¡That's All Folks!

"That's a wrap folks..." I say to myself in an increasingly empty room.  I say increasingly because I am packing up my stuff.  I have three piles: to take home, to give to volunteers, and to leave here in Cutervo.  They aren't labeled, of course.  You can tell pretty easily which is which by the contents (valuables, clothes, books).  My walls are covered in the little round stains left behind by the sticky tack balls that help up my posters, cards, and letter from home.  There are a lot of spots where the paint was ripped off by two years of tape bonding itself to the walls... I might have to give my host family a bit of extra money to repaint.  That is, if they ever come back here at all... they are selling the house and I haven't seen them for over 6 months.  I am not even sure I will get a proper despedida (goodbye).

I recently got home from my COS (Close of Service) conference in Lima where I saw my entire training group from two years ago in the same place for the last time.  While it was an odd feeling to know that I will probably not see many of them again, I know I will stay in contact with the ones I know best... or at the very least we will reconnect in the future in a way only good friends who have been through a lot together can.  At least we had a blast for our last night together.  We even went to the nicest restaurant in Perú - Astrid y Gaston.  It was epically good and twice as expensive but well worth the memory of a table full of dirty, ill-mannered, american volunteers taking over the 35th finest restaurant in the world... hehe, yeah we might not be allowed back but the food was excellent.

On the other hand, I am pretty excited to finish up my degree and start my career.  I miss my friends, family, good food, technology... INTERNET!  I feel conflicted about leaving because I know I could actually make a larger difference if I stayed another year.  I could ensure the youth center attains sustainability and that there are locals trained and active in maintaining it.  But the decision is made... I have been accruing interest on my school loans over the last two years and I fear another year would be a bad idea.  Also, I miss Katie.  I can't do another year without her or I would be absolutely miserable if I stayed without her.  I made it through these two years only because she came to me, sacrificing a lot to make our relationship to work.

So here I write my last Peru blog post trying to decide if I fight the nagging feeling that I am leaving behind something important - because, to be honest, I am.  I have spent two whole years of my life here in Cutervo.  That may not seem like a lot on paper (my thoughts when applying) but I have had some amazing, life-changing, experiences here.  I have made what I expect to be some of my best memories while here.  So, in traditional Peace Corps Volunteer fashion, I am going to list the pros and cons, the things i will and wont miss, of Cutervo, Cajamarca, Perú.

Cons (ie: things I will NOT miss)

1) Puncuality (lack thereof) - If you plan a meeting you MUST plan it for at least an hour before you plan to begin.

2) Lying - Don't misunderstand me, everyone lies but here it is considered more rude to decline attendance than to say you will probably be there.  Also, there is a nasty habit of not wanting to be caught not knowing something, so if you ask 4 people on the street how to get somewhere you will get four different definitive answers on where it is.

3) Transportation - I have been close to death... many times.

4) Vomiting - Because the roads are so bad and because peruvians like to eat large meals before traveling, I have had to deal with vomit quite often (twice on me).

5) Rice or plain boiled potatoes

Pros (ie: things I WILL miss)

1) The Andes Mountains - Some of the most beautiful places I have been in my life are here in Perú.

2) Gracious Hospitality - Even when I am in the middle of the poorest areas of Peru I am always invited to the table to eat a meal.  People go out of their way to make sure a guest is comfortable and welcome.

3) Late nights playing board games and having conversations with my host family.

4) Being introduced as someone I am not - I have been introduced as everything from a Spanish doctor to a representative from the US Embassy of Peace.

5) Being recognized and warmly greeted wherever I go in town.  This can also be a con when I need to get somewhere fast and I have to talk to 20 people along the way.

Things that went from Cons to Pros over the two years

1) Music - Huayno, while still not my favorite music in the world, no longer makes me cringe when I hear it.

2) Food - When I had my first plate of rice, potatoes, and meat... I was pretty worried about the effect the next two years would have on my sanity (and waistline).  Luckily I grew accustomed to the food here, stopped having bowel issues, and even crave a good chicharron con arroz sometimes.

3) Beer - I hate the beer when I first arrived here.  Now I can't remember what I didn't like about it.

4) Patience - If there is one thing that Peace Corps will either complete build or destroy for a volunteer, it is your patience.

5) Communication - I have improved the way I communicate, not only in Spanish but in how I express my ideas to others

As for Kutiri, I have done everything I can to create a successful and sustainable youth center.  I have, with your help, given them start up materials they need (printer, projector, school supplies, books, laptops, etc..).  I have worked with local organizations to get a contract signed promising they continue to support and manage the project.  I have even secured the arrival of a new volunteer to come to Cutervo for the next two years.  Now, while I focus on training local volunteers and staff to continue on, I feel as if I can go home with a clear conscience - I did what I can.  If I find that the center is still running after a year I think I might coordinate with the new director to do a fund-raiser to help expand the library or build a proper computer center.

