Chile: LAST MONTH- Cusco, Peru and community project

Cusco, Peru- Plaza de Armas

side street in Chocco

Chocco

Hello Followers!

We are currently in Cusco, Peru and have started on our volunteer projects. We found ourselves a great host family, they have 2 girls and 2 boys, all under the age of 7.

The program that we decided to work with is called Hampy. It is a very small, but very well run organization run by this guy Gorge. What makes this program so special is that you are brought to the community that you will be working in, from there you have to decide what needs to be done and write a purposal. So, its putting all the responsibility in our hands which has given us much more drive towards our goals.

The community that our focus will be in is called Chocco about a 20min drive northwest of the main plaza. It is located in a beautiful hidden valley untouched by the effects of tourism. The community is very poor/primitive, but rich with culture.

Kara is doing a health communication campaign, where she is addressing some of the most prominant health problems in the community through multiple communication medians. She is focusing on basic hygiene problems and promoting healthier cooking habits by working with specific members of the community.

I have chosen two community projects to do. The first one is teaching basic computer skills/programs to the elementary school teachers. They teachers in the community supposedly don´t even know how to turn on a computer and they have two computers which were donated to them a year ago. The second project is a continuation of a program that was left off by another volunteer which is building healthy, efficient stoves. Most stoves are made of mud and the smoke vents out into the houses leading to major respatory issues, so we would be building specific stoves that use less wood and vent outside.

Like I said above we are living with a host family of 6 in a community just south of the main plaza. We are learning slowly how to live with the family, which has been quite entertaining not mentioning sharing a bathroom with all of them.

PS- on a much different note we hope this weekend to have our first Guinea pig feast. We have a few typical choices- 1) in a bun, 2) fried, 3) baked. I think i´m going to go for baked and maybe throw a little BBQ sauce on that baby! Kara differs in opinion, she chooses the Guinea in a bun with some avocado and picante sauce.