of reeds with different fireworks attached to it, and they lit each of the rings of fireworks with their cigarretts.  When they were lit, the fireworks would spin off of the main tower and then explode in the sky over the crowd. Some of the fireworks were like pinwheels that spun on the side of the tower when lit. Hands down, it was the best fireworks show I´ve seen.