Finally, I want to thank all of you for supporting me while I was abroad.  Not only did you help me get the youth center up and running but you forgave me when I may have gone off the radar for a while (months even).  I couldn't have been as successful or well-adjusted as I have been without you.  You can be sure I will have a  brief (I promise) iMovie for you showing the highlights of my two years here.  I figure this will save me the time repeating stories while still giving people the answer to that oh-so-inevitable question: "so? what was two years in Perú like?!"

Everything is Gonna Be Alright

Yesterday I had one of the most personally important meetings of my life.  The directors, leading teachers, and student leaders of every school in Cutervo (of which there are 8) came to hear what the Kutiri youth center had to offer them and how they could help make this free community service something to be envied by all of Cutervo's neighbors.  So many people showed up that we had to find more seats.  My socios gave presentations about the recently signed contract and the risks to youth in the community and the need for the center.  I gave a presentation about the center itself, our past success, and the basic services to be provided.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and, honestly, surprised me.  Kids and teachers were asking questions, saying what an amazing idea all this was; one girl even challenged the representative from the municipality by asking why they hadn't signed the contract before now.  My heart soared as the kids crowded me at the end to ask if they could be youth leaders and what they could do for the next meeting.  The teachers literally lined up to shake my hand and offer their support.  One lady told me she would like to organize a parenting class for the rural farmers outside of the city proper.  At the end everyone signed a sheet promising what support they would bring and what the next steps would be.  Wow...

So it is with a great deal of anxiety that I leave on monday for my Masters Research Project for the University of Denver.  I hate leaving just as everyone gets this burst of shared vision and motivation but I have to fit the trip in before April 20th because volunteers are not allowed to leave their sites for the last three months of service.  Luckily my local counterparts are going to hold down the fort while I am gone, which is a great opportunity for them to take the reins.  They have promised to do at least one charla and activity a week while I am gone.  When I get back, we will form youth groups, train teachers, and create a strong 6 month work plan.  My awesome colleague living an hour away has also promised to help the new volunteer get on his/her feet.

I think everything is gonna be alright.

*Feature photo borrowed from http://fuckyeahyellowcard.tumblr.com/

I'm going on a trip!

So what is this research trip all about? Being a masters

international student means that I only get me masters degree when I

have finished me service with Peace Corps and written a significant

research paper tying my degree with my experience here in Peru. As

many of you know, I have always been a staunch defender of human

rights. In fact, my international development degree has an emphasis

on them. My passion for several years has been combating

exploitation and human trafficking. As a senior associate of the

Human Trafficking Clinic I wanted to focus on that for my paper -

maybe even bring some new insight the situation in Peru if I am lucky.

I have been very fortunate to have made contact with some of the best

and brightest experts fighting trafficking here in Peru. With my friends from the IOM, USAID, US Department of State, US Department of Homeland Security, and several amazing local organizations, I have planed a research gathering trip that will cover the entire country over the course of three weeks.

I hope to specifically focus on the trafficking of minors from the jungles to the coast. Also, I hear a lot of stories about young girls in prostitution camps where there are heavy mining operations and

would like to investigate further. Don't worry though - I will be extra careful and not be going to areas considered to be dangerous.

If any of this interests you, I will blog about my experience at thewordyabolitionist.wordpress.com throughout the trip.

My Salvation: the legally binding contract

So here I am, less than four months from being home, and finally my work is taking off in more positive ways than I could imagine.  On the one hand, this means I have finally met some of my potential here in Cutervo and I can go home feeling like I actually made some meaningful change that will positively impact hundreds of people.  However, on the other hand, I can't help but think what I could do with a third or even fourth year here now that I have finally overcome so many of the initial barriers (cultural, linguistic, trust, etc...).  I have very mixed feelings about leaving.  Fortunately, the choice is already made for me because I have school debts to pay.  I will be ending my service with the Peace Corps on the 20th of July and heading home shortly thereafter.

If you would have asked me a month ago how things were going I would have stuck you as possibly the most cynical and pessimistic person you know.  All of my projects had been put on hold, none of my local counterparts were answering calls or showing up to meetings, the Kutiri youth center had been closed for over 3 months and no one was keeping up with their promises.  I was frustrated and angry and I had all but given up entirely on Kutiri.  Then march hit and school started up again.  I got one call... then two, then four.  Within the first week of March my faith had been restored and my counterparts and I were working harder than ever.  Apparently I had just not realized it is customary to just not do any serious work during school vacations.

What you see here is a bonafide contract from Cutervo, Cajamarca, Perú.  These five flimsy pages represent the culmination of my two years of work here.  This document officially establishes the Kutiri Youth Development Center as a locally run and supported government agency.  To ensure that the program has its best shot at sustainability the operational and provisional requirements are split up between the local Municipality (the mayor's office), the Ministry of Health (DISA), the Ministry of Education (UGEL), and whatever Peace Corps Volunteer is in Cutervo at the time (I have secured at least one more to come after me).  The contract also specifies that the community must establish a permanent space for the youth center within the next four years.  It took a tremendous amount of work and patience to get all the different actors to the table and agree to these terms but there it is.  And now that we have local funding we have been flying through meetings with school directors, kids, local professionals, and politicians to get the center to self-sustainability before I leave.

Yep. Things have certainly picked up! After I get back from my research trip I not only have the youth center to focus on but I am helping plan a regional youth camp in the south of Cajamarca (click here to learn more and donate). I also have a close of service conference in Lima and a separate trip back for medical exams. All this within four months!

I will have to write separate posts on both my research trip and the upcoming youth camp.

My Grand Vacation!

If there is one thing that really helps the Peace Corps stand out from other volunteer opportunities it is the length of time that one serves for.  Two years didn't seem like much to me in the beginning (I mean, I was in grad school for that long and it flew by so fast!) but it became quickly apparent that the passing of time would not be the same as back home.

In Perú, as a volunteer, time is a strange amorphous goo that is difficult to get a hold of.  On the one hand, you feel like two years will never pass.  I can't believe how long it feels like I have been telling people I have only 8 more months left in my service!  As soon as you count it, it stands still (like one of those weeping angels on Dr. Who).  And much like the weeping angels, when you ignore it, it sneaks up on you in the blink of an eye.  I feel like I go through days like a fat kid going through a bag of those reeses that everyone sends me.  It is astonishing how fast Mondays seem to come and go.  So, really, it is baffling to most volunteers how the short term can speed past in a blur of huayno, socio-dramas, and cheap beer, while the long term moves slower than a peruvian promise.

However, one of the perks to being in a country for two years - besides learning how to kill and butcher a guinea pig - is that you get the opportunity to really experience its many different facets of cultural and social identity.  Or, in other words, you get to travel and see stuff!

Your average Peace Corps volunteer receives two days of vacation every month, which really isn't a lot if you consider we work 7 days a week.  So if said volunteer is following the rules, they get 48 days during their two years to check out what their host country has to offer.  So with Katie in tow, I recently took a huge chunk of my vacation days to go see mine for the holidays.

So, without further babbling from me, I present to you my photos... 'cus that is why you all come here anyway o_o

(Baños del Inca - Cajamarca City)
These are the restored thermal baths once used by Inca Emperors.  This site is coincidentally quite close to the spot where Emperor Altahualpa was captured by Pizarro.

We picked up Katie's friend, Bethany, in Lima and headed to Cusco.  Here you can see a cute critter observing the local wildlife... and there is a lama there too.

The streets of Cusco are really quite rustic and make for great self-tours.  Just watch out when they get wet - those cobblestones are slippery!

And then the three adventurers set out on the Inca Trail to find the mystical site of Machu Picchu.  They knew the trek would be rife with dangers and hardships...

... but they had their trusty guide, horse handler, and personal chef there to help them make it to the end.  It also helped that they brought tents, mattresses, sub-zero sleeping bags, a complete kitchen, tent-dining room, and portable toilet tent carried by no less than 2 mules and a horse.

Really stunning trail.

Oooo...

Ahhhh...

Oooo again! (This is how most of the trek went)

This was a site overlooking the actual ruins of Machu Picchu.

And after we got to the top...

... we were rewarded with a rare clear view of Machu Picchu from above.

Here are some photos of Machu Picchu proper.

As we left Machu Picchu, we were afforded this view of the snow capped Andes mountains from the train.

Our next stop was Huaraz!  Ancash is by far my favorite department of Perú and I think you can probably figure out why.

This is the Yanganuco lake snuggled up right next to the tallest mountain in Perú, Huascaran.

The photos can't do this place justice.

Get a load of that water?  The weather was quite warm given the fact that we were at such a high altitude during the rainy season.  Katie rightly observed that if we had not known otherwise we would have thought we were in the Bahamas with these trees and that crystal clear lake.

That is Huascaran, I think.

As you can see, it was an exciting and leisurely trip.  I got to see the majority of the stuff I wanted to see before leaving the country and now I can head home saying I have been to Machu Picchu.  And now that Christmas vacation is over I realize that I have just 6 "short" months to finish up my work with the youth center.

If all goes well, the next blog you read will be asking you all for a small (or large) donation to provide the center with a computer lab! Ha!

 Kutiri Kutiri Kutiri... that seems to be the word that I live and breath right now.  And for good reason; Katie, Katherine, and I have started a youth center named Kutiri here in Cutervo Peru.  We have been putting in 7-12 hour work days (depending on the day) and can proudly say we have a regular group of 70+ kids showing up on a daily basis to participate in games, movie nights, parties, breakfasts, and workshops of varying themes.

Here is the result of our hard work!

We have a lot of planned improvements for the new year, including membership cards and a points system to encourage attendance at the workshops and classes.  The next big step is getting as much participation by community professionals as possible because up to now we have been running everything.

Unfortunately we have had a recent detrimental set back to our shot at sustainability.  My amazing new site mate, Katherine, has been forced to resign by the country director because she was caught in Lima without permission.  I cannot express how disappointed I am by their poor decision.  Katherine was what we call a "super volunteer" because of all the hard work she put into our youth center and her own project working with disabled children.  In fact, she had been in Lima to buy some materials for her sensory deprivation room for autistic children in site.  Now I am not condoning her illegal vacation but it is my understanding that volunteers get at least one warning in situations like these.  Whatever the reasons, the decision to let her go has severely hurt our project, a project that Katie, Katherine, and myself have poured out hearts into and seen reasonable levels of success considering the challenges we face. 

Her absence is not just a personal loss for me but a significant loss for the Peruvian community of Cutervo, Cajamarca.  So I am left with a sense of emptiness and frustration at progressing the Kutiri youth center without her.

I wish to thank her for getting us this far and letting her know that no one in her community (or anyone who knew her for that matter) agrees with the decision forced upon her.  We would never have made it this far without you Katherine - Thank you!

Introducing the Kutiri Youth Center of Cutervo!

Boy have I got a lot of information for you guys! A lot has happened since my last post and for me it really feels as if that time has just flown by. It really is a surprise to me that my last blog post was in June!

I have been a very busy volunteer lately, and that is exactly how I like it. Just to recap what I have been up to and the newest developments...

1. I am doing English pronunciation classes with a local school.
2. I am working with the local municipality and health center to establish a sustainable youth center. We currently have our space and I have already begun work with the youth leaders. We had our first official event (a movie night) a few days ago. We named the center Kutiri – the native origin of the name of our town, Cutervo.
3. Katie has joined me here in Peru and will be teaching English classes and helping me with my youth center. One of my counterparts at the health center wants her to help with nutrition workshops as well.
4. I have a new site-mate! Her name is Kathryn and she is a special education specialist. She is going to be working on the youth center with me as well.
5. I am working with another volunteer close to my town (an hour away) to create a huge job fair. We have the support of both our local governments and expect to have around 850 kids attend!

So instead of the usual long-winded story telling. I am going to just show you a ton of photos with descriptions :)

Enjoy!

Bird watching with the kids and a local expert, Willy Castro (how cool of a name is that?)

This is the Arenal (sandy area) on the mountain above our city.

We like to play ultimate frisbee here :)  This was the first time most of these kids had even seen one.

My youth leaders and I at the top of Mount Ilucan.

Just monkeying around.

My kids spent a good half hour trying to catch a tadpole... without avail.

Katie arrived in August, a really great birthday present!  We went on vacation for two weeks to...

...Arequipa!

I love Arequipa city and the surrounding area.

We went hiking in the Colca Canyon - the deepest in the world!

When we got back to Cutervo it was time to get to work.  We finally have the new youth center!  Katie and my new site-mate Katherine are helping me get it going.

We have three spaces in the new market.

The two spaces with windows are ours.  We will put a library in the top one and a computer center on the bottom one.

Our third space is shared with the municipality and comes complete with chairs, tables, and...

This is one of the spaces up close.

... a kitchen!  We are going to have sunday morning pancake breakfasts here.

So that is it for now!  I have been super busy - in a good way.

Of course, like any start up non profit, we can use your support.  Right now we have 75 books and I am writing grants to two non-profits for more.  I am going to be working through a DU organization to get funding for the computers and everyone here would appreciate it so so much if you could help us out when the fund raising drive gets under way.  I have one more year here and I am very confident we can leave Cutervo with a self-sustaining youth center by then.

If you would like to send any materials or goodies for the center/kids, you can send it to my address in an envelope (no boxes please) weighing no more than 2 pounds.

Chris Huey
Pasaje Yoyo Flores 180
La Familia Espejo Sanchez
Cutervo, Cajamarca, Peru

Please check us out on www.kutiri.wordpress.com and friend us on facebook.  My kids will get a kick out of seeing all the support from the US.  I will be updating the Kutiri blog often with our current activities and successes, so please keep checking in.


Thank you again for everything